“The accident in Michigan City was truly an accident,” said Schoenbohm, the owner of Smart Marine Service in Orlando, Fla. “But repairing the damage from the crash gave us the chance to do a few things. We actually were able to take 300 pounds out of the boat.”

By the time the SBI National Championships roll around Sept. 25-27, Smart Marine Service will be a completely different boat.

More significant than the weight reduction, according to Schoenbohm, is the 32-footer’s new “11/10 variable-speed bottom,” the same bottom Schoenbohm is using on his foot Phoenix 32 XCat racing and pleasure catamaran project. While he declined to provide specific details on the new running surface, Schoenbohm presented a general overview of the design.

“Normal boats have a 13-degree bottom,” he explained. “Our 11/10 variable speed bottom has a convex running surface with the last part of the surface being 10 degrees. That turns it into a rocket ship. We also changed our boat’s nose to make it more aerodynamic and added ‘corner rails.’

“We blueprinted the bottom to change the angles before we modified it,” he added. “We changed the bottom, re-rigged and de-rigged the boat—had our engine 280-hp engines rebuilt—and we’re going to repaint it. It will be done for Clearwater.”

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