Nor-Tech At 35—The Perfect Storm
Longtime performance boat enthusiasts know Perfect Storm as a vibrant Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats 3600 Supercat painted by Dean Loucks of The Art of Design and commissioned by Bob Christie, then a powerhouse Donzi and Baja dealer in New Jersey. A 2004 model-year build initially powered by 1,000-hp supercharged engines built in house at the Cape Coral, Fla., factory, Perfect Storm was among the hottest catamarans of its era. The 36-footer had graced the cover of Powerboat magazine early that year and was the talk of any given poker run it entered.
Test driver Bob Teague ran Perfect Storm for a Powerboat magazine photo shoot in 2004. Photo by Tom Newby.
A perfect storm, as described in the blockbuster book of the same name by Sebastian Younger, is the result of two ferocious weather events colliding. That makes Nor-Tech something of a perfect as it is the result of a collision between two Norwegian forces of nature, meaning Trond Schou and Nils Johnsen.
But back to the boat. Perfect Storm was Christie’s first catamaran. One test ride in another 3600 Supercat with Schou was enough to convince the longtime V-bottom man—his current ride at the time was an Outerlimits—that he needed to own one. Then the head of Nor-Tech’s in-house engine program, Ron Potter built the cat’s 1,000-hp mills.
The 36-footer was a poker-run fixture in the Northeast and South Florida.
“It was a great boat,” Christie recalled. “And it ran phenomenal above 100 mph.”
“Our first event in Perfect Storm was on the Hudson River in the New York City Poker Run,” he added. “Eventually, we repowered it with 1100s built by Ron and we got it up to 160 mph.”
CLICK HERE OR THE IMAGE BELOW TO READ THE 2004 POWERBOAT MAGAZINE REVIEW OF PERFECT STORM
Christie and Loucks worked closely on the boat’s color scheme, which included then relatively and decidedly expensive photo-sensitive paint that changed hues in different angles of sunlight. Neither of them wanted to attempt a traditional “theme” boat, though such paintjobs were popular at the time.
“Dean just wanted to create an awesome paintjob,” said Christie.
But for Loucks, that was easier said than done. The first version didn’t please the noted perfectionist whose facility is in Elkhart, Ind., so he stripped off the paint and started again on the 36-footer.
“The cool thing about Perfect Storm?” Christie said, then laughed. “If you get a big nick in the paint, you don’t have to repaint a five-foot panel. You just had to add another lightning bolt.
“Dean loved the final paintjob,” he added.
In a 2019 Speed On The Water digital magazine article titled “Best Of The Best” Loucks discussed his 30 favorite paintjobs done at The Art Of Design. Of those 30, five of them—including Perfect Storm—were Nor-Techs.
“The Perfect Storm theme included clouds and lightning bolts, but we kept the design classy,” Loucks told Jason Johnson, the co-publisher of speedonthewater.com and the author of the in-depth story. “Although storms can be dark, we wanted the overall look of the boat to be light and I think” we nailed it with the color selection, which included blue, silver, purple, lavender and red.
“ I was happy with how the lightning bolts turned out,” he added. “They require a certain technique—you really have to do them carefully—to get them just right like we did on Perfect Storm.
Christie eventually sold Perfect Storm and bought what would become an even better-known catamaran—Speed Racer, a 44-foot MTI catamaran built for Randy Kent and painted by Mark Morris of Visual Imagination. When it came to time repower the cat, Christie turned to his friend Potter, who built a pair of supercharged 1,300-plus-hp monster mill for it.
Perfect Storm was one of the most coveted catamarans of its era. Photo by Brad Glidewell copyright Glidewell Photography.
Though Christie no longer owns a catamaran, he is still a Nor-Tech man. He owns a 340 Sport center console powered by triple 350-hp outboard engines.
Editor’s note: Nor-Tech At 35 is a new article series celebration the company’s 35th anniversary. A new article in the series will go live Thursday mornings through 2025.
Related stories
New Story Series—Celebrating Nor-Tech At 35
Nor-Tech Breezing Into Miami With Display And Demos After Banner Year
Nor-Tech Plays Bad Santa Again For Three-Time Owner
Quick Takes From Fort Lauderdale, Part II—Nor-Tech 4000 Supercat and Performance Powerboats P-280
American Custom Marine Takes Delivery Of Nor-Tech 390 No. 450
Neumanns Thinking ‘Hat-Trick’ Ahead Of Second Nor-Tech Console And MTI Cat Completions
Skater At 50—Celebrating Skater Powerboats’ 50th Anniversary Weekly
MTI At 25—The 2023 Collection
The post Nor-Tech At 35—The Perfect Storm appeared first on Speed on the Water.
Source: https://www.speedonthewater.com/nor-tech-at-35-the-perfect-storm/
