After its debut at the Miami International Boat Show in February and a lengthy unfavorable season weather wise in the Northeast, the new Hustler Powerboats 39 Shotgun has been in and out of the water several times over the past month for dialing-in purposes, and the team at the Calverton, N.Y.-based company is happy to say it recently reached 100 mph in the 39-footer powered by triple Mercury Racing Verado 400R engines.

The all-new Hustler 39 Shotgun that was on display at the Miami International Boat Show in February hit 100 mph in testing recently. Photos courtesy Hustler Powerboats

“We are extremely pleased that we hit our goal and our customer’s goal of 100 mph with the new outboard boat,” said Joe LoGiudice, president of Global Marine Power, the parent company of Hustler Powerboats and Checkmate Powerboats. “This model gives customers everything that they are looking for on an outboard configuration without needing to sacrifice speed or accommodations found in a high-performance V-hull.”

With guidance along the way from Mercury Racing’s Mike Griffiths, LoGiudice said he made several runs with a GoPro camera attached to the hull, adjusting the motor locations each time. That way he could collect the data and watch the video to see what was happening where and when. He said more than five hours of video was collected. The same recommended propellers—Mercury Racing MAX5 15” x 30” wheels—were used each time and LoGiudice is convinced they’re the best ones for the triple-engine setup.

“We think there’s a couple of mph to gain still,” LoGiudice said. “We ran 100 mph at 6700 rpm and change so we have more than 200 rpm left. Going up in pitch is an option, but Mercury is going to send us a set of Mercury’s five-blade Cleavers to try first. This boat is perfect as is though so if gaining an extra 2 mph means sacrificing performance somewhere else, I don’t know if it’ll be worth it.

“Where it sits now, the performance is phenomenal,” he continued. “At 100 mph, you don’t know you’re going 100, it’s amazing. It rides just like our stern-drive 39. I wasn’t sure with the new motor positioning toward the back what it would do to the geometry of the boat. It did absolutely nothing. If anything, it might be an improvement.”

As it’s set up, with seating for up to 10 people in the cockpit that is partially covered by an expansive T-top that’s neatly integrated into the gunwales, the fully loaded 39 Shotgun starts at $649,000. LoGiudice said interested customers should call him to see about setting up a demo ride.

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