Mark McManus, Builder and Throttleman
Mark McManus has enjoyed a storybook career that has seen him manufacture more than 600 offshore boats with Halter Marine, Cigarette Racing Team, USA Racing Team, McManus SuperBoats and Apache Powerboats. His innovations and dedication to clients from kings to dictators to entrepreneurs to world governments – have allowed raced and pleasure boaters alike to realize their dreams.
Incredibly, Apache race boats that Mark has designed and manufactured have won race competitions around the globe, establishing the Apache brand worldwide. Mark’s revolutionary approach to boat building has resulted in countless industry firsts, including the first 38-foot offshore race boar build with Kevlar in 1977; the first 40-foot and 50-foot Deep-V pleasure and race boat models built using Kevlar and Kevlar Carbon laminates; the first sit-down canopy, Deep-V, triple-engine super boat; the use of staggered engines using 18-inch to 22-inch centerline in both racing and pleasure models; building the first high performance, 100-year capable Deep-V race boat from Kevlar 149 composite – which went on to win two world titles; and pioneering the first diesel, stern drive high-performance Deep-V powerboat. Mark was also the first to incorporate the use of abstract graphics in the mid-1980s, setting the standard for all performance boats that followed.