Quick Takes From Fort Lauderdale, Part II—Nor-Tech 4000 Supercat and Performance Powerboats P-280

To fully appreciate the new outboard engine-powered Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats 4000 Supercat, you need to see it person. And if you happen to be in South Florida with some time on your hands, you can do exactly that this week at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

Nor-Tech’s new outboard-powered catamaran attracted a crowd during the opening day of the Fort Lauderdale event. Photos by Matt Trulio.

Even in yesterday’s often-driving rain, the 40-footer equipped with quad Mercury Racing 500R outboard engines drew consistently large crowds that kept Nor-Tech dealers from Canada’s Peter Roberts of Double R Performance to Midwest Boating Center’s Marvin Dufner answering questions all day.

Unlike anything on the market, the 4000 Supercat is an impressive piece of hardware. The Cape Coral, Fla., company already has several orders for it and likely will pick up a few more before the show closes Sunday afternoon.

The Performance Powerboats P-280 model with twin outboards is a sharp little hot rod that looks like a blast to drive.

Same goes for the first twin-outboard P-280 catamaran from Performance Powerboats. Good as it looks in photos, it looks better—and like an absolute blast to drive—in person. The first P-280 cat will spend much of its early life as a demo- oat for Performance Boat Center, which is headquartered in Missouri and has a location in South Florida, and it’s sure to get a workout.

But that won’t happen in Fort Lauderdale this week as boat models, as well as the rest of the boat Bahia Mar Marina display, are dock-locked. Still, they’re awfully pretty to look at, especially in person.