MTI Catamaran Reborn At Waves And Wheels

When the Waves and Wheels Fun Run on the Lake of the Ozarks begins today, a 40-foot MTI catamaran built in 2009 will be part of the fleet on the Central Missouri waterway. Powered by Mercury Racing 850 engines, the 40-footer still has its original paintjob and those graphics reflect the trends and tastes of when it was built. But its interior looks as if it were finished yesterday—because it pretty much was.

Thanks to the team at Waves and Wheels, the interior of this 2009 40-foot MTI is as contemporary as it gets (click image to enlarge). Photos courtesy/copyright Waves and Wheels.

Southern California-based Brian Metcalf, who formerly owned a 36-foot Apache called Rain Dance, purchased and took delivery of the MTI cat during the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout. His first stop with his new ride, which he has renamed Native Sun, was Waves and Wheels where he met with company principal Justin Wagner to come up with an interior renovation plan.

“The interior wasn’t in rough shape,” Metcalf said. “It was just dated with a lot of orange-and-white diamond-stitched vinyl. After the Shootout week, Justin and I came up with a punch list of things I wanted to do.

“During our inspection, we found two soft spots in the fiberglass,” he continued. “Justin’s crew at Graphix 1 Paint, his new in-house paintshop, patched and filled them from top to bottom. They did a great job.”

Before

For the new interior, Metcalf and Wagner went with black Alcantara with herringbone stitching and “orange glaze” vinyl inlays. But the largest element of the project was replacing the boat’s original three-piece carbon-fiber dash with a single-piece fiberglass dash. The Waves and Wheels crew also replaced all the original instruments with Mercury VesselView monitors ahead of the driver and copilot and a 16-inch GPS unit in the center of the dash. In a clever move, they mounted Livorsi Marine RPM gauges in the two dash pods that once held manufacturer-installed speakers for the boat’s original stereo system.

That setup, of course, had to go. The Waves and Wheels team replaced it with one of its own featuring an array of its own Bluave Marine Audio components. The crew also added interior LED lighting.

“The stereo, that was the most important thing to me,” Metcalf said, then laughed.

Andy Imhof and his crew from Maryland Offshore Performance Marine Center, which frequently collaborates on projects with Waves and Wheels, were there during much of the restoration process. While that was happening, they went through and serviced the boat’s engines. Along the way, they discovered more work that eventually will need to be done. After this weekend’s fun run, the boat will be transported to the Rockville-based Maryland Offshore shop, where Imhof and company will go through the catamaran and make sure it is ready for the upcoming Florida Powerboat Club Key West Poker Run in early November.

After

Following Key West, the 40-footer will be hauled back to the Maryland Offshore facility to be housed for the winter. With a less-than-vibrant go-fast boating scene in his area, Metcalf often travels to participate in events. Having his boat on the East Coasts puts the Florida winter boating season in much easier reach than it would be from Southern California.

“We’re talking about doing paint while it’s there,” he said. “And there are a few other things to do.

“All these guys, Justin and his crew, Andy—the whole team did a fantastic job,” he continued. “They worked together and got a lot done in a short period of time. I can’t say enough good things about them.”

MTI Catamaran Reborn At Waves And Wheels

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