MTI 482 Catamaran An Immediate Success
When it comes to releasing new high-performance powerboats at exactly the right time, MTI’s Randy Scism is not a man you’d want to bet against. Since introducing the MTI 340X catamaran in 2016, the founder and owner of the Wentzville, Mo., company has added 39- and 44-foot models to the company’s outboard catamaran line and like the 34-footer, they’ve been strong sellers. Same goes for Scism’s impeccable timing with outboard-powered center consoles, which MTI started building 10-plus years ago. Now the MTI-V center console line also includes a 50-footer and a 57-footer.
With the latest generation of its 48-foot catamaran, MTI has another hit on its hands. Photo by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos.
So it should surprise no one that the company has eight orders—three of which came through Osage Beach, Mo.-based Performance Boat Center—for its new eight-seat 482 catamaran, a completely reimagined version of the 48-footer that cemented the company on the custom high-performance powerboat manufacturing map. The focal point of the MTI display in the Miami Beach Convention Center during the Miami International Boat Show last month, the red-and-black beauty drew big crowds throughout the five-day event.
“The reception to the 482 has been great,” said Taylor Scism, MTI’s vice president. “Not only do we have several orders, we have another demo next week.“
That the new 48-footer is a sterndrive-engine model makes MTI’s move that much sweeter given the steady decline in sterndrive-equipped high-performance catamarans since 2010-2012. As even the most casual observers know, outboard engines have become the dominant propulsion packages for most go-fast cat buyers.
A pair of Mercury Racing 1100 engines power hull No. 1, and the turbocharged, quad-cam four-valve 1100s likely will remain the most popular engine package for the cat. “Not all of the 482s have been ordered with 1100s,” Scism said. “But a good majority of them have.”
Captured in a rare quiet moment during the 2024 Miami International Boat Show, Taylor Scism is delighted with the reception of the MTI 482 catamaran.
The annual MTI Owners Winter Fun Run to Hawks Cay Resort in the Florida Keys happens next week, and the first 482 will be in the 53-boat fleet from North Miami to the Duck Key venue. But as orders for the new model prove, it surely won’t be the last 482 to make the trek with the MTI faithful.
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