DCB Delivers First M28 Cat With Mercury Racing 700 SCi Power

Performance-boat enthusiasts nostalgic for big-block-engine-powered sterndrive catamarans among the current sea of outboard-powered cats will enjoy the latest release from DCB Performance Boats in El Cajon, Calif. Yesterday, the company’s Deron Rettke delivered DCB’s first M28 catamaran equipped with a 700-hp supercharged engine from Mercury Racing.

This open-bow DCB M28 is the first to be equipped with Mercury Racing 700 SCi power.

Until this week, all of the company M-series 28-footers had been ordered with twin Mercury Racing 400R or 450R engines. (With outboard power, the sport cat’s model name is M28R.)

Not only did the boat’s owner Garrett Bailey of Anaheim, Calif., order the 28-footer with a 700 SCi/SSM No. 6 drive package, he had DCB build it in an open-bow and mid-cabin configuration. According to DCB president Jeff Johnston, the cat should top 100 mph for the first-time DCB buyer.

Bailey ordered the cat with a sterndrive engine package to free up transom space and the open-bow to accommodate more passengers. “We like to go to the river and just hang out, so it’s nice not to have outboards on the back,” he said. “And the open bow makes it more user friendly.

“DCB is at another level,” he continued. “The boat came out even better than expected.”

DCB constructed the half-capped 28-footer using the Vacuum Infused Resin process, which incorporated foam-cored and a partial carbon-fiber layup. For the interior, the builder went with a 50-50 blend of Alcantara and CHILL Cool-Tech Marine vinyl. The boat’s custom triple-hue SeaDek flooring package is color-matched to its interior and exterior graphics. An Interior Rigid LED lighting package with mood, courtesy and cupholder lighting provides after-dark illumination for the cockpit.

Check out the slideshow above to enjoy more images of the latest DCB M28 build.

Helm station niceties include a custom black-on-black steering wheel from CP Performance, two SIMRAD NSS9 evo3 touchscreen monitors and a Garmin 942 GPS unit. For tunes, Bailey opted for DCB’s Stage III stereo package with a Fusion head unit, two hard-wired remotes, three JL Audio amplifiers, a dozen JL Audio M6 midrange speakers with LEDs and two 13-inch JL Audio W3 subwoofers.

Set up for a complete day on the water, the cat is equipped with a Bimini top for cockpit shade, two 40-inch billet swim steps (one with with a retractable reboarding ladder) on the stern and a billet foot-shower on the bow.

Extreme Custom Trailers supplied a triple-axle trailer for the 28-footer. The trailer is equipped with two-tone, brushed-and-black 18-inch FUEL rims, black-painted stainless-steel fenders and more.

After testing the cat on Southern California’s Lake Elsinore earlier in the week, Retke of DCB delivered the boat to Bailey in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Bailey and Retke ran the boat for most of the day, and Bailey plans to run the 28-footer on Lake Havasu for the rest of what is shaping up to be a busy Memorial Day weekend on the Colorado River-fed waterway.

Said Bailey (above with friends), “We’re still dialing it in. We don’t have the right props yet but we ran it to 95 mph and still have 1,000 rpm to go. It should go over 100 mph easily.”

DCB Delivers First M28 Cat With Mercury Racing 700 SCi Power

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