DCB Performance Marine of Phoenix, AZ, is readying two new models: the M42R outboard cat and the I/O-powered M45 Widebody, which will become the company's largest boat equipped with stern-drive power. Company President Jeff Johnston made the announcement at DCB's 2024 regatta, held last weekend in Lake Havasu City, AZ.

With the overwhelming popularity of its M37R true tunnel outboard catamaran that debuted in August of 2020, DCB earlier this year announced that it had begun to develop a larger sister ship, the M42R outboard cat.

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Meanwhile, the M45 molds will be done by February and the first boat should be on the water by July. "We repurposed the 42R outboard bottom and it's 11'3" wide with a 40' running surface," Johnston told Speedboat. "Basically, we added a bustle extension to provide room for the stern drives and just brought down the water line," Johnston says, adding that the M45 Widebody will pair well with Mercury Racing's 1100 I/O package that runs on 89 octane fuel, which currently offer a two-year warranty, with rumors of a three-year warranty deal on the horizon. "They're getting to outboard level of warranty and customer confidence," he says.

Johnston says the DCB team is stoked to offer larger cats with true tunnels. "We have customers who would probably go to a different brand if we didn't build them," Johnston says. "That's why we came up with the 37 true tunnel, which obviously migrated into the 42." And now, with the M45 Widebody, stern-drive loyalists will get their big true tunnel.

Johnston confirmed that DCB currently has six of the M42Rs on order, with customer Kris Hansen getting the first one out of the mold. Johnston said DCB plans to display the first M42R at the 2025 Miami International Boat Show. Meanwhile, DCB owner Craig Hargreaves will be taking delivery of the first M45 Widebody.

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