Marine Technology Inc. (MTI) of Wentzville, MO, has added a new company to its dealer network: Big East Marine, owned and operated by offshore racer Cole Leibel of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Leibel, who drives the 32' Victory Big East Construction with throttleman Gary Ballough in Super Stock class, is the nephew of former world champion offshore racer Lorne Leibel, who piloted a variety of boats from the 1980s to 2000s.

MTI Vice President Taylor Scism, who attended the recent Toronto Boat Show to meet with Race World Offshore executives about the group's brand-new competition in Humber Bay on July 11-13, reached out to Leibel while she was there to explore a possible collaboration between their two companies. "He met with us while we were there and had some discussions," Scism told Speedboat. "They're super excited, and we think it's a good fit. I think it'll be a good market for some of our smaller craft, like the 340X, 390X and 42V. We're excited to have some representation in Canada. It's pretty much effective immediately, although we're still fine-tuning some things."

Leibel, whose Big East Marine dealership is located off the coast of Toronto's Lake Simcoe, bought his personal boat from MTI, a 390X catamaran, two years ago. "That purchase was what opened the door to this collaboration, because he really loves that boat," Scism says. As he's been gotten more into the marine business, he has expanded his expertise into body and glass work and paint work. He can do engine repowering on anything Mercury related, including inboards and outboards. They have indoor storage, outdoor storage, indoor controlled storage—all the things that we really look for when we're expanding in our brand. Obviously, it's a big deal for us to align with someone who can really put a good face forward when it comes to MTI. His operation just checked all the boxes."

Leibel confirms his passion about the 390X: "I absolutely love the boat," he says. "My experience with Randy and Taylor Scism and the entire MTI team was just incredible—their level of professionalism goes beyond any other sort of boat company that I've worked with, and I've worked with a lot of different ones."

Big East Marine started modestly, with its marine storage offerings, and gradually grew as Leibel's construction company had done previously. "We were able to establish a marina on the other side of the lake that I live on," he says. "We opened up a paint and fiberglass shop and two full-time mechanics. It just keeps growing and growing. I had spoken with MTI last season about the possibility of becoming a dealer, so when they called me last week prior to the Toronto Boat Show, I suggested that we go out for dinner. I think we're really on the same page regarding which boats from their product line I know I could sell for them. Everything worked great and we hit it off."

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