Knoblock And Soper To Debut American Custom Marine Raceboat At The St. Clair River Classic

The owner of American Custom Marine in Kimball, Mich., Michael Knoblock doesn’t simply enjoy speed on the water. Knoblock makes his living selling powerboats, from new Nor-Tech center consoles to pre-owned V-bottoms and catamarans, that deliver it. His most recent personal pleasure-boat, for example, was a well-known Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats 51 GTX called Mamba. Then-powered by a pair of Mercury Racing 1075SCi engines, the Dean Loucks-painted 51-footer topped 120 mph.

Michael Knoblock and Matt Soper will campaign the 40-footer for the first time at the end of the month. Photos by Tyler Blankenship courtesy of American Custom Marine

Now Knoblock has an even faster boat in his stable, a 2011 model-year 40-foot Fountain Powerboats V-bottom powered by twin Mercury Racing 1350 engines. But his latest ride isn’t for pleasure. It’s a canopied raceboat he plans to throttle alongside driver Matt Soper at the Offshore Powerboat Association St. Clair River Classic set for July 25-28 in St. Clair, Mich. Knoblock lives in the area.

Dubbed American Custom Marine, the boat will run in OPA’s Extreme class. Asked why he bought the 40-footer, the rookie racer shrugged and smiled.

American Custom Marine principal Michael Knoblock will kick off his rookie offshore racing season at his hometown event. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix

“I just wanted to get a boat and go racing,” Knoblock said. “I bought a Fountain because I have owned a few and I know Fountain made a good raceboat. I found a nice one in Florida that we completely re-rigged at American Custom Marine.

“I have raced snowmobiles, personal watercraft and motorcycles, but I have never raced boats,” he continued. “Through the boating community in Michigan, I have been friends with Matt Soper for a long time and we decided to go racing together. I’m looking forward to it.”

Soper ran an open-cockpit, 1988 model-year Cigarette 38 Top Gun V-bottom called Old School in the Bracket 400 class for two years. At the 2020 Offshore Powerboat Association World Championships, he brought home the first world title for Cigarette since 2002. He delivered another world title for the Opa-locka, Fla.-based brand in 2021.

The 40-footer’s patriotic graphics reinforce the American Custom Marine brand.

He left the sport shortly before the 2022 season began.

“It’s a huge honor to be asked by Mike to drive for him,” Soper said. “He and his crew at American Custom Marine do everything meticulously and over the top, and they have built one of the most incredible and immaculate raceboats I’ve ever seen. It’s all ‘new-school’ with the latest technology and safety systems.

“I had no intention of returning to racing after claiming back-to-back world titles in Old School, but the opportunity Mike presented was impossible to not be part of it,” he added. “He’s a great friend and one of very few people on the planet that I would trust to run with in such a rocket-ship.”

Pictured here with his uncle, Dan, Matt Soper (right) competed in the Bracket 400 class for two seasons. Photo by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos

Knoblock and Soper also plan to campaign the boat in the XINSURANCE Great Lakes Grand Prix July 30-August 4 in Michigan City, Ind., and the Midwest Challenge, August 9-11 in Sheboygan, Wis. Beyond that, the cockpit duo has made no concrete competition decisions for the season.

“We like to race in either Sarasota or Clearwater and maybe even Key West, but we don’t know yet,” Knoblock said. “We’ll have to see.”