Two days ago on the back to Southwest Florida after visiting my lad in San Diego, I dropped by MTI headquarters in Wentzville, Mo. By “dropped by,” I mean I flew from San Diego to Dallas and from Dallas to St. Louis, then caught an Uber ride to Wentzville in time for a great dinner with the company’s Randy and Cherell Scism, their daughter, Taylor, and her husband, Shaun Peters.
During the meal, Randy Scism, who founded the 27-year-old high-performance catamaran and center console company, mentioned that earlier in the day he had driven an MTI 340X catamaran at the Lake of the Ozarks.
“It was a little cool and windy out, but I had a ball,” he said.
That Scism still enjoys the smallest model his company offers speaks volumes. He doesn’t lack for opportunities to drive MTI larger offerings, such as the stern-drive-engine-powered 482, in the company’s catamaran portfolio.
And yet he still gets a kick out of the 34-footer that started it all, at least with outboard engine-powered cats, for the company.
Peters grinned. “When you think about it, a 34-foot catamaran is still a pretty big boat for a lake,” he said.
During the week leading up to the 2025 Joey Gratton Memorial New Year’s Day Fun, I spent an afternoon with powerboat painter Stephen Miles in his 2017 model-year 340X cat equipped with Mercury Racing 450R outboards. Like Scism, I had a ball. And told him so during our Monday night dinner.
“Stephen is a happy guy, isn’t he?” he said.
I nodded. “He certainly is that,” I replied.
On my back to the airport the following morning, I recalled the conversation and smiled. No matter what MTI offers next, the 340X—the model that started it all—will always be a ball.—Matt Trulio
