The RC-28 reached 149.6 mph on radar—150.8 mph. (Photo by Tom Newby)

The RC-28 reached 149.6 mph on radar—150.8 mph. (Photo by Tom Newby)



For the 20-somethings among you who don't know the significance of the name "E-ticket," here's the short story: Before the days of the all-access pass, Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and Disney World in Orlando, Fla., used to sell books of tickets to visitors. Different tickets allowed holders to get on different rides. The best attractions, such as the Matterhorn and the Haunted Mansion, required an "E"-ticket for admission. Naturally, there were fewer E-tickets in a ticket book than were, say, C-tickets, which got the ticket-holder onto the thrilling Jungle Cruise.

Larry Carpenter and the crew at E-Ticket Performance Boats certainly remember those days, and they've done their aptly named company proud with the RC-28 catamaran. Founded in 1999, the Lake Havasu City, Ariz., builder has taken its time bringing products to market, but the RC-28 we tested proved well worth the wait.

The second-fastest boat in this year's roundup, the RC-28 reached 149.6 mph on radar—150.8 mph on GPS—and felt incredibly stable for a 28-footer at that speed. To get there, the cat, which ran on two stepped sponsons and a center pod, tapped into a pair of 900-hp, 585-cubic-inch naturally aspirated engines with dry exhaust. That's right, naturally aspirated engines pumping out 900 hp. And the engines, built by Steve Schmidt, ran smoothly during our tests.

They also provided wicked low-, middle- and high-speed throttle response. To keep the engines and drives intact, we limited actual acceleration drills to a 40- to 70-mph midrange test. The RC-28 blasted from 40 to 70 mph in 5 seconds. A minor mechanical glitch, unrelated to the IMCO Xtreme Advantage SC drives on extension boxes, kept us from performing the standing-start acceleration drill. We suspect that the results would have been outstanding.

"Throttle response in the midrange—this boat is just on fire," said our lead test driver.

Though we didn't spend time pushing the RC-28 through aggressive slalom or circle turns, the cat did corner nicely at speed. It also tracked precisely and sliced easily through 1-foot river slop.

Build quality was first-rate. The RC-28 was hand-laid with vinylester resin, quad-directional fiberglass and 2-ounce 1708 bidirectional fiberglass. Tooling and gelcoat graphics application were nothing short of exquisite.

In the cockpit, the RC-28 was a pure hot rod with high-bucket seats for the driver and co-pilot and Livorsi Marine Monster gauges at the helm station. The F-16 quarter canopies, which fit the boat as if they were an extension of the deck mold, kept the wind off the driver and co-pilot, even at 150 mph.

An entire amusement park without lines couldn't match E-Ticket's RC-28 for thrills. It's an all-access thrill pass.