After announcing in 2022 that it would build its own line of high-performance power catamarans, Performance Powerboats is now delivering boats. The company is a subsidiary of Performance Boat Center, a well-known, go-fast dealer and service facility in Osage Beach, Mo., on Lake of the Ozarks.
Performance Powerboats was founded by Mark Waddington and Brett Manire, the co-owners of Performance Boat Center. The company had a previous supplier agreement with an outside builder, but after six years of partnership, the relationships became strained.
“When the relationship soured, we still had orders on hand and customers who wanted their boats, so to be in charge of our own destiny, Mark and Brett started Performance Powerboats, bringing me into the venture a few months later,” Johnny Bauer, chief operating officer of Performance Powerboats, told Trade Only Today.
Performance Powerboats has three models, the P280, the P360 and the P420. All three are powered by Mercury Racing outboards. In the future, the 42-footer may be configured with Mercury Racing sterndrives. Eventually, Bauer said the company may consider a canopied version.
With input from Myrick Coil, a multi-time offshore powerboat racing champion and service and rigging manager at Performance Boat Center/Performance Powerboats tooled their own molds for the P360 and P420. They took the opportunity to improve running surfaces and add design features like flat walking areas next to the windshield and user-friendly rear steps. The company also acquired the molds for the P280 with the intent of offering a more-entry level cat. Bauer says it’s capable of triple-digit speeds with a single Mercury Racing 450R. Fans of higher speeds can opt for a P280 with twin Mercury Racing 300Rs.
The company recently moved into a 30,000-square-foot building in Houston, Tex., where hulls and decks are being laminated with carbon fiber and epoxy resin. Complete boats are shipped to the Performance Boat Center headquarters in Missouri where they are painted to match graphics designed by Rob Rich and then rigged and sea-trialed by Coil.
Interiors are being done by Kutting Edge Interiors in O’Fallon, Mo. Eventually, Bauer says, the company would like to have a satellite division of Kutting Edge on-site.
Performance Powerboats employs 20 people in Houston, and about 15 in Missouri, and Bauer says the initial production will be about 15 to 20 boats per year with a future goal of 24 to 30. All the boats will be sold through Performance Boat Center’s locations in Missouri and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
