Outerlimits Production Still Rocking
The noted go-fast boat builder is hitting spring at full speed.
While the current leadership at Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats has yet to announce its long-term plans in the absence of company founder, Mike Fiore, who died after a high-performance boating accident last August (read The Loss of Mike Fiore), the Bristol, R.I., custom high-performance V-bottom and catamaran builder has not stopped producing new boats. In fact, Outerlimits is flush with new builds from 29 to 50 feet long in the cat and monohull segments of its line-up.
Stephen Miles Design is handling the paint on the first pleasure version of the new 39 SC catamaran from Outerlimits.
On the smaller side of things, the company is building the first canopied pleasure version of its 39-foot catamaran. The canopied offshore racing model is complete and headed to the Spirit of Qatar team shop in Orlando, Fla., for rigging this month—for a buyer in Michigan. It will be powered by twin 1,100-hp turbocharged Mercury Racing engines with No. 6 drives, and will feature a fully loaded six-seat cockpit and two quick-release hatches in the canopy—a smaller one for the two seats up front and a larger one above the four rear seats—so the owner can open the top if desired.
The 39-footer will be dressed in graphics created and applied by noted go-fast boat paint man Stephen Miles.
Outerlimits also recently took an order—the first in a couple of years—via its Double R Performance dealer based in Ontario, Canada, for an SV 29 V-bottom.
Toward the middle of the Outerlimits offerings is the new 44 Center Console, the builder’s first center-console model currently in lamination. According to Dan Kleitz, the company’s production manager, the 44 CC is based on the SL 44 sportboat hull but with its 10-foot, 2-inch beam is a foot wider than the SL 44.
"We actually split an SL 44 in half to create the tooling for the 44 CC," Kleitz said. "We're hoping to have it finished this summer."
On the large side of the Outerlimits products scale, the company is building an SL 50 V-bottom for longtime Canadian customer Dave Scotto. Scotto previously owned an SL 52 V-bottom powered by twin Mercury Racing 1650 engines, and the boat topped 150 mph during the 2013 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in Central Missouri.
Said Scotto: "I came down for lunch last year, and by the time we were done I had ordered a new 50.”
This time around, Scotto is leaning toward lower power in the form of twin Mercury Racing 1550 engines. Using a separate key fob in conjunction with the Mercury SmartCraft system and lower-octane fuel, the engines can be changed from producing 1,550 hp (per engine) to pumping out 1,350 hp. Scotto and Mike Fiore had discussed the new SL 50, which features a cut-down deck and a more contemporary look than the SL 52, last spring.
"I was happy with my SL 52—it's all Mike's fault that we're here," Scotto joked. "I came down for lunch last year, and by the time we were done I had ordered a new 50. Mike always came up with these great ideas. He persuaded me."
"The SL 50 is has a different overall shape than the SL 52," said Kleitz. "It has a lower profile and edgier lines. It has more of a modern-day, sports-car look to it."
For more information, visit Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats.
