Pro Class 1 MTI Catamaran Aces First Test Session At Lake X

With MTI founder and owner Randy Scism, Grant Bruggemann of Grant’s Signature Racing, Mike Griffiths and Roy Mitchell of Mercury Racing and a crew that included MTI’s Milton Calafel and Connor Handy at Lake X, it’s safe to say the high-performance marine industry brain-trust was as formidable as it gets for the past two days at the St. Cloud, Fla., facility testing facility. What brought them together, of course, were the first test sessions for the new 48-foot MTI Factory team catamaran owned and driven by Willy Cabeza and throttled by Bruggemann, which will compete in the Pro Class 1 ranks this season.

(From left) Randy Scism, Willy Cabeza and Grant Bruggemann were delighted with the results of the past two days. Photos by Kellie Bruggemann/Grant’s Signature Racing.

Both test days saw blustery conditions that included white caps this morning. But that didn’t keep the group from testing hard.

“It was really windy this morning, but it calmed down after lunch,” said Bruggemann. “But that didn’t stop us from having very production shakedown sessions.

Even without its full livery, the new MTI raceboat is a head-turner.

“MTI built a great boat, right off the bat,” he continued. “We were very pleased with the overall handling of the boat entering turns, mid-turn and exiting turns. And it’s fast.”

Just two miles long, Lake X is a relatively small body of water for running a 48-foot catamaran powered by twin 1,100-hp class-spec engines from Mercury Racing to its full potential. But it proved plenty long enough for Bruggemann and Cabeza, who competed together last season in the 450R Factory Stock class.

Cabeza and Bruggemann methodically worked their way up to speed in the48-footer.

“The size of the lake was not an issue for the acceleration rate of this boat,” said Bruggemann.

Added Scism, who was joined by his wife, Cherell, for today’s test session, “They had a good day and were very happy. Of course, you don’t know until you get next to the other boats on the racecourse, but they were pleased and the boat looked great on the water.”

Cabeza and Bruggemann tested the cat at “race weight,” meaning it had the same amount of fuel it will have at the start of a race. That gave them a true baseline of where they are before their next test session. Though the team members haven’t chosen a date or location, they plan to test again ahead of the Thunder On Cocoa Beach season opener set for May 15-18.

It’s been all-hands-on deck—and cockpit—at Lake X for the past two days.

Despite that they’ve logged hours together competing in an MTI 390X cat in the 450R Factory Stock ranks, they proceeded methodically and cautiously during the past two days.

“You have to get used to new boats,” Bruggemann explained. “We took baby steps, which the way MTI does it, to work our way to faster and faster speeds. We made sure we were doing it the right way.

“Willy and the guys very happy,” he added.