Now Live! Project: Adaption—Doug Wright 42 Carbon Waves And Wheels Edition Video
In yesterday‘s story about the delivery of Dave and Susie Burgess’ Doug Wright Powerboats 42 Carbon Waves and Wheels Edition catamaran, which was more of a teaser for the video featuring the build of the 42-foot cat powered by twin Mercury Racing 500R engines that is now live, it was alluded to that Waves and Wheels in Osage Beach, Mo., developed an innovative way for Burgess to get into it. And that you had to see it to believe it. Well, now the wait is over.
Michigan’s Dave and Susie Burgess are ecstatic about their new 42-foot Doug Wright catamaran that is featured in a Scrapyard Media-produced video that is now live on YouTube. Photo courtesy Brad DiMaggio/Scrapyard Media
As you can see from the thumbnail image below, which you can click to watch the video, Waves and Wheels custom-built a motorized windshield and portside driver’s seat along with a stowable bridge to make cockpit access realistic for Burgess, who broke his back in a snowmobiling accident 30 years ago and has never owned a catamaran before because getting in and out of them is challenging with his physical limitations.
And, as you’ll find out by watching either the full project video produced by Scrapyard Media for the Speedonthewater.com YouTube channel and/or the complementary walkthrough video hosted by Waves and Wheels owner Justin Wagner that also went live today, the boat’s customized windshield is the icing on top of a fully loaded cake. The concept, and the trust that the Lake of the Ozarks-based team could pull it off, is the main reason Burgess chose to work with Wagner, whom he met when Waves and Wheels did the interior on his 41-foot Outerlimits in 2017, to design the Doug Wright to fit his lifestyle—a lifestyle that consists of a lot of work at his business, Raymond Excavating Company in Marysville, Mich., and as much as boating fun as possible between the lakes and rivers at home and the Southwest Florida waterways around the Burgess family’s Cape Coral getaway.
As mentioned in yesterday’s preview story, Wagner was over the moon following last weekend’s delivery of the boat in Cape Coral. It was quite clear that the Burgess family was ecstatic as well.
Burgess, who is never embarrassed about his handicap but also never wanted any of the previous stories or this video to be focused on it, understands that he could potentially inspire someone who looked at boating as next to impossible to look into it and give it a try. He’s also realistic and knows this could be the only boat like it Waves and Wheels ever does. Either way he’s got an excellent boat that he’s looking forward to using at upcoming Fort Myers Offshore events and back home in Michigan all summer.
“It’s amazing—I mean it’s just way over the top,” Burgess said. “I knew it was going to be big because I’ve been in (his son) Brandon’s 36 Skater and it’s a large boat for its size. But this thing is really big. And it’s very roomy and comfortable inside. The best word to describe it is amazing. My wife is way more excited, too, now that she’s seen the boat. The potty they added up front worked out great, too, so she’s happy. I didn’t know that there was that much room in that compartment.
“I really can’t say enough about the attention to detail in the boat,” he added. “And performance-wise, I have some learning to do, but wow is it fast. We’ll be comfortable all day at 80 to 100 mph—and it gets there quick with the 500s—but it’s nice to know there’s a lot left. We ran it up over 100 mph with Justin and it just ran right over everything. Yes, it’s a big boat, but it doesn’t accelerate like it’s that big.”
Check out more images of the 42-foot cat being built by Waves and Wheels and its partners. Photos courtesy Justin Wagner
Wagner agreed after getting a couple of test sessions with the boat on Lake of the Ozarks.
“The first evening we tested at the lake, we didn’t open it up too much because the winds were pretty strong, but we ran it up past 100 mph and man did it get there fast,” Wagner said. “For a big outboard cat, it’s impressive. It loves the 500s, that’s for sure. It’s a very agile boat. It feels very similar to the 36 Carbon we delivered last summer, just larger.
“Our second time out we got a number we were very happy with and that was with almost half a tank of fuel and Dave’s scooter in there,” he added. “This thing is loaded up with the motorized windshield, a full Bluave Marine Audio system and more, and it still scoots. We’re so proud of this boat it’s not even funny.”
As expected, the 42-footer is loaded with generous storage lockers up front and behind the cockpit, which are well thought out and well padded. There’s even a canvas-covered compartment in the forward hatch that hold four 9-foot carbon-fiber posts for a cockpit cover to provide shade. Waves and Wheels seriously did think of it all and they have plans to reduce the size of the bridge Burgess uses to get across to his seat. You can get a close look at the boat in the accompanying walkthrough video below.
Starting with Dave and Susie Burgess, who trusted his team with the project, and his rock—his wife, Cicely—Wagner had an extensive list of people to thank who had their hands on this project. He praised his dedicated team at Waves and Wheels, which includes Josh Roark, Anthonee Coleman, Dustin Hile, Kelly Smith, Steven Fletcher, Jermaine Smith and Richard Patzwald, as well as Andy Sanders and Michael Schildknecht from Go Fast Boat Service for their rigging and setup skills, Trent Lowry with Castaway Customs, Brandon Coplin with NautiAft Covers, Tony Buechter, Cales Jones and Mark Jordan from Graphix1 Paint for their artistry, and his best friend, Andy Imhof from Maryland Offshore Performance Marine Center and Graphix1 Paint. He also thanked Scrapyard Media’s Brad DiMaggio and the team at Speedonthewater.com.
From the speedonthewater.com team, we’d like to thank the Scrapyard Media team for their turnaround time and willingness to work on this incredible story with us. Of course, we have some sponsors to thank American Custom Marine, CTS Custom Trailers, Maryland Offshore Performance Marine Center, Sunsation Powerboats,Teague Custom Marine, UnRiehl Performance and WIA Marine Insurance.
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