Refreshed Necessary Evil Donzi 38 ZRC To Debut At Kuttawa Cannonball Run

A powerboat lifer, Thomas Anselmi is the last V-bottom sportboat owner of a close-knit New Jersey group in the 2000s that included Bob Christie, Frank Civitano, Joe Nasso and the late Anthony Sauta. But lives change, of course, and now Anselmi is the only former member of that fun-loving crew fully engaged in the go-fast boating world.

Owned by Thomas and Andrea Anselmi, Necessary Evil 3.0 is ready for the 2024 Kuttawa Cannonball Run.

So it should surprise absolutely no one that Necessary Evil, the 2003-model-year Donzi Marine 38 ZRC sportboat Anselmi purchased in 2007 and now mostly runs with his wife, Andrea (below), has been renovated more than once. Though it doesn’t look it, Necessary Evil is, after all, a 23-year-old boat.

Dubbed Necessary Evil 3.0, the most recent version of the boat will debut at the Kuttawa Cannonball Run, May 31-June 1, in Kentucky. Anselmi earned free registration and lodging for the event as the high bidder during the live auction at the 2023 Speed On The Water Key West Bash benefitting Samuel’s House last November.

Most of the updates to the boat were cosmetic, although it was repowered with 900-hp engines, which began their lives as 700-hp mills, from Innovation Marine in Sarasota, Fla. The company also outfitted the powertrain with Mercury Racing NXT drives and its own transmissions. Will Smith of Phantom Powerboats also did extensive stringer repairs and a full transom rebuild to accommodate the NXT drives and a new exhaust layout, Anselmi explained.

Neither the 38-footer’s interior nor its windscreen needed refreshment, as both were updated in 2017. But Anselmi did add new 16- and 10-inch Garmin GPS units at the helm station, as well as LED lighting in the engine compartment and on the transom.

In addition to the Kuttawa Cannonball Run, Anselmi’s 2024 event plans include the 1,000 Islands Charity Poker Run, most of the Spartan Powerboat Club events in New Jersey and the Florida Powerboat Club Key West Poker Run if he can “get a crew together.”

“My boat runs and looks better than when I bought it in 2007,” he said. “I am looking forward to running Necessary Evil 3.0 in its first poker run in Kuttawa.