Paired With Mercury Racing’s V10 400R, Performance is Blistering
The Trick Powerboats 23 Widebody created a social media sensation upon its official introduction a few months ago, being the first all-new high-performance tunnel hull to occupy this size class in quite a while. Trick Powerboats president Jeff Haag created the 23 with a beautifully modern design that is both graceful and muscular while retaining its pedigree as a high-performance outboard hotrod.
The Gulf Racing livery would go on to become legendary after Ford’s victory over their bitter rival Ferarri at the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in 1966. A few years later, the groundbreaking movie Le Mans starring Steve McQueen would immortalize the famous color combination on a Porsche 917K. Still in use by Gulf racing today, this legendary color combination remains relevant in popular culture, and it just looks damn cool on its own, even without the historic backstory.
Just completed, this 23 Widebody is dressed in a Gulf Racing-inspired color design that looks stunning. The prominent center stripe looks natural on the 23’s wide, smooth deck with thin accent stripes used to highlight the hull’s design. The white primary color of the boat’s interior works very well here adding contrast and showing off the teardrop shape of the cockpit. The overall result looks fantastic and complimentary to the 23’s sharp lines and aggressive profile.
This particular 23 Widebody is teamed up with the 5.7-liter, 10-cylinder Mercury Racing 400R. The 23 is available in both single and twin-engine configurations, and the 400R is a superlative choice for a single-engine setup with the exceptional torque thanks to its massive displacement. Performance is visceral, with exhilarating acceleration to triple-digit speeds. Jeff Haag describes the 400R as providing “effortless performance”. With 10 cylinders and 5.7 liters of displacement, the 400R is a unique power choice that certainly provides the kind of torque that a boat like the Trick 23 can take advantage of.
Trick Powerboats has enough orders for the 23 Widebody to keep them busy for a while, and I am eager to see what other imaginative color designs will be forthcoming. In our next article, Jeff Haag and Lee Dashiell will give us an inside look their vision for Trick Powerboats today and into the future, so stay tuned!
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