Big Thunder Plans to Show Off 32-Foot Cat in Key West and Englewood

ByJason Johnson

Hopefully Ed Champion and Jim Watson of Big Thunder Marine were getting close to settling in for the Florida Powerboat Club Key West Poker Run by the time my flight landed in Miami this afternoon.

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The Big Thunder 32 Cat is going to be part of this week’s Key West Poker Run. Photos courtesy Big Thunder Marine

The two left yesterday from Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks with the company’s prototype 32-foot catamaran that is for currently for sale but won’t be available until after potential customers to get to see it firsthand—maybe even take it for a ride—in Key West, Fla., or the following weekend in Englewood, Fla. The 32-footer, which is powered by twin Mercury Racing Verado 400R engines, is scheduled to be a pace boat for the Offshore Powerboat Association World Championships (Nov. 15-19).

According to Jeremy Anderson, general manager of Big Thunder Marine, the second Big Thunder 32 Cat—with four more on order behind it—is in the works at the Iconic Marine Group facility in Washington, N.C. He said a subsidiary of Iconic Marine Group has licensed the designs and the molds, which have been improved upon from the prototype model, and that Big Thunder is the exclusive dealer of the boat.

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The first Big Thunder 32 Cat with the second-generation molds is currently in production in Washington, N.C.

“We’ve order five 32s and we’re pricing them aggressively,” said Anderson, who is expecting to have boat No. 2 ready for the winter boat show season. “For $299,000 the boat comes with twin 400Rs, a nice, color-matched interior, a Garmin GPS, a killer stereo and more.”

Anderson invited anyone in Key West or Englewood to reach out to Champion or Watson to check out the 32-footer, adding that you won’t be disappointed. In the meantime he’ll be in chilly Missouri overseeing Big Thunder’s two on-water locations as well as its beautiful new 19,000-square-foot showroom facility, which he’s expecting to be open at the beginning of 2018. Look for an update on the property next week on speedonthewater.com.