MTI’s Second 340X Cat, Black Diamond Express, Wows the Crowd in Fort Lauderdale

There aren’t many more well-known or well-traveled MTI catamarans in the country than Black Diamond, the all-black canopied 52-foot MTI. So when the Wentzville, Mo., company showed off Black Diamond Express, the 52-footer’s baby brother, at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the 340X from MTI drew a ton of attention during the first two days of the boat show.

MTI’s new 340X catamaran, Black Diamond Express, is a real head-turner. All photos courtesy MTI

The second 340X catamaran from MTI—the first one made its debut at the end of August (read the story)—was built for Oklahoma’s Derek Wachob and is powered by a pair of Mercury Racing Verado 400R engines. According to Randy Scism, the owner and founder of MTI, Black Diamond Express will be participating in next week’s Florida Powerboat Club Key West Poker Run from Miami to Key West.

“It is going to be Black Diamond’s chase boat,” Scism said with a laugh. “Seriously, I think it is going to be cool to see both Black Diamond boats together. I have a feeling Derek is going to love his ‘little’ boat.

Check out more images of the stunning MTI 340X in the slideshow above.

“Everyone who has seen the boat so far loves it,” Scism continued, adding that he was eagerly anticipating the arrival of Wachob, who had yet to see the 34-footer on Friday afternoon. “It’s definitely different than our first one—they’re both gorgeous but in different ways. I can’t wait to see what kind of response the boat gets in Key West.”

Over the last few years, MTI has worked with several customers to build one of its MTI-V 42 luxury center consoles to match their high-performance catamaran. And while Black Diamond Express is the first 34-foot cat designed to match an owner’s larger boat, based on the finished product and the reaction to the boat, it won’t be the last time MTI builds a complementary 340X.

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