Doug Wright Preps Latest 32-Foot Cat

Whether it’s surfboards, performance boats or aerobatic aircraft, Doug Wright has the equipment, expertise and vision to get things moving quickly. In our go-fast-boating world, Wright has an outstanding reputation for building practically unbreakable offshore catamarans. Veteran offshore racers such as 10-time world champion Gary Ballough have proven this time and time again.

Doug Wright is expecting to finish Gary Ballough's new 32-foot race boat in time for a race in mid-May.
Doug Wright is expecting to finish Gary Ballough’s new 32-foot race boat in time for a race in mid-May.

Ballough, who is currently racing overseas in the X-Cat Series in his teammate Omar Daniel’s 32-foot Doug Wright, is building his latest race boat, which features a new hull design. Last week, I stopped by to see Wright’s new shop in Sebastian, Fla., and got a chance to see the boat being built as well get a rundown of how the company’s massive five-axis CNC (computer numeric controlled) machines work.

“We’ve modified the bottom on Gary’s new boat,” said Wright, who is expecting have the boat finished before the first Super Boat International race in Cocoa Beach, Fla., in mid-May. “We widened the tunnel six inches and have made a few adjustments to make the boat as structurally sound and lightweight as possible.”

Wright also opted to employ the canopy mold from his 38-foot model on Ballough’s race boat, which is a full-foam, epoxy-resin-built boat using the latest vacuum bagging techniques.

John Caparrel will have his new 32 Doug Wright Poker Run Edition at the Desert Storm Poker Run in a couple of weeks. Photo courtesy John CaparrelJohn Caparrel will have his new 32 Doug Wright Poker Run Edition at the Desert Storm Poker Run in a couple of weeks.Along with the new race boat, Wright’s extremely proud of the new 32-foot pleasure boat that owner John Caparrel, who is behind the new Doug Wright West venture, will debut at the Lake Havasu Boat Show and Desert Storm Poker Run in Arizona in less than two weeks.

Powered by a pair of Mercury Racing OptiMax 300XS outboard engines, the boat is still being dialed in according to Caparrel, aka “Kap.” He is expecting it to be the fastest 32-foot pleasure catamaran with stock power.

The boat, which features a full wraparound windshield and seating for five, was painted by Mark Morris of Visual Imagination in Peculiar, Mo.

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