Sneak Peek—Statement 396 Catamaran No. 3
The principal of The Marine Group based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Randy Sweers visits Brazil every month, often more than once. And so the trip becomes routine, on par with driving to his local Starbucks to pick up coffee.
That’s just what comes with building boats built in another country, a project he started a few years back in a marketing partnership of with Statement Marine owner Nick Buis. You either get used to the journey and life on the road or you don’t.
After three years of traveling between the United States and South America, the trek has become a non-event for the marine industry veteran.
The third Statement Marine 396 catamaran should be stateside in eight weeks.
During his most recent trip, Sweers grabbed a couple of images of the latest Statement 396 catamaran in the paint booth. It is the third 39-footer built in the facility.
“The painting talent here in Brazil is really quite excellent,” he said. “I’ve been really impressed.
“We have a super-talented painter named Henrique,” he continued. “Joao Nehring, who runs operations in Brazil, has put together a great team to manufacture the 396 cat and the 44 GTrs center console.”
A pair of Mercury Racing 500R outboard engines will be installed on the cat’s transom once the painting process is complete. Then the boat will be shipped to Florida for interior installation and fine-tuning.
Two weeks of rigging work remain before the cat will be ready to ship. The journey takes six weeks, which means the boat should be stateside in approximately eight weeks.
“While I was in Brazil this week, we also started lamination on the first 396 catamaran for the 500R Factory Stock class in offshore racing,” Sweers said. “The 396 is such a solid boat. It’s going to be great in rough water.”
Brazil operations manager Joao Nehring, painter Henrique and Randy Sweers struck a pose in front of the latest Statement 396 catamaran earlier this week.
Sweers arrived home in Fort Lauderdale yesterday at 5 a.m. By early afternoon, he was across the state in Southwest Florida for a center console sea-trial and set-up session.
“I am about to test and continue dialing in the first 44 GTrs center console with Shaun Torrente,” he said via text message yesterday.
Sweers plans to run the 44-footer in today’s Fort Myers Offshore lunch-run to Millers Dockside on Boca Grande. “That should be a lot of fun,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
The life of a road-warrior has its perks.
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