Master Craft and Volkswagen This week end Ian Birdsall was in Enniskillen for the final tournament stop of the IWSF Word Cup. Ian brought Martin Sneider over, an engineer from the VW factory in Germany to unveil something special from Master Craft. I can say that what I saw impressed me very much. A VW diesel powered Master Craft Pro Star 190. The boat looks the same as any other Master Craft as you can see from the photo above, but under that cover is a three litre Volkswagen turbo diesel engine. Martin said, "The engine is a marine version of the one you will find in the Audi A6 and A8, a V6 producing 225 BHP. The benefits over a petrol engine are reduced noise level and improved fuel economy. Even though the horse power is lower it has the same acceleration as its petrol equivalent." I watched the boat during a demonstration at the site after the finals had finished on Sunday. I could see no black smoke and the only sound when to boat passed was from Glenn Campbell as he carved his way through the slalom course. After his ski Glenn said, "It has a beautiful pull, very strong, but forgiving." Freddy Krueger went out next over the jump and said, "Neat, I couldn't hear the boat!" Martin finished off by saying, "We still have some final development work to do over the winter and the integration with a speed control system, but the engine should be available in a Master Craft by Spring." Ian Birdsall, the driving force behind this concept said, "For the customer to accept a diesel powered ski boat it has to be "good" not just "good for a diesel" the response we have had from the top level skiers and drivers here this weekend would indicate we have surpassed that requirement. Having carried out more than 5 years research and development on diesel options we are better placed than any other ski boat manufacturer to bring this product to the market. With the current climate of high fuel prices and increasing concern over emission output set to continue in the future we are looking forward to offering this environmentally friendly and efficient option to our customers."