In addition to a 50’ Marauder with twin Mercury Racing 1550/1350 engines and a 42X powered by a pair of Mercury Racing 1100s at the Cigarette Racing Team docks during the Miami International Boat Show (Feb. 11-15) on Virginia Key, Performance Boat Center will have a couple of other offerings at Grove Harbour Marina in nearby Coconut Grove. The Osage Beach, Mo., based multi-line dealer, full-service facility and storage center will have a Skater Powerboats 426 catamaran and a Cigarette 42X—both powered by Mercury Racing 1350s—at the Grove Harbour facility for the duration of the Miami event.

Demo rides in both boats are available for qualified potential buyers.

“I find it much easier to sell a boat in person so customers can touch, feel and experience it,” said Brett Manire, who co-owns Performance Boat Center with his business partner and longtime friend Mark Waddington. “It’s much more difficult to sell a boat online.”

To that end, Manire will be joined by a couple of Performance Boat Center staffers who will help him in the Cigarette display, at Grove Harbour Marina and at the Yachts Miami Beach event (formerly the Miami Yacht and Brokerage Show) on Collins Avenue, which runs concurrently with the annual Miami International Boat Show but is not affiliated with it. Performance Boat Center is a dealer for Princess Yachts, which is exhibiting at the yacht-centric happening.

Manire said that while the Skater 426 cat with a new Waves and Wheels interior still has its original “fighter theme” graphics—and the boat can be purchased “at a discount” with that paint job—the Performance Boat Center crew has come up with a new graphics package for the 42-footer for a buyer who’d like to start fresh. He added that while he hopes to participate in the Florida Powerboat Club’s Miami Boat Show Poker Run the weekend after the show closes, he’s prepared to ride down with his guests in Performance Boat Center’s Freightliner sport chassis hauler.

“I’ll run whatever we have that doesn’t have a down payment or a deal pending,” he said. “But the people who are going to be with me are prepared to hop in the truck and head to the Postcard Inn if necessary. Hopefully, we’re boating down there, but business is business and that comes first.”

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