Insetta Boatworks, Race-Bred Catamarans from St. Marys, Georgia

From anti-submarine research to a Georgia boat shop

Victor Insetta came to boats late and from an unusual direction. Trained in physics and electrical engineering, he worked as a student around 1960 on anti-submarine research involving fast deep-V patrol craft equipped with hydrofoils. He then spent decades in electronics, and only after selling that company in 2007 did he return to the water, first modifying existing performance hulls and then drawing his own.

The business he set up, American Marine Design, sits in St. Marys, Georgia, a few miles above the Florida border, and Insetta Boatworks is its building arm. It is still family-owned and small. Design engineer Bryan Folsom joined in 2010 and became a key part of the team that turned Insetta's ideas into production hulls.

A go-fast hull widened for fishermen

Insetta's guiding idea was simple to state and hard to execute: take the running surface of an offshore racing cat, make it wide and tall enough to fish from, and keep its composure in steep seas. That meant asymmetric sponsons with steps, a high, slim tunnel and a structure stiff enough to stay quiet when driven hard. The company builds with vacuum infusion, vinylester resin and closed-cell foam, ties the deck into full-height bulkheads and used finite element analysis in design, methods more common in race shops than in fishing-boat plants.

Volume has always been modest. Boats are built to order and sold factory direct, without a dealer network, and buyers sea trial out of St. Marys.

The 45 that put Insetta on the map

For most of the company's life, an Insetta meant the 45, the model covered in our review. It came as an outboard center console and, from 2015, as a diesel sterndrive version aimed at long-range trolling. Its public peak arrived in 2017, when Insetta shipped a fleet of 45s to Bermuda to work as official chase craft for the America's Cup, shadowing foiling race boats for the broadcast. Test numbers, engine packages, deck equipment and pricing are on the model page.

Back to hydrofoils with the 35 IFC

In 2020 the founder's early hydrofoil work came full circle. Insetta introduced the 35 IFC, a center console catamaran with an internal foil intended to reduce drag, extend range and smooth the ride, built with the same infused composite methods as the 45. It is now the only model the website presents, and the company calls the 45 the legendary cat it launched more than a decade ago.

Resale, support and checking a used Insetta

Because the fleet is small and there is no dealer network, a used Insetta usually sells privately or through brokers who handle big center consoles. Values hold reasonably well since few rivals offer a stepped cat of this type, but the engine package swings resale sharply, and rare outboard brands can be a liability. Before buying, confirm with the factory which 45-specific components it can still supply, and survey with someone who knows infused cored laminates.

• Seven Marine outboard boats need a plan for parts or a repower
• Diesel boats need a close look at drives, bellows and gimbal bearings
• Check the sponson steps and keels for impact repairs
• Look for leaks at the windshield, hardtop mounts and bulkhead bonds
• Confirm fuel transfer and gauges work across every tank