First Statement 396 Catamaran Tested Yesterday
It’s been a busy week for Statement Marine dealer Randy Sweers of Southwest Florida. Early Monday, he took hull No. 1 of the Statement 396 catamaran for its first sea trial in São Paulo, Brazil. He arrived at his home in Fort Lauderdale yesterday, only to turn around today and catch a flight to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where he’ll celebrate his birthday. From there, he’ll head back to São Paulo later this week for a boat show.
The first Statement Marine 396 catamaran has hit the water. Photos courtesy Randy Sweers
Though Sweers said initial testing for the Mercury Racing 500R outboard engine-powered 39-footer went well, his time on the water was limited. But he’ll run the catamaran again on his upcoming trek to Brazil.
“The weather has not been very cooperative down there,” Sweers explained. “It’s the winter time, it’s been raining and the seas have been rough. We take a lot for granted when it comes to what we have here in the United States, such as being to run and test our boats in certain areas. We truly are blessed with amazing infrastructure to allow us to use our boats in all different areas of the country.
“In São Paulo, if the ocean is rough, the only other option is to test in the largest commercial shipping port in all of Brazil, Santos,” he continued. “But it has a lot of boat traffic, especially ferries that transverse directly across the port transporting people back-and-forth.”
Sweers will continue testing the 39-footer on his return trip to Brazil later this week.
Among the 10-boat mix of 44-foot center consoles—another new model for Statement—under construction at the South American facility is a canopied 396 catamaran. Not only does Sweers plans to campaign it next season in what will be the 500R Factory Stock class, he’s hoping to knock off a few local offshore endurance records.
“I will be using the new raceboat to break a couple of endurance records in Brazil that were set by Eike Batista in a 40-foot Skater Powerboats catamaran called Spirit of the Amazon,” he said. “Many of us ‘older guys’ in offshore racing probably remember the larger Spirit of the Amazon raceboat, a 50-foot, quad-engine Cougar catamaran that Eike raced in the United States with legendary throttleman Bobby Moore.”
Production of catamarans and center consoles is ongoing at the South American facility.
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