Project: Waves and Wheels Ironman Progress

Fresh off a trip to Florida to celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary with his wife, Cicely, Justin Wagner, owner of Waves and Wheels in Lake of the Ozarks, Mo., provided speedonthewater.com with a quick update on the status of his personal project—an Ironman-themed boat.

Out to prove that you can “build a bad-ass boat without spending half a million dollars,” Wagner bought a 2001 Hustler 377 Talon catamaran last year, stripped it, refreshed the Mercury Racing HP575SCi engines, painted it and is now in the final stages of rigging and finishing the odds and ends to complete the makeover.

Wagner is working hand in hand with Brett Manire and the crew at Performance Boat Center in Camdenton, Mo., on the boat’s engine compartment and mechanical rigging. Waves and Wheels is handling many of the custom fabrication work inside the cockpit, including constructing the front and rear bolster seating, building new zippered side panels to provide better access to storage space and creating special motorized pods and one-of-a-kind components to replicate the Ironman suit worn by Tony Starks.

Wagner has reached out to Steve Dunning of Innotech Products in St. Louis to customize the carbon-fiber dash panels and is working with Optic Armor Performance Windows in Linn Creek, Mo., to create custom pieces for the eyes and other acrylic components.

Although the boat won’t be completed for about a month or so, Wagner and company are hoping to be able to test run the boat over the Memorial Day weekend.

“As of today, one of the motors is in and the other is right behind it,” Wagner said. “Performance Boat Center is doing an amazing job with everything. They are extremely detailed, and they’ve gone above and beyond my expectations.

“It’s all coming together,” he added. “Wait until you see the seats—they’re going to be amazing. Not only are we updating the boat from an aesthetic standpoint, but it’s going to be a heck of a lot more practical.”

And of course, we all know the entertainment system will be top of the line.

Stay connected with speedonthewater.com for more Ironman updates. If interested, Wagner is still seeking sponsors for the project boat. You can contact him at 573-302-1657.

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Coming Soon: Ironman from Waves and Wheels

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