To be fair, it's James Beard and Clive Curtis' design (Cougar Marine UK) at the end of the day. They are the real geniuses behind what makes our hull run so well. We just try to build it as well as possible, with the best materials! We just dialed in the infusion process on the decks for the first time as well, so we can decide fully what each boat weighs before it's built, in full glass, full carbon, or a combination. The race boats we build are going to dominate the C class.

According to Grandpa Errol, back in the day, even the 2.5s had better results on the Cougars when placed in the clean water of the tunnel, the only problem was the weakness of the gearcases back then didn't hold up to offshore conditions.

The 300/450 Sporty and especially the 500r case should hold up even better, but we haven't tested either in a twin setup yet to know for sure. Brent and Joe Mata both had/have the old 3L Sporty setup, and havent broken a case as far as I'm aware, you may know better than me on those particular rigs.

If the cases dont hold up for whatever reason, my uncle Sean bought back our Hull #1, which has a center pod that extends to about halfway the depth of the sponsons, that we can use to test the theory without much extra work. The only limit for us has always been the power available, so we're excited to play again! We have two 500R 20's on our build list, a 525 Yamaha single is almost finished rigging at Steve Bishops, and Brent will be back going again in no time with his OG carbon hull FINALLY, and with a 450.

We couldn't have designed the new motors better ourselves within the constraints Merc was under. We wanted more displacement, and Merc gave it to us. Now we just have to be safe as we explore the limits and enjoy the fruits of our labor. No number or trophy is worth getting hurt. We're just excited to finally have a hull long enough to legally race and run the shootout, and I'm hoping to find my way to a seat to start racing myself! Hopefully we can get a twin setup ready by next year, but who knows, by then you might be in the 140s! Keep crushing it!

Jake Lanier
863-840-6601
www.laniercustomboats.com