Quick Take— Ménage à Trois At The Bago Big Bet

Introduced last year, the Mercury Racing V-8 500R and V-10 400R outboard engines are the newest entries in the Fond du Lac, Wis., company’s four-stroke outboard line. But there still are plenty of go-fast catamarans powered by their 300R predecessors unveiled in 2018. The naturally aspirated V-8 outboards still make perfect sense in 32-feet-and-under pleasure cats, and they are spec power in offshore racing’s Super Stock class.

Brad Zastrow’s 36-foot Talon catamaran is truly one of a kind. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix

But how many cats have triple 300Rs providing the power? Just one, a 36-foot Talon called Ménage à Trois and it happens to be in the Bago Big Bet mix this weekend in Oshkosh, Wis.

The 1995-model-year catamaran is the property of Northern Illinois boater Brad Zastrow. A dedicated longtime high-performance powerboat fan who has owned three triple-engine cats, Zastrow purchased the 36-footer, which was cut down from a standard 37-footer and originally built for offshore racing by Talon founder Gary Armington though it never competed, in 2008.

Zastrow, who grew up in Northern Wisconsin, worked his way through a series of triple-engine setups on the cat with Mercury Racing 2.4, 2.5 and 300X two-stroke outboards before he started repowering it with 300Rs in the fall of 2022. He finished the project in the spring of 2023 and estimates he put 80 to 100 hours into the project.

The triple-outboard cat tops out at 110 mph and “punches hard,” according to its passionate owner.

“Going from two-stroke to four-stroke was a big deal, especially when it came to wiring,” he explained just before last night’s photo session on Lake Winnebago. “The harnesses and everything else had to be replaced. We also had issues with setup including engine height and water pressure. It took about a year to get that right.

“Now it’s wonderful,” he continued. “It tops out at about 110 mph—it’s not a fast hull. But it punches hard in the midrange thanks to the extra motor.”

Brad Zastrow (right) struck a pose yesterday behind his 36-foot, triple-300R-equipped Talon yesterday with Devin Wozencraft of Wozencraft Insurance Agency, who also is in Oshkosh, Wis., for the Bago Big Bet. Photo by Matt Trulio

And in his one-of-a-kind 36-footer, he’ll be putting that punch to good use on Lake Winnebago today.