Insetta 45 Catamaran Review, the Boat That Made Insetta Boats

Insetta boats and a racing idea

For most of their history, Insetta boats meant one model: the 45. Founder Victor Insetta, an electrical engineer with a physics background who sold his electronics company in 2007, wanted to marry the stepped tunnel hull of an offshore racing catamaran with the deck of a serious fishing boat. Design engineer Bryan Folsom, who joined in 2010, summed up the result to Sport Fishing: the team took a go-fast hull, widened the sponsons and added freeboard, but kept the sea-taming ride of a racing-style cat.

The boats were built by Insetta Boatworks, part of American Marine Design, in St. Marys, Georgia, and sold as the i45C center console with outboards and the i45D with diesels. The company's high point came in 2017, when four Insetta 45s were shipped to Bermuda as official chase boats for the 35th America's Cup, running alongside foiling catamarans for television coverage.

Insetta's current website now centers on the 35 IFC, a foil-assisted catamaran announced in 2020, and describes the 45 as the legendary catamaran it launched more than a decade ago. In practice, a 45 today is a used-market purchase.

Asymmetrical sponsons, two steps and a narrow tunnel

The 45's hull is what sets it apart from most center console cats. Each sponson is asymmetrical, straight on the inside and angled on the outside, which Insetta's sales director told Sport Fishing forces more air through the tunnel for lift and helps the boat turn with less outward banking, a classic catamaran vice. Two steps along each sponson break surface tension for speed and efficiency, and the tunnel is narrower and higher than on many cats to clear big waves.

Testers confirmed the theory. Sport Fishing found the 45 answered the helm smartly and cornered relatively flat with a slight inward lean, never catching an edge, and reported no tendency to sneeze spray from the tunnel when heading into a sea. Running down-sea in 6-foot Gulf Stream waves, it showed no bow steering. Insetta says the broad sponsons keep the bow up in following seas and let engines and fuel sit low for a low center of gravity.

The diesel version on test: 1.58 mpg at 32 mph

The most telling test is Sport Fishing's 2015 run on the diesel version with twin 370 hp Yanmar sterndrives and Mercury Bravo Three drives, fully fueled and loaded at roughly 19,000 pounds. The team ran more than 75 miles off south Georgia to the Gulf Stream at night in 3 to 4 foot seas, cruising at 26 mph and 2,700 rpm on 17 gallons per hour, with the enclosed helm measuring just 88 decibels.

Back in the St. Marys River, averaging runs in both directions, the boat planed in 7.5 seconds, hit 30 mph in 12 seconds and topped out at 44.2 mph at 3,950 rpm. Best economy came at 3,000 rpm and 32.5 mph on 20.5 gallons per hour, 1.58 mpg, which works out to more than 1,000 miles of range from the 660-gallon tank. The 45 also planed and ran flat at high-speed trolling pace for wahoo, something few outboard boats do efficiently.

Outboard boats are far quicker. Sport Fishing listed a 49-foot 6-inch 45-557 on twin Seven Marine 557s at 60 mph, Yachting put the best top end at about 63 knots, and Boating quoted 72 mph with maximum outboard power. Sport Fishing's 2017 show coverage listed outboard packages up to 1,400 hp.

Fishing deck, helm and console cabin

The cockpit measured 9 feet 4 inches wide and 7 feet 6 inches long with 2-foot 4-inch gunwales and padded coaming bolsters, and the deck drains through side gutters with poly grates rather than open scuppers. Boating's 2019 spec lists 30 rod holders, a 29-gallon livewell in the leaning post, tackle storage for 12 Plano boxes, four 44-gallon insulated fish boxes and two 30-gallon Engel coolers. A sliding clear acrylic transom door opens to a full-width swim platform for landing fish or boarding divers.

The helm seats three across, each seat with a flip-up bolster, under a one-piece welded aluminum hardtop with a laminated glass windshield. Sport Fishing's test boat had a full polycarbonate enclosure, electronic power steering and twin 15-inch multifunction displays.

Inside the console, the 2015 boat had a 6-foot 6-inch by 4-foot 9-inch berth, 5 feet 4 inches of headroom, a permanent marine head with sink and air conditioning powered by a 5 kW diesel generator. By 2019 Boating described two large berths with air conditioning and heat, a galley, a plumbed head and a stand-up freshwater shower.

Built like a race boat

Insetta says every molded part is vacuum infused with vinylester resin over closed-cell PVC foam that will not absorb water even if punctured. Full-beam bulkheads span chine to chine and keel to gunwale in each sponson, and the one-piece deck is bonded both to the hull in a shoebox fit and to each bulkhead, so the structure behaves as a single unit. The company used finite element analysis in the design.

The payoff is a hull that stays structurally quiet at speed in rough water, which every tester commented on. The trade-off is complexity and cost: this is a semi-custom composite boat, and repairs should go to a yard experienced with cored, infused laminates.

Ownership costs and what a used 45 is worth

Boating priced the i45C at $626,600 with base outboard power in 2019. On the used market, our estimate is roughly $250,000 to $550,000, but the sample is small and every boat is different. A diesel i45D is a niche choice that suits long-range trolling and island running; outboard boats appeal to buyers who want speed and simpler service.

Budget about $30,000 to $70,000 a year for a 47-foot slip, insurance, engine and generator service, bottom work and electronics, plus fuel. The diesel version is remarkably frugal for its size, around 20 gallons per hour at a 32 mph cruise; quad outboard boats burn far more at speed.

Because Insetta now focuses on the 35 IFC, check what parts and service support the factory still offers for 45-specific items such as hardtop glass, hatches and custom tanks before you commit.