Like all closed-deck V-bottom builders, Sunsation Boats was reeling by 2010. No one was buying sportboats—a term that differentiates the breed from center consoles as both are V-bottoms—and the Algonac, Mich., company was all but dark. Its CCX center-console program, which turned out to be boat-builder’s salvation, hadn’t been developed.
From 2010 and 2015, the 36 Dominator was the life-blood of Sunsation Boats. Photo by Scrapyard Media.
So with backing from an Iowa-based customer named Jared Morris, Sunsation made one last stand and—doing what it once did best—launched the 36 Dominator. It was the second-largest offering in the builder’s sportboat line behind the F-4, a full-figured 43-footer.
Between 2010 and 2015, Sunsation built 19 of its 36-foot beauties with staggered Mercury Racing engines ranging from 525s to 700s. That comes out to a little more than three boats a year. Though it was far from enough to sustain the company long-term, the 36 Dominator was a financial bridge of sorts.
and then