Nor-Tech, the Norwegian Pair Who Made Center Consoles Fast

Two Norwegians and a 6,000 square foot shop

Trond Schou and Nils Johnsen grew up around Norwegian boatyards in the 1970s, obsessed with sports cars and fast boats. After building 16 boats in Norway they moved to the US in 1990, bringing the molds for their 5000 Supervee, and in 1991 they began building 50-foot V-bottoms in a 6,000 square foot facility in Cape Coral, Florida. The first Nor-Tech went to Ted Dzus of Dzus Fastener Co.

The company grew with the 3800 Supervee in 1996, the 5000 Supercat in 2000 and the 3600 Supercat, which became its best-selling catamaran. In 2002 Nor-Tech moved into a 45,000 square foot plant in North Fort Myers, and in 2006 the US government commissioned a Nor-Tech 43 drug-interdiction boat. Today the founders still run the company from Cape Coral and four Southwest Florida facilities, building center consoles from the 340 Sport to the 500 Sport, the 452 SuperFish and Flyer day yachts up to 55 feet.

The 390 Sport and its smaller sibling

The Nor-Tech 390 Sport was not the founders' idea at first. Sales director Terry Sobo was so convinced performance buyers wanted a boat to fish, dive and cruise that he paid for the tooling himself in 2009, with Johnsen designing it and Doug Wright handling the hull and deck tooling. It debuted at Miami in 2010. Hull No. 100 ran 101 mph in 2016 on quad Verado 400Rs, and Nor-Tech celebrated No. 200 in 2018. Current boats carry triple or quad Mercury Racing outboards and run past 80 mph.

The Nor-Tech 340 Sport followed in 2011 as a scaled-down 390 with the same 10-foot beam. Early boats had twin outboards; by 2015 more than 60 had been built, and today triple Mercury Racing 300Rs are standard. Nor-Tech blueprints each bottom, a raceboat practice, and the twin-step hull has 21.5 degrees of deadrise at the transom.

Resale and the used Nor-Tech survey

Nor-Tech center consoles hold value well in Florida and the Gulf, helped by brand recognition and a large fleet of 390s that makes comparison easy. Used 390 Sports range from about $200,000 for early boats to $840,000 for late ones, and 340s from about $180,000 to $550,000. Repowers are common, so the engines may matter more than the hull year.

What to check:

• Outboard hours, model and repower history
• Steps, strakes and bottom for impact or stress damage
• Transom and engine bracket area on triple and quad boats
• Hull-to-deck joint and console mounts
• Hydraulic steering and trim on multi-engine rigs
• Electrical system and battery management on heavily equipped boats