First Impression Of ‘Awesome’ Second Canopied MTI 390XR Pleasure Cat
By the time you read this, Adam Seraphine, Mike Barnes, Rusty Williams and the rest of the crew currently kicking back at Fish and Company at the Lake of the Ozarks likely will be back at Performance Boat Center headquarters in Osage Beach, Mo. Seraphine, who lives full-time in Minnesota, has been at the lake for the past two days getting familiar with his new canopied MTI 390XR catamaran equipped with pair of Mercury Racing 450R outboard engines mounted on Shaun Torrente Racing brackets. It is the second pleasure version of the 39-footer built with a canopy—the first went to Seraphine’s friends Burton and Yvette Kirsten of Michigan.
Owned by Adam Seraphine, the second canopied MTI 390XR is a red-hot beauty.
And it’s safe to say Seraphine, who previously owned a canopied 40-foot V-bottom from Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats, is pleased with his choice.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “It’s so comfortable and easy to use. And the visibility is great. Between the large windshields and the seating position it has a full range of vision whether you’re in the front or the back. I sat in the back yesterday just to try it out and it was enjoyable.
“MTI did a great job and Rusty (Williams) and everyone at Performance Boat Center helped in making sure everything kept moving along as planned,” he added. “I can’t say enough good things about the whole team at Performance Boat Center. I’ve been boating my whole life and I still can’t get over how well PBC has treated me these last few years.”
Said Kirsten, who isn’t playing at the Lake of the Ozarks this weekend but is keeping tabs on his friend, “I am so pumped for him. We are both going to do the Performance Boat Center Spring Fun Run and MTI (25th anniversary) at the lake in our MTI cats.”
Seraphine and Kirsten ordered their boats through the multi-brand dealership at the same time. Williams and his teammate on and off the racecourse, Myrick Coil, took delivery of Seraphine’s cat Thursday and they haven’t had time to completely dial it in. More set-up and testing work remains, and the plan is to engage MTI’s John Teague, who managed the Wentzville, Mo., company’s Black Diamond catamaran program for Oklahoma’s Derek Wachob, as needed.
But Seraphine is already pleased with the boat’s performance. With five passengers enjoying the wind-free ride, the 39-footer had no trouble running 120-plus mph.
From any angle, the 39-footer is breathtaking.
“I was worried about giving up some speed with the added weight of the canopy but it’s not a problem,” he said. “Myrick and Rusty haven’t even had much of a chance to play with it.”
Brett Manire, who co-owns Performance Boat Center with his longtime business partner, Mark Waddington, is equally delighted with how the latest 390XR turned out.
“It’s stunning,” he said. “MTI and their entire staff keeps putting out boats that push the bar higher and higher. The boat is awesome.”
Manire paused to laugh.
“Adam is big part of the PBC family,” he said, then laughed again. “I asked him to leave years ago and he said, ‘I’m not leaving.’”
With his first catamaran, Seraphine is hoping to pull off a “first” this year. In November, he’ll campaign it in the Florida Powerboat Club Key West Poker Run with a couple special guests onboard. The plan is for Seraphine and Barnes to take Billy Mauff and Jay Muller of the Super Cat-class WHM Motorsports offshore racing team with them.
“In all the years Billy and Jay have been racing in Key West, they’ve never done the poker run,” Seraphine explained. “So they’re going to fly up after the Wednesday race and come down with us on Thursday.
“Jay has already called ‘throttles,’” he added, then chuckled. “It’s going to be a battle for the driver’s seat.”
Said Seraphine of his new ride, “It’s awesome. It’s so comfortable and easy to use.”
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