Deck Boat of the Year: E-Ticket Boats Luxury Cat

Competition was fierce among deck boats during the 2006 Performance Trials. In fact, no category had a stronger fleet. That's a sign of the times, as deck boat sales have fueled the West Coast custom performance-boat market in recent years, and that's not likely to change anytime soon.

Still, the twin-engine E-Ticket Luxury Cat managed to stand out from the heady pack, especially when it came to performance. The sleek, catamaran-based model dipped its shoulders into turns like a V-bottom and never slipped or slid. It actually felt sucked down to the water.

And the Luxury Cat was plenty fast. With fuel-injected 525-hp engines from Mercury Racing providing the power, the cat reached a top speed of 96.9 mph. As quick as it was fast, the boat reached 81 mph in 20 seconds from a standing start, and shot from 30 to 50 mph in 3.8 seconds and from 40 to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds.

Impressive numbers, sure, but the Luxury Cat also was built with almost maniacal attention to detail. All tooling for the sexy, low-profile 29-footer's hull and deck was immaculate. Handled in the gelcoat, all colors popped brightly.

The same level of detail carried into the boat's engine-compartment rigging, where the builder did all the little things, like concealing almost all wiring and sanding the bilge to a smooth finish. There was even a fender holder in the compartment, which will help owners minimize cockpit clutter.

True to its name, the Luxury Cat boasted a usable cabin with a dark acrylic ceiling, facing lounges in the bow, plush bucket seats for the driver and co-pilot and an L-shape lounge. Color-matched Livorsi Marine gauges, a tilt steering wheel and Eddie Marine throttles and shifters graced the helm.

Up front were contoured lounges with substantial cutouts in the gunwale. A freshwater shower allowed people to wash off sandy feet when the boat was beached nose-forward at the lake.

E-Ticket's Luxury Cat was at the top of the custom deck-boat breed. Given the formidable competition, that's saying something.

E-Ticket Boats Luxury Cat
Performance Test Results

For the Performance Report on the E-Ticket Luxury Cat, see "Simply Irresistible," January 2006, Page 68.

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