From its roots as a premier boat manufacturer going back to the 80’s, Spectre quickly became known for its performance excellence and attention to detail.

Over the years, Spectre has gained world recognition with an impressive list of credentials including:

• APBA Offshore World Championship winner
• 2-time Super Boat International winner
• Kilo record holder for both APBA and Super Boat International
• Recipient of 3 Powerboat Magazine Product Excellence Awards

Spectre’s constantly evolving designs and use of state-of-the-art construction materials, techniques, and hardware position the company at the fore-front of the high-performance powerboat market.

Factory Tour and Construction Process
Pinellas Park, Florida
100,000 sq. ft. Factory

Design
This is where it all begins. Frequently, a new boat design is an evolution of a previous successful design, with the purpose of adding new features and changing or improving specific performance characteristics. Having determined the overall boat design, features, and desired performance characteristics of the boat, computer models and analytical tools are used to help fine-tune the design. CAD drawings and blueprints are ultimately created.

Tooling
Following the design specifications, our master carpenters and designers create a “plug”, from which a mold can be built. The plug is precision engineered to exacting specifications, as it is from the mold of this plug that all other boats will be made. Separate molds are made of the hull and deck and of other components such as center consoles, cockpit liners etc.

(Once the molds are made, the first boat, or “running plug” is made. This initial model is used to check the performance characteristics of the boat, and any adjustments can then be made to the mold if needed).

Lamination
A brilliant white Supershield gel skincoat is sprayed into each mold piece. After spraying, the lay-up process begins. Using only the highest grade of vinylester resins along with knitted bi-axial and tri-axial glass, Kevlar fabrics and Airlite coring, the materials are precisely cut and fitted and hand laid into the mold.

At the core application step, each component is vacuum bagged to greatly improve the fiber-to-resin ratio, ensure maximum laminate adhesion, and even penetration of the resin. Vacuum bagging makes possible a light-weight construction without compromising strength and durability. (Note: vacuum bagging is an additional, but critical step in high-performance boat construction. Many boat manufacturers do not use vacuum bagging, which makes for a heavier, and inferior quality boat).

The stringers, bulkheads, inner liners and all other structural components are fiberglassed in place while the hull is in the mold.

Unlike many other boat manufacturers, we glass in the stringers, bulkheads, inner liners, all other structural components, and add the fuel tanks while the hull is in the mold. This insures that there is no hull distortion. Every Spectre boat is left in the mold for proper curing and lamination time. We allow the laminates to cure slowly so that there is no post curing or excessive heat that could damage the mold or distort the running surface.

Assembly
Deck and hull are assembled using Plexus “Fiberglass Fusion” adhesives, which chemically fuses the deck and hull together at a molecular level. This actually creates a bond that is stronger than the fiberglass/resin itself. The result is a stronger, lighter, faster boat. An additional fiberglass layer is applied to the joint, and then through-bolted. (Compare this to other boat manufacturers who may just screw, bolt, or glass the deck and hull together).

Sand and Polish
The boat then undergoes a process of extensive sanding, buffing and waxing. This is to insure a perfect high-gloss gel coat finish before it is sent to the paint shop.

Painting
Spectre customers work with our award-winning paint shop artists at OceanGrafix1 to create custom designs throughout the boat. From jaw-dropping gorgeous paint jobs to more conservative designs, our OceanGrafix1 crew do superb work.

Inner surfaces that have not received a skincoat layer, such as hatch doors and other exposed inner surfaces are painted using high quality Imron urethane paint. This provides a flawless high-gloss finish that is repairable and resists fading. The Imron finish makes the surface easy to clean, requires less maintenance and retains its gloss for years. (Many boat manufacturers leave omit this step, leaving a “raw” gel coated surface, which over time can attract moisture, promoting growth of mold and other microbes).

Rigging Department
It is here that the boat receives all of the mechanical components. Utilizing only aircraft-rated stainless steel Allen head bolts or sockets with nyloc nuts, all hardware is through-bolted. We take special pride in our rigging. For example, you will notice that all the screw heads on the rubrail are aligned in the same direction.

In the lamination phase we embed mounting plates in the hull and deck to accept certain hardware. This makes for a solid and durable anchor point.

Engines such as those from Mercury Marine are installed.

A wide variety of gauges and electronics such as those from Livorsi and Garmen are also fitted at this stage.

All wire looms are custom made in house and are supported by stainless steel cushioned clamps. All wiring is shrink sealed and enclosed in conduit to insure against possible wear. Our wiring is second to none when it comes to quality of installation. We take pride in what we do and how we do it.

Interior Install
We use only the finest grade of marine vinyl fabrics. Our foam is the best available. Our snap-in carpet is 40 oz. marine grade plush pile. All seat bases are fiberglass, billet aluminum – no wood is used here! All staples are stainless steel. Each set of upholstery is custom made, embroidered with the Spectre logo, and installed by us thus insuring a perfect fit.

Lake Test
Each boat is water tested at the fresh water Lake Tarpon. Here we make sure that all fittings and connections are water-tight and that all systems work in a real world environment, not just on the trailer. We also fine-tune the motor to optimum settings and dial in the correct propeller to match the customers desired needs.