BRP's Team Evinrude Wins SKA Championship Title

BRP's Team Evinrude Wins SKA Championship Title

Sturtevant, Wis., May 4, 2006 – BRP US Inc. Team Evinrude member, Captain Rick Smith, secured his second Southern Kingfish Association National Championship title at the 2005 tournament held April 20 to 23, 2006 in Fort Pierce, Florida. The event had been postponed due to last year's hurricane season.

Captain Rick and his "Wild Turkey" team tipped the scales on day one of the event with a hefty 53.59 pounds and braved the less than perfect weather on Saturday to back it up with 55.66 pounds. Their winning aggregate is a whopping 109.25 pounds – a two-fish Atlantic SKA record. "I couldn't have done it without my teammates. We worked hard and never had to worry about the most vital part of the sport, having reliable engines powering the boat", said Smith. "The triple 250 horsepower E-TEC engines ran at top performance as usual, allowing us to focus on finding the kingfish."

The Wild Turkey team consists of Carl Alexander, Jimmy Mancil and Tim Ellis (who filled in for Tony Thaw). The team will be competing in FLW Pro Series and SKA events throughout 2006, with the final event at Fort Pierce, Florida, November 16 to 19, 2006.

Rick Smith holds the 2003 SKA National Championship title and the Gulf record of a two-fish weight at 114.4 pounds. He has been competing in the SKA since its inception 16 years ago and has established himself as a true ambassador to the sport. In 1996, Smith earned his first major title capturing the SKA Kingfish Tour Angler of the Year. He hails from Brunswick, Georgia and fishes the divisional events with his wife Terri and daughters Nikki and Carley.

Smith runs a 35-foot Wellcraft boat powered by triple 250 horsepower Evinrude E-TEC outboard engines. Evinrude E-TEC outboard engines are available in the following horsepower platforms: in-line 2-cylinder 40, 50, and 60-hp; in-line 3-cylinder 75 and 90-hp; V4 115-hp; V6, 2.6 liter, 150, 150 HO,175, and 200-hp; V6, 3.3 liter, 200 HO, 225, 225 HO, and 250-hp models. All feature the advanced cleaner two-stroke direct injection technology credited in 2005 for the Clean Air Technology Excellence Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

BRP, a privately-held company, is a world leader in the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and marketing of motorized recreational vehicles. Our portfolio of brands and products includes: Ski-Doo® and Lynx™ snowmobiles, Sea-Doo® watercraft and sport boats, Johnson® and Evinrude® outboard engines, direct injection technologies such as Evinrude E-TEC®, Bombardier* ATV all-terrain vehicles, Rotax® engines and karts.

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Source: BRP