Performance Boat Center and Doug Wright Designs team up on the stunning Wright Performance 360 catamaran.
Performance Boat Center in Osage Beach, Mo., and Doug Wright Designs have collaborated on a new boat, the Wright Performance 360 catamaran. The first one was unveiled during the 2017 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in August. It was powered by twin Mercury Racing Verado 400R outboards and the boat was an instant hit with performance-boat enthusiasts at the event. With four people aboard, the boat reportedly ran 123 mph and there’s more speed to be had once it gets dialed in.
Performance Boat Center owns all but one of the first 12 Wright Performance 360s being built. The lone exception is the third one that is going to well-known offshore racer Gary Ballough who has been racing a Doug Wright-designed boat for the last 20 years.
Under the terms of the agreement, Doug Wright Design builds a bare hull and deck. Performance Boat Center sends a truck with new Myco trailer to pick up the boat and brings it back to its facility where it is finished with paint, a full interior and rigging. All the boats are designed for outboard power.
When the boat arrives at Performance Boat Center, Service Managers Myrick and Lance Coil oversee the builds. Technician Andy Sanders manages the rigging and Paint Shop Manager Chris Brown directs his four-person crew to make each boat a work of art. Manire said the paint process takes about seven to eight weeks while rigging the boats is about a three-week job.
The interiors are done at Kutting Edge Interiors in St. Louis. The first boat was built with twin buckets up front and, thanks to the boats 10’6” beam, four individual seats aft. The boat is designed with a center throttle and the helm can be installed on either side of the dash. There’s also room for a person to pass outboard of the forward seats on each side.
Storage is just aft of the rear seats in a compartment and hatches just ahead of the motors provide access to equipment such as trim pumps and batteries. To make it easier for Kutting Edge, Doug Wright Designs actually provided the company with a fiberglass mock-up of the Wright Performance 360’s cockpit.
For a retail price of $450,000, the Wright Performance 360 comes with custom graphics, the fully finished interior, a 22” Garmin chartplotter, JL audio stereo, a cockpit cover, Mercury Racing Verado 400R outboards on jackplates and Mercury Racing CNC propellers.
For those who aren’t familiar with Doug Wright Designs, the company is best-known for its raceboats that dominate the twin-outboard Super Stock and Stock classes in offshore racing. Plugs and molds are designed and cut on a five-axis router and stringers and bulkheads are formed out of Airex foam core. While they are the same brand, two different types of foam are used in the running surface and deck because of their varying abilities to withstand temperatures.
The laminate is all epoxy resin with E-glass and carbon reinforcements. Instead of infusing the resin, Doug Wright Design uses fabrics that are pre-impregnated with resin to more precisely control saturation levels.
When he designed the new model, Wright made the tunnel wider than the 32’ version. The deadrise on the running surface is shallower and there are four steps in each sponson.
Photo Credit: Running photos by Todd Taylor Images.
