Phantom 32 Offshore Raceboat Coming Together

Designed specifically for competition in Super Boat International’s Superboat Vee class, a 32-footer from Phantom Boats is taking shape at the company’s shop in Sarasota, Fla. Company principal Will Smith said he created the boat by piecing together sections of two 30-foot Phantom V-bottoms, bonding them together with vacuum-bagged fiberglass and resin and re-coring the hull. The cut-down deck of the canopied boat is a modified version of the deck for the 38-foot Phantom V-bottom.

Coming to an offshore racecourse this summer—the new 32′ Phantom canopied V-bottom.

“This boat is eight inches wider, a foot lower and has three feet more running surface than our 30,” said Smith. “It’s more aerodynamic, but this first one is probably a little heavier than the next one will be. I don’t know if it will run any faster than the 30, but I think it will ‘race faster’ because you’ll be able to make better use of the extra running surface in racing conditions.”

The stringer system for the first 32-footer, which is as yet unsold, features two longitudinal stringers under the deck and engine compartment and three longitudinal stringers under the cockpit. Smith said the extra stringer in the cockpit is for added strength because, “It’s so low that your butt is below the chine.”

Smith described the boat currently as a “runnable plug.” He plans to create the tooling for future models from the prototype after he receives orders for the boat.

At present, Innovation Marine in Sarasota is building an 8.1-litre GM Vor-Tec-based engine of approximately 525 hp for the boat. Smith, who started the project last spring, said he had hoped to have it finished for the first race of the 2014 SBI season in April. Most likely, however, the 32-footer won’t see its first offshore racing action—with Smith in the cockpit—until summer.

“I probably won’t have the proper engine for it until summer,” said Smith, who is 60 years old. “But I want to go out and play in it before I get too old.”

Editor’s Note: Speedonthewater.com will provide updates on this project as it progresses.