California’s Paul Wallner can play it cool that his new Nordic Boats 35 Flat Deck catamaran powered by brand new Mercury Racing 450R engines is just another boat—especially since it’s gelcoat graphics are the same color scheme as the previous two outboard-powered 28-foot Nordic cats he’s owned—but that’s definitely not the case.

Paul Wallner can’t wait to get some more time in his new 35-foot Nordic catamaran powered by twin Mercury Racing 450R engines at this week’s Lake Powell Challenge in Page, Ariz. Photo courtesy Nordic Boats

Not only is Wallner’s 35-footer the Lake Havasu City, Ariz., company’s first boat with the new 450-hp 4.6-liter V-8 outboard engines, it’s the first true-tunnel-style Nordic he’s owned, which he said was the main selling point to build the larger model.

While Nordic was waiting for the engines to be delivered for his boat, Wallner said he got a chance to run around the California Delta in Nordic’s second 35-foot cat, which is powered by twin Mercury Racing Verado 400R engines and will be on hand, along with Wallner’s boat, at this week’s Lake Powell Challenge hosted by Antelope Point Marina in Page, Ariz. It was during the Big Cat Poker Run in Discovery Bay, Calif., and he was with the Nordic crew when they ran the boat all the way to San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

“All I can say is that 35 Nordic is an offshore cat, there’s no doubt about it—it truly handled the garbage well, and we encountered some bumpy water on the way to the Golden Gate Bridge,” Wallner said. “There were some points where we could stay on top of it going 80-plus mph, but even when it got too rough to where we were only running 50 to 60 mph, the boat didn’t beat us up. Because the tunnel is as deep as it is and offers so much clearance, there is no tunnel slap, which keeps you from getting hammered out there like you might in a boat with a shallower tunnel. The boat still packs a lot of air in the tunnel, plus it turns like a V, which is remarkable.

“I can’t wait to get mine out on Lake Powell in some rougher water and give it a go,” he continued. “We broke in the boat last week on Lake Havasu with the guys from Mercury and it was flat and sticky and hot. We spent hours running it to test a few things; it wasn’t very fun.”

Check out the slideshow above for more images of Nordic’s third outboard-powered 35-foot cat. Photos courtesy Nordic Boats and Paul Wallner

Wallner said he didn’t go wild with any interior features, keeping it pretty straightforward with his typical intercom, electronics and stereo systems along with his preferred vinyl upholstery manufactured by the talented team at Nordic.

“I’m very happy about the boat, Nordic did a fabulous job with it,” Wallner added. “I’m pretty certain I’m going to love the new 450Rs. They are an engineering marvel, and I think Mercury is just getting started.”

Editor’s note: Stay tuned for more on Wallner’s new 35-foot Nordic as speedonthewater.com plans to take a much closer week later this week at the Lake Powell Challenge in Page, Ariz.

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