The first boat I can remember using was a simple, aluminum fishing boat we kept parked under a tarp at the family cottage. It ran a 5hp Evanrude outboard, but more often than not it relied on “oar power” to get us back from the middle of the lake.

So when Ken Poirier of Ken’s Airboat Rentals built his twin-engine, 1,500hp airboat, he was literally blowing away the competition. Ken’s company builds services and rents a fleet of custom airboats, used largely for energy and environmental work. The nature of environmental disaster efforts, pipelines and electrical supply work often means needing to get people and supplies into difficult to reach areas, making an airboat the perfect vehicle for the task.

The unique flat hull and air propulsion system allows these boats to navigate smoothly over water or dry land seamlessly, and without care for ground conditions or the traction concerns you might face with a standard emergency vehicle. For an airboat to get all that gear around, it needs to be able to put out some serious power.

Ken equipped this monster with twin fuel injected GM 540ci. big-blocks, making a total of 1500hp at under 6k rpm. You can see (and hear) it run in one of Ken’s YouTube videos, which we’ve featured up top. The boat was setup to run a 2,500lb crane up front, and has been tested while loaded with over 3,500lbs on deck. Nice work Ken! Proving yet once again, there is no wrong use for GM power.