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The
BoatTEST.com team is a group of highly trained
professionals, all of whom have years of experience
in their respective fields. These include writers,
editors, on-camera boating experts, field technicians,
cameramen, video editors, producers, and musicians...all
coming together to make the final content you
see here on BoatTEST.com. We hope you enjoy
their work as much as we enjoy working with
them.
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Jeff
Hammond, Co-Founder and President
Jeff
is a well-known figure in marine publishing
with more than 30 years in the field. He founded
Power & Motoryacht magazine
after serving as publisher of Boating,
chief editor of Motorboating and Sailing,
offshore racing editor of Yachting,
and managing editor of The Skipper
magazines.
He founded Motorboat magazine in 1989,
and in 1990 started Motoryacht International,
which was published simultaneously in seven languages.
He has authored two books on yacht racing.
Over the years he has owned a number of powerboats,
from a 19’ outboard to a 90’ motoryacht.
Jeff@boattestHQ.com
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Justine
Hammond, Director of Video Productions
Justine has been boating all of her life, starting out at six-months old nestled in a box
on the cabin sole of her parent’s 30’ sailboat crossing Block Island Sound. She began
sailing on her own at age 7 in an Optimist pram and single-handed across Long Island Sound
a year later. At 10 she discovered the joys of power boating and delighted in docking her
father’s twin-engine 30-foot flybridge fisherman at the local marina. At 12 she had her
own 19’ Grady-White with 150-hp engine and began a life of water sports and fishing.
She has cruised the east coast from Nova Scotia to the Grenadines in the Caribbean, and
has fished in the Caribbean, off the west coast of Mexico and Baja, Alaska and northern
Canada. She now owns a 22’ sportboat that she keeps in Norwalk, CT. Justine was
BoatTEST.com’s first employee in 2000 has the distinction of being here longer than
anyone else.
jhammond@boattest.com |
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John Wenz, Editor
John has a lifetime of boating experience, having grown up
on Long Island Sound, and graduated from the New York Maritime College in 1980.
He holds a USCG license as a deck officer on unlimited tonnage vessels, and holds a
200-TonUSCG Master’s License. He has been a professional captain since 1977, and has
commanded sail and powerboats all over the world, including a stint as captain for a dinner
cruise vessel in the busy harbor of New York City. He is particularly proud to have been
tender captain for Dennis Conner’s successful Stars & Stripes America’s Cup team inn 1987.
John is an ABYC Standards-Accredited professional marine surveyor and is a member of SAMS.
He chairs a municipal government committee concerned with waterfront access and sits on the
board of state and regional marine trade organizations. John has been a member of the
BoatTEST.com team of testing captains since 2002 and has tested over 100 boats during
those years.
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Lis
Soltes, Managing Editor
Lis is in charge of managing all editorial content on the site.
She works with freelance writers, conducts the distribution of BoatTEST.com’s
Dock Line newsletter, and handles the video production phase for
the website and TV show. Prior to joining BoatTEST.com she worked for
an educational database assisting in the production of online and print
content.
lis@boattest.com |
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Rob Everse, Sales Manager
Rob joined BoatTEST in January 2006. An avid boater, fisherman, and outdoorsman Rob spent
the majority of his career as a marketer for a large Midwest-based yacht manufacturer.
Because of Rob’s background, he has terrific insight into what customers expect to get in
a well-built boat and the levels of customer service demanded by both boat buyers and boat
builders. He has a thorough understanding of the hurdles that marine marketers face on a
daily basis. Having walked in those shoes, Rob is poised to help our partners find creative
ways to accomplish their marketing goals. |
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Capt.
Bob Smith, Senior Boat Tester
Capt. Bob's
past career in the corporate world had him
working for Mallinckrodt as a corporate
trainer. Once he decided to pursue his true
passion for boating, he joined the BoatTEST
team as on-camera talent and boat test captain.
Capt. Bob lives in Tampa, Florida and also
specializes in boat repair and delivery
work. He holds a USCG 100 Ton license. |
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Capt.
Ron Svoboda, Boat Tester
In his "other
life", Capt. Ron is actually an industrial
engineer with experience in both the maritime
and aerospace industries. He works with
us as an on-camera captain and field tester. Capt. Ron holds a USCG 100 Ton License. |
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Capt.
Vince Daniello, Boat Tester
Capt. Vince
is a well-known tournament fishing captain
in the South Florida area, and his company
Bluewater Adventures specializes in taking
care of the maintenance needs and delivery
requirements for large-yacht owners. He
works with BoatTEST as an on-camera captain
and field tester. Capt. Vince holds a USCG 500-ton license. |
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Keith Burton, Associate Editor
Keith Burton is a veteran journalist with over 30 years experience spanning radio, television, magazines and newspapers. An avid boater, Keith lives on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Keith’s work appears in a variety of nationally distributed boating and auto magazines. |
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Bill
"Mr. Boston" Giglio, Cameraman
and Director
Billy has
been involved in all technical aspects of
television production since graduation from
Boston University film school in 1986. As
a core member of ESPN's golf crew,
he's worked on nearly every show to be produced
at Nickelodeon Studios in Florida.
He also has numerous MTV and VH-1
concerts to his credit. He has been hit
with more than his fair share of seawater
blasts from jetboats, and his motto? "I
will let nothing stand in my way of getting
a shot." |
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Dave
Kimelman, Cameraman and Director
Dave's been
onboard with us since our first video production
"GPS Navigation" in 1995. Dave's
been a camera operator, director and cinematographer
for 15 years. Along with his years of work
in the marine industry shooting for BoatTEST.com,
he is also highly regarded in the commercial,
music video and feature film arenas. His
music video credits include Rod Stewart
and U2, his commercial credits include
Snickers, Mercedes Benz, Coca-Cola, Ivory
Soap, Frito -Lay, Bacardi, Coors Light and
Carnival Cruise Lines. His feature film
credits include The Crew, TakeDown,
The Last Home Run and Curdled.
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Derek
Anderson, Cameraman and Editor
Derek comes
to us from the U.K. where he was a senior
manager and producer at the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) for more than
25 years. Other credits include camerawork
and production for National Geographic,
Sunshine Network, NBC, CBS, ABC New, Discovery
Channel, and ESPN. |
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Steve
Hansen, Dir. of Sound Design, Hi-Top
Productions
On every video
on BoatTEST.com there is one common production
thread and that is the music of Steve Hansen.
Steve is actively involved in commercial
and private-label music production, as both
a performing artist and creative director.
Recent credits include a new series of dance
videos by Denise Austin as well four
full length CDs he's produced as solo artist.
Other credits include music and V.O. for
radio spots including AT&T, People's
Bank, WWF & Slim Jims, and he wrote
& produced musical score for off-Broadway
hit Spooktacular 2000. Steve
is a Member of the National Assoc. of Recording
Arts & Sciences (NARAS). shansen@hi-top.com |
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Bonaya Mudda, Webmaster
Bonaya comes to us from GBE Consulting Group
with over 6 years extensive experience in user interface design and server
processing. He is in charge of all website design and database applications.
Bonaya's expertise in database driven websites allows us to make editorial
changes in real-time and add new content as soon as it becomes available.
He also designs programs that allow BoatTEST to track and maintain data gathered
from our site to send onto the appropriate parties.
Thanks to Bonaya, publishing has never been faster or easier.
bonaya@boattest.com |
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