Broad Appeal: Nordic Powerboats adds a catamaran to its V-bottom lineup.

By Jason Johnson

For more than 40 years, Nordic Powerboats has been known for its V-bottoms on the West Coast. When other competitors moved into the catamaran market, the Lake Havasu, Ariz., company stuck with V-bottoms.

When the company was sold last fall, new owner Randy Davis pushed Nordic to finish its catamaran, which the builder had been tooling on and off for three years. Earlier this year the crew completed its work on the 27 Thor and debuted it at the Los Angeles Boat Show.

The fourth Thor out of the mold was brought to our roundups in Parker, Ariz., in late March. The catamaran, fitted with a Paul Pfaff 800 EFI engine and an IMCO Marine Xtreme Advantage SC drive, featured striking dark red and gray graphics.

Nordic said the first one had reached 92 mph with a Mercury Racing HP525EFI engine, a respectable top speed for a 27-footer with a stock motor.

"When we decided to build the cat, we went to the (hull designer) and said, 'We want to be the fastest stock production cat,' " said Lonnie Fluent, Nordic's general manager. "And we did it. In the first one, with Mercury documenting everything in the boat with us, it went 92 mph with a stock 525."

When the boat arrived at the docks, it was obvious it was a Nordic. The tooling and workmanship was the same solid product the company has been producing for decades.

Nordic's previous owner preferred to stick with V-bottoms since that is what he knew best, and there was nothing wrong with that. But Davis, who has owned offshore catamarans, wanted Fluent to broaden the company's offerings.

"We started it when Orval (Sommerstedt) owned the company," Fluent said. "He was a little against it because he didn't really understand cats. He'd always been a V-bottom guy. But he had a cat in the 1970s, a 19-footer called a 19 Thor.

"He doesn't own the company anymore, but we called it Thor after his first cat. And the name goes along with the Norwegian/Nordic line."

The 27-footer was right in line with other Nordic boats. It was equipped with Nordic's in-house built, cleats and hinges, as well as full hydraulic steering, Livorsi Marine gauges and a tilt steering wheel, all standard in Nordic's boats.

The simple gelcoat work was picture perfect. The wavy gray stripes ran along each sponson, and two more gray stripes, which started between the quarter-canopies, met at the front of the deck. On each side of the stripes were ghosted pinstripes in the deck.

The 4,000-pound boat also was capped with a black rubrail, and the engine hatch featured a raised section with a billet vent and a thick gray stripe with 27 Thor on it. Behind the engine hatch was a molded swim platform with a pair of stainless-steel elliptical grab handles and black rubber inserts.

Stepping into the stylish boat, the cockpit featured twin bucket seats and a three-person rear bench. While the gray and red buckets were a tight squeeze, the molded footrests in the liner provided a comfortable place to put our feet.

The cockpit had an extremely clean look because the entire floor was a smooth, shiny fiberglass liner. The base for the rear bench was part of the liner, as were the four raised sections—one on each side of the rear bench and one next to the driver and observer seats.

Each raised section featured a pair of anodized red cupholders, a stowage compartment and a billet-covered speaker. The Livorsi Marine throttle and shifter was mounted to the driver's side section. Fluent said the liner allows the builder to install the controls in a center-console if that's what the buyer prefers.

Two other notable features were the quarter-canopies that were installed flush into the deck and the Dana Marine wind-deflecting plate that was included between the distortion-free quarter-canopies. We noticed the wind protection when running the boat on the Colorado River.

We weren't able to collect many performance numbers because Nordic was still dialing in the new model. We did reach 100 mph in flat conditions, and the new model, as set up, took 6 seconds to get on plane.

Nordic has always been known for its V-bottoms but if the company has its way, it will also make a name with its catamaran.

Click to enlarge.