Outerlimits’ Cat Program Ramping Up

With one new 46-foot catamaran in the paint booth and another headed to rigging, Outerlimits Offshore Poweboats’ push to substantially expand its catamaran line in collaboration with noted offshore racer Steve Curtis is well underway, according the Mike Fiore, the owner and founder of the Bristol, R.I., custom high-performance boat builder. In addition to the new 46-foot cats—one to be powered by twin 1,450-hp Chief engines and the other to be set up with 1,350-hp mills from Mercury Racing—that are scheduled to be finished by summer, the company is in the “final engineering” stages for its 32-footer. (The cat “grew” two feet longer from initial plan as a 30-footer in the design process.)

Fiore provided speedonthewater.com this “spy photo” of one of his new 46-foot catamarans in the Outerlimits paint booth.

“We’ll start CNC cutting the hull plug for the 32 in three to four weeks,” said Fiore.

On the larger side of the high-performance cat spectrum, Fiore said that engineering has begun on the company’s first 55-footer, which will be the most technologically advanced Outerlimits—V-bottom of catamaran—built to date.

“It’s going to be an all-carbon-fiber, pre-preg boat—baked at 220 degrees for 24 hours—with computer-controlled, active aerodynamics,” he said. “Steve is working on that system now. Because of the way it will be built, it will be very light, approximately 11,000 pounds. So it will be as fast as our smaller boats.”

Related Story: Outerlimits Planning 30-foot Cat With Outboard Power