Mercury Racing 860-Powered Outerlimits SL 44 Aces Key West Shakedown Cruise

Even in the large shadow of a spectacular 46-foot Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats catamaran called Hurry Up, an SL 44 V-bottom from the Bristol, R.I., company also drew thousands of envious stares at the Miami International Boat Show, which closed two days ago. Outerlimits sales manager Dan Kleitz described the beautiful, Stephen Miles Design-painted 44-footer as a “classic but contemporary offshore V-bottom,” and it was one of precious-few such models displayed at the Miami Marine Stadium-headquartered event this year.

In fact, as big high-performance offshore V-bottoms go, the SL 44 dubbed Liquid Prozac stole the show.

Just a few days before Cass Shewbart took delivery of his new Outerlimits SL 44, speedonthewater.com chief photographer Pete Boden captured it during the daily news site’s annual Friday morning Miami Boat Show Photo Shoot (click image to enlarge). Photo by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix courtesy Wozencraft Insurance Agency.

As it happened, most of the show-goers saw the boat in person before its owner did. Texan Cass Shewbart arrived to take delivery of the boat on the final day of the show. From there, Shewbart and friends headed straight for Key West, Fla., for one night. Yesterday, they returned to Miami so the boat can begin its long haul to Texas tomorrow.

A longtime go-fast powerboat owner, Shewbart ordered his SL 44 with twin Mercury Racing 860 engines, the least powerful and only naturally aspirated offerings in the Fond du Lac, Wis., high-performance marine engine and accessory company’s quad cam four valve (QV4v) engine series. Any suggestions that the boat was “underpowered”—and thanks to social media people were generous with comments to that effect—were quickly dispelled during its first sea trial in Bristol, where it reached an impressive 122 mph.

Shewbart’s quick blast from Miami to Key West only reinforced his power move.

“It runs and rides great,” he said. “And it was bit sporty coming back from Key West.

“I think this new 860 setup is ideal,” he said. “It has plenty of power and the drive is a proven No. 6. This may actually bring performance boaters back to the market. I can’t tell you how many guys have told me they went to center consoles because of the maintenance expense on the Mercury Racing turbo motors.”