Michael Allweiss is the former president of American Power Boat Association (APBA) Offshore and a former champion in the Factory 2 class. When he raced, he had the most success in a 39-foot Nor-Tech V-bottom, Mastry Engine Center. So it makes sense that when he buys a new boat, the St. Petersburg, Florida, attorney takes it to Nor-Tech for fine-tuning.
That’s the case with his latest boat, a 2005 29-foot Extreme V-bottom powered by a Mercury Racing HP525 EFI Bravo One XR. Nor-Tech, which also happens to be one of Allweiss’ clients, is painting the boat and redoing the interior. The dominant hull color will be silver, with blue and black highlights, basically following the Mercury Racing color scheme.
Not too many people know that Nor-Tech works on boats other than those built at its facility, but Allweiss learned how skilled the crew is at the Cape Coral-based manufacturer when he brought in a Donzi 39 ZRC he had purchased. “They did a great job on the Donzi and they’re doing the same thing to the Extreme,” he said.
Prior to the Extreme, Allweiss had owned a former Offshore A Class national champion hull, the 26-foot Corsa Subluxator, to use on Tampa Bay. He owned that boat for about 10 years after having it completely rerigged, painted and reupholstered for pleasure use.
“When I bought it, I had to de-rig it,” he said of the Corsa. “It was just about into that zone where it was going to be need to be redone again.”
He told his friend Adib Mastry, one of the owners of Mastry Engine Center in St. Petersburg, he might be interested in a new boat, and Mastry found the Extreme. Allweiss traded in the Corsa and some cash for his new boat.
The Extreme has less than 70 hours on it. Allweiss completed the purchase in December before dropping it off at Nor-Tech. He expects to have the boat by late March and will contact his friend Steve Miklos, who has raced 30-foot Extremes in the Super Vee Lite class for years in offshore racing. “There’s nobody who knows how to make an Extreme go fast like Miklos,” he said. Once the boat is dialed in, Allweiss said he’s hoping for speeds around 90 mph.
When asked if he would revive his racing career, Allweiss said no. He said he prefers the idea of a smaller single-engine boat to run around Tampa Bay because it keeps his skills sharp.
“With the Donzi, it ran in the mid-90s [mph], but you could fall asleep at the wheel,” he said. “I just like the old-school idea of getting in a boat and going places. Any single-engine boat that goes that fast, you gotta drive it.”
The Extreme is set up in traditional offshore go-fast style, with two bucket seats up front and a three-person bench across the rear. The helm is on the starboard side, with controls on the gunwale instead of between the seats. Allweiss said he thought the controls and gauges are Livorsi Marine. The boat also has heavy-duty performance trim tabs. And when Nor-Tech is done with it, you can expect that the boat will be a real eye-catcher.
