Talk about putting your money where your mouth is—so convinced was Terry Sobo, sales and marketing director for Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats in Cape Coral, Fla., that the company should offer a center-console that he paid for the tooling of the first Nor-Tech 390 CC himself.

“This project is near and dear to my heart,” says Sobo. “I live in South Florida and like to do all the things in performance boats that make them amazing, but there are more things to do down here that just go fast. People in our world own fast boats, but they also want something at their docks they can just use to tool around in, fish in and dive from.

“I approached the guys (Trond Schou and Nils Johnson, Nor-Tech’s principals) a couple of years ago to do a center-console boat, and they were understandably reluctant,” he continues. “They didn’t think it was feasible. I said, ‘Look, I will personally fund this project. I will pay for the tooling. I will pay for the first boat. All you have to do is build them.’”

Johnson agreed to design the boat with Sobo’s input (“I looked at everything I could out there and took pictures,” says Sobo.) To handle the hull and deck tooling they turned to Doug Wright.

“Between the three of us, we kind of laid out the whole thing,” says Sobo. “It’s a triple-outboard model with lots of seating and lots of bling, but without anything to compromise its functionality as a fishing boat or cruising boat. We gave it things like a flared bow and reverse strakes.

“We weren’t going for a big ‘top speed’ boat, but you know, with triple outboards it runs 73 mph,” adds Sobo. “And it turns like a Sea-Doo.”

The Nor-Tech 390 CC will be on display at the Miami International Boat Show Feb. 11-14. As you can imagine, Sobo will be delighted to take you for a ride.