DCB M29 with Twin Verado 400R Engines Hits 113 MPH

ByJason Johnson

When Georgia performance boater John O’Neill picked up the first DCB Performance Boats M29 catamaran equipped with Mercury Racing’s new Verado 400R outboard engines back in September he told speedonthewater.com we could do a story about his latest purchase when the boat topped 110 mph.

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DCB tested its twin Verado 400R-powered M29 on Arizona’s Lake Havasu today and clocked 113 mph. Photos courtesy DCB

So when my phone today buzzed with pictures of the Mercury SmartCraft VesselView gauge showing 113 mph followed by a phone call from a 404 area code, I knew O’Neill, who lives in Atlanta and owned an F32 and an M31 before purchasing the M29, was ready to talk about his latest ride in a long list of go-fast boats.

“In typical DCB fashion, the team went out of its way to get everything dialed in with the boat,” said O’Neill, who flew out for the test session in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., with DCB’s Tony Chiaramonte and Mercury’s Mike Griffith. “Tony and I went out with the new Mercury props today and I was blown away. We hit 111 mph full of fuel and then Tony took it back out a little by himself and got 113 mph. This boat is a blast. I think it might be my 13-year-old son’s favorite boat yet.”

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For more images on the M29 with twin 400-hp engines check out the slideshow above.

The boat’s previous reported top speed was 108 mph at 6,500 rpm, and with a set of 32-inch Mercury Bravo One props it ran all day at 105 mph, according to Chiaramonte. With a set of new 14.5” x 33”-pitch Mercury CNC Pro Finish five-blade propellers and some brisk conditions on the lake this afternoon, the boat was rock-solid at top speed, O’Neill said.

O’Neill, who is planning to hang out in Lake Havasu tomorrow and ride along with fellow DCB customer Brad Macaulay who took delivery of his new M35 Widebody yesterday (look for a story on Macaulay’s boat on Wednesday), added that the boat will be on display at the Barrett Jackson Collector Car Auction (Jan. 23-31) in Scottsdale, Ariz., in January and that he’ll keep it in Lake Havasu until the Desert Storm Poker Run in April. After that it will head back to Georgia.

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