DCB Performance Boats of El Cajon, CA has not seen any slowdown of orders and subsequent deliveries of its wildly popular M37R Widebody catamaran since it debuted in 2020. The company's first true tunnel boat has received the praise of the speedboating community and has earned impeccable marks during the Speedboat Magazine Performance Evaluations. DCB vice president Tony Chiaramonte delivered the latest M37R showpiece in Lake Havasu City, AZ this week to repeat client, Randy Hallman of Salt Lake City, UT, who was overwhelmed when he first saw his boat in person.
"They did an amazing job!" Hallman told Speedboat. "The pictures (during the build process) were amazing but to stand next to it, to look at it, it was night and day––it was everything I expected... and more!"
This marks the 18th M37R to emerge from the factory but is only the second one with the open bow configuration. Hallman, who has previously owned a 2016 F29 and currently still has his 2019 M33R, had long admired this model, as several of his boating friends owned them. But he had seemingly convinced himself that it wasn't feasible for him with excuses like, "it's too wide."
It wasn't until he saw his friend and fellow DCB owner, Nick Child's M37R with its fully adorned and elaborate under-cuddy with the signature DCB / West Coast flair that ultimately made him pull the trigger. Especially when boating with his young son, Blake with partner-in-crime, Amy Flaxman, who helped design the details of the boat.
"When I first saw the cuddy area that Child's boat has, it was super useful and we decided to do that. It makes a big difference," said Hallman.
The boat, which is powered by twin Mercury Racing 450Rs, was built with DCB's Vacuum Infused Resin (VIR) process, which evenly distributes the resin throughout the deck and hull. It also has been foam-cored with carbon fiber layup. It features a timeless silver, gray and black Phase III gelcoat scheme, with the half cap option and matching painted rub rail. The design runs throughout the entire boat's interior which is 100% CoolTouch, an option he learned about from DCB General Manager, Paul Miller.
"They had previously sold me on Alcantara which is in my (M33R), which I love. But Paul made me a sample with all the colors I wanted, both in Alcantara and CoolTouch vinyl. So when I got them, it was a nice hot day, I left them out for about an hour. Then came back with my heat gun and started shooting it at them," Hallman laughs. "People would be surprised how much cooler the CoolTouch is, than the Alcantara––which doesn't get hot."
Although Chiaramonte and Hallman took the boat out yesterday for its maiden voyage in rather blustery and unfavorable conditions, the M37R did not fail to impress the happy new boat owner––hitting 120 mph right out of the box.
"We ripped off a 120 on 33's (pitch propellers), with 4.7% slip, which is super efficient––which is what he wanted," said Chiaramonte. "He was blown away and told me many times already, 'this has exceeded my expectations.'"
Randy and his family will primarily be using his M37R on Lake Powell.
Other features of this M37R are:
Shortly after their run together, Chiaramonte was allowed to take to Hallman's new M37R on a sea trial for yet another potential sale.
He is returning to El Cajon, with a deposit check in hand.