MTI Water Tests New 340X Catamaran, Debut Set for Shootout Week

Two weeks ago MTI owner Randy Scism shared a few photos with me while we were aboard one of his company’s MTI-V 42 center consoles during the Pirates of Lanier Poker Run in Buford, Ga. The pictures were of MTI’s all-new 340X catamaran in the paint booth. The boat looked good, no doubt about it, but when I received the photos of the twin Mercury Racing Verado 400R-powered cat in the water yesterday, the company’s first 34-footer looked even better.

MTI put its all-new 34-foot catamaran powered twin 400-hp outboard engines in the water for the first time on Friday. Photos courtesy Tim Gallagher

You can see for yourself in the so-so quality “spy photos” Tim Gallagher, MTI’s sales and marketing manager, shared with us following the Wentzville, Mo., company’s brief shakedown test on Friday on Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks.

“We took the new cat out for a quick test this morning and we were thrilled,” Gallagher said. “We’re very pleased with how it performed. It did everything we expected it to do. In terms of handling, comfort and appearance, the boat is phenomenal. We have a few things to do to it still—we just wanted to get it in the water to see what it could do and show it off around a few customers who got together for a fun run at the lake.”

Gallagher said the red, white and black 34-footer, which is 10 feet wide, is going to make its official debut at the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in less than a month. Speedonthewater.com will have the chance to ride in the boat and provide a story and photos upon its unveiling at the Shootout on the Strip street party on Wednesday evening.

He added that MTI and Mercury Racing representatives are planning to do some testing with the 340X during the next few weeks.

“This boat came together nice, the guys in the shop are so excited about it,” Gallagher said. “It was done properly—everything was done on CNC machines. This is a real boat, it’s not a rendering or a model any longer, and it’s definitely not a prototype. It’s a completely new boat, too, not something we cut down from an existing model. Just wait until you see it.”

I can’t wait to see it as well as the new deck design MTI is offering on all of its 10 1/2-foot-wide boats at the 28th annual Lake of the Ozarks Shootout.

MTI Water Tests New 340X Catamaran, Debut Set for Shootout Week

Address

Quick Links