Stray Cat Finds A New Home

On display for the first time at the 2013 Miami International Boat Show, Stray Cat was more than the first 50-foot catamaran from Statement Marine powered by Mercury Racing 1350 engines. (Hull No. 1 of the 50-footer from the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based boat builder was outfitted with turbine engines.) It was an immediate show-stealer.

The boat’s owner used it sparingly—its engines currently have just 30 hours on them—and it eventually found a home out of the elements in the Statement Marine facility. Last week, the cat was sold through Randy Sweers at FB Marine Group in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to an owner in Ohio.

Photographer Jay Nichols captured the Stray Cat Statement catamaran in early 2013 during its first sea trial on Florida’s Tampa Bay. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

“It’s his first big cat,” said Sweers. “We took in a 48-foot Fountain express cruiser on it.”

“It’s a super-cool boat,” he continued. “Visual Imagination did the paint job on it, and it has Statement’s air-suspension cockpit and an air-conditioned cabin with a full queen-size berth on the port side and full shower and head on the starboard side. Comfort-wise, it’s head-and-shoulders above most of its competition and its fit and finish is the nicest out there, bar none.”

A new and pre-owned Statement dealer, Sweers had seen the catamaran during several visits to the company’s facility “for quite some time.” When the original owner decided to sell it, he was able to take the trade from the new owner and complete the deal.

“I hadn’t really been on it for quite some time, but that boat really is a piece of art,” he said. “Everything about it is done so nicely.”

As soon as the 50-footer began its long haul from Florida to Ohio last week, “social media began blowing up with photos of it,” according to Statement Marine’s Craig Barrie.

“I started to wonder if it was the only catamaran ever made,” Barrie said, then laughed. “There were pictures of it on Facebook going through Florida, then Georgia and so one. How could so many people have been on the interstate at the same time and taken a picture of it?

“I think it’s fantastic to have it back on the water,” he added. “My heart has always been in high-performance—I’ve always been a high-performance guy.”

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