When you step aboard the Outerlimits SV50, sit down and enjoy the ride.
By Eric Colby
At last year’s 1000 Islands Poker Run Chris Mastronardi took Mark Stoddard’s Outerlimits SV50 for a ride and became an instant convert to the lower-profile sitdown design. “Sitting down felt so comfortable,” said Mastronardi. “The control and visibility, I liked it and it just seemed more stable.”
He liked it so much that he ordered his own SV50 with Mercury Racing 1350s and M8 drives. It’s his fourth Outerlimits. Mastronardi has owned a 42’ Legacy, a 51 Sport Cruiser and an SL 52, all standup models. He took delivery of the SV50 on July 1 and a month later was still gushing about his new SV50.
“It’s definitely a fun machine,” said Mastronardi. “I call it my hot rod boat because of the sit-down. I can sit down and we can cruise at 100 mph easily and have a conversation in normal tones.”
He thought that the sit-down design might be harder to dock, but with Mercury Racing’s digital shift and throttle, it’s actually easier. With the precise control offered by the digital throttles, Mastronardi has already had the boat up to 140 mph. Like all Outerlimits models, it rides on a five-step bottom designed by the company’s late founder, Mike Fiore. The boat is built with E-glass and epoxy resin with carbon fiber reinforcements. The hull bottom and deck are cored with Corecell foam and the transom is made from stacked composite panels. When the laminating process is complete, the entire boat is post-cured in an oven.
“I call it my hot road boat because of the sit-down. I can sit down and we can cruise at 100 MPH easily and have a conversation in normal tones”
The SV50 measures 50’1” with a 9’ beam. It weighs 10,900 pounds and has a fuel capacity of 250 gallons. Mastronardi’s boat was the third version of the model built and Outerlimits Powerboats general manager Dan Kleitz said a fourth was under construction this summer.
The first SV50 had a cockpit that Kleitz said was basically a stretched Outerlimits SV29 interior. The second one was built special without a cabin and has a one-off cockpit design. Mastronardi’s boat is the first with a newly designed cockpit that has updated seats including three individual ones across the stern and two high-backed buckets up front. There is thicker padding along the gunwales and the speakers are recessed below deck level to protect them from the elements. There’s also storage in the gunwales that will be good for fenders and docklines. The wraparound windshield provides protection for all the passengers even when the boat is topping triple digits.
Forward ahead of the driver’s and companion’s seats, the SV50 dash panels look like something you’d find in a high-end automobile with rich upholstery and single-screen Garmin GPSMap 7610 series chartplotters integrated into each console. To starboard, the helm has hydraulic steering and the Garmin screen directly ahead. Outboard, the boat has a Mercury VesselView 7 panel protected under its own eyebrow. The digital controls are comfortably placed.
Forward in the center of the dash panel is the entryway for the cabin. Belowdecks the boat has facing lounges aft with a forward V-berth and a porta-potti comes standard. There are storage lockers in the cabin and, overhead, Outerlimits uses a tracked whisper headliner system.
At the other end of the boat, the Mercury Racing 1350s are installed staggered with the port motor forward on custom high-performance mounts that are through-bolted with anodized hardware. As we’ve seen on previous offerings from Outerlimits, the engine compartment is finished with all the rigging hidden below deck level for a super-clean look. Removable panels still provide access to equipment that needs to be routinely checked. Batteries are secured in custom trays and the trim pumps for the drives and the race-style trim tabs are mounted forward on the compartment bulkhead. Two LED lights illuminate the compartment at night. A custom storage compartment puts fenders in convenient reach. Retail pricing for the SV50 with the Mercury Racing 1350s starts at $1,154,322. What did you expect? It’s a hot rod.
