Order a brand-new canopied catamaran right now for the Super Stock class or the Factory Stock class, the new handle for the category formerly known as 450R Factory Stock, and you won’t be on the racecourse until next season. Raceboats typically aren’t decked out with five-figure paintjobs and plush interiors—far from it—but they do take some time to build and rig.
They also come from the same manufacturers that build high-performance pleasure cats. A significant wait is guaranteed.
But let’s say, first, you don’t have or want to spend the dough required to build a new raceboat. Second, you’re not that patient. You want to race this season.
That means you’re going to be buying used. As it happens, there are couple of interesting pre-owned products in the pipeline.
On the Super Stock side of things, the former 32-foot Doug Wright catamaran that ran under the Performance Boat Center banner is still for sale. Equipped with class-spec 300-hp Mercury Racing outboard engines, the 2019 model-year 32-footer won a world championship in 2021 and finished second overall at the 2022 worlds with Myrick Coil and Rusty Williams in the cockpit. It is listed for $299,950.
Turning to the Factory Stock class, Scott Grants and Edwin Scheer—partners in the new Platinum Powerboats company—are offering Hank’s Saloon, a 2023 model-year 38-foot Doug Wright catamaran, for $389,000 minus power. True, the cat doesn’t have a world title to its credit. But it did take the checkered flag in the 2024 Midwest Challenge in Sheboygan, Wis., and also earned a second-place finish last year at the Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix in Southwest Florida.
Of course, the 38-footer won’t be much good to you for anything without engines. Grants said they will sell the cat with new and installed twin 500R outboards—the spec power package for the Factory Stock class— for $500,000.
Worth keeping in mind, especially if these prices give you pause? No one goes offshore racing to save money—and no one has to go offshore racing. Plus, the boat is just one of the many expenses you’ll incur during a season.
You’ve been duly warned.—Matt Trulio