powerboat listings mti

March 23, 2023

The Osage Beach, MO boating mega-facility Performance Boat Center has to be one of the busiest marine shops in the nation. Not only are they successful dealers of the red-hot MTI and Sunsation brands, selling countless models for both of the respective companies, but they have a complete service department, paint department, storage facilities, retail store, restaurants and bars, host several annual events on the Lake of the Ozarks and support a championship offshore race program––the Performance Boat Center / FASS Fuel Systems Super Stock team.

So it was an unwelcomed necessity when PBC owners Mark Waddington and Brett Manire had to step into the boat manufacturing realm of the industry, especially with their mutually beneficial manufacturer/dealer relationships.

"We never intended to be boat manufacturers, but with Cigarette (Racing Team) trying to purchase Doug Wright (in 2022), and with Doug Wright becoming uncertain in their own future, we wanted to be able to be in control of our own quality and timing for the success of our own cat line," Manire told Speedboat . "We took what was ours out of the Doug Wrights and built a manufacturing business out in Texas."

Manire is referring to a now defunct business relationship between Doug Wright of Doug Wright Designs/High-Tech Composites and Performance Boat Center to provide performance catamaran hulls to the Lake of the Ozarks-based company. PBC would then complete the boat with rigging, paint, interiors, engine installation and final delivery as Wright Performance catamarans. The partnership seemingly worked well for a few years, as the first WP360 cat debuted in 2017 and gained popularity and industry accolades on its performance, speed and styling.

"This is a whole new chapter for us," continued Manire. "We feel that we sell the best two outboard catamarans in the world––MTI and Performance Powerboats . We just can't get as many MTIs as we need to keep this place going, so we had to become a manufacturer. All of the quality issues I've ever seen before and all of the fixes we've wanted to fix, we've now accomplished all of that. We've made a lot of changes to the looks of the boat and some functionality but the main thing is now we control the quality of the boats and when we get them."

Located in Houston, Texas, the Performance Powerboats production facility is in a nearly new, climate-controlled 35,000 sq. foot-building where all of the molds, offices and lamination areas reside under one roof, to ensure the best possible outcome. All boats are laid up with carbon fiber and epoxy resin. The operation currently has 16-18 employees under the supervision of former longtime Mercury Racing tech, and current Performance Powerboats general manager Johnny Bauer , who joined the Performance team last year and has been integral in its progression to independent production and craftsmanship.

The hulls and decks are then sent to Performance Boat Center in Missouri, where the boat will be rigged and completed by the production team in LOTO. Paint designs are created by PBC's talented graphic artist, Rob Rich and executed on-site in their own state-of-the-art paint booths. The interiors are handcrafted and installed by Ryan Schwarzen of Kutting Edge Interiors in Moscow Mills, Missouri, while the windshields are provided by Lee Aerospace of Wichita, KS.

Available models are the P280 , which can accommodate a single or twin outboard application; the P360 , with recent design tweaks for improved look and feel; and the P420 , with a newly designed top deck––all exclusively powered with Mercury Racing outboard engines. The business is operating as its own entity as Performance Powerboats with Performance Boat Center in Missouri and Florida being the brand's dealers.

Performance Boat Center shop foreman Myrick Coil welcomes the change and the new venture into boat manufacturing.

"In my opinion, there are changes that the customers want––that need to get done before the boat gets laid up or in the process of the build. Not once it gets to rigging. So, it's one of those things where we're now able to control different aspects of the boat, modifications and adjustments, to ensure we deliver exactly what the customer wants and to make them happy," said Coil. "We know we have a strong following and a product that people want... and that there's a need for these boats because others can't even keep up now with the demand."

The company already has numerous orders currently in production at their new Texas facility, with more on the books. The Performance Boat Center team will be delivering their latest Performance Powerboats P360 to its owner at the Desert Storm Poker Run and Shootout in Lake Havasu City, AZ in late April, with other P360s following closely behind. The first P420 with the new top deck is expected to debut at the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout , in late-August 2023.

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