Full Carbon Statement 396 Catamaran Struts Its Stuff In Southwest Florida
On most days, Randy Sweers of The Marine Group is a soft-spoken, laidback guy. He’s so chill, in fact, that it’s hard to guess what he’s thinking and feeling.
But yesterday wasn’t one of those days. Sweers, who had just finished a test session in a new carbon-fiber Statement Marine 396 catamaran powered by twin Mercury Racing 500R engines, was frothing with enthusiasm.
Though there’s more testing to be done, Randy Sweers is delighted with the overall performance of the Statement Marine 396 catamaran.
“It’s one thing to have a boat that looks great, it’s another to have one that accelerates and handles great,” said Sweers, who is producing the 39-footer as well as a 44-foot center console under a licensing agreement with Statement Marine at a facility he set up in Brazil. “The new 396 will turn a lot of heads just with its style, but it also has the performance to back it up.
“Let’s be realistic,” he continued. “When you get to the top brands of outboard-engine-equipped catamarans they all run fast for the power. But it’s how they run fast that really counts. The 396 is very planted and doesn’t get unsettled—it’s very forgiving and easy to run at speed.”
Though Sweers was “very happy” with the boat’s top speed running 35-inch-pitch, five-blade propellers as parts of its “conservative setup,” he wasn’t ready to reveal it just yet. But he couldn’t ‘t contain itself when it came to the catamaran’s efficiency.
“Any time you can get propeller slip below 6 percent with ‘everyday’ propellers, you know that you have an efficient setup,” he said. “We are already there and we only tested one engine height.”
The 39-footer reportedly made efficient use of its Mercury Racing 500R outboard engines.
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