Matt hit a good portion on the head. Also, from what I have heard through a couple friends who are upgrading, the cost to re-rig to the 450's versus trade in their still warrantied boats on new ones is almost an even out of pocket cost.

Go take a ride and you will see.

In key west this year 2 cats flipped big price tag for limited use boat!But then again cat out boards are the future? Also way 2 fast for 1st time cat owners? Insurance may also be issue?

Three cats flipped, actually, but your analogy is flawed. Right, wrong or indifferent, racers push the limits—and to borrow from the "Chasing Mavericks" movie, sometimes the limits push back. But, by definition and objective, they're doing what racers do. Race. Racing is inherently dangerous and those who do it assume a significant amount of risk.

Can a 120-mph sport cat built for pleasure use have a catastrophic accident? Of course—but we've also seen more than a few of those in big cats with big stern-drive power. And the barrier to entry for either is the ability to write a check. It's not the boat. It rarely is.

It's the operator. For some operators, even a 60-mph V-bottom is way too fast.

The new cats coming to the market like the 39' MTI and the 37' DCB are big reasons the guys with 32-34' boats are moving up. The 450 allows similar, or higher, speed with a more substantial and usable size.

The WP420 is a fantastic boat.

The 38' Mystic is already proving useful to people that boat on unpredictable waters.

I think you could consider what MTI has done with the 390 and Doug Wrights 40 as game changing in the world of outboards. These two boats are outboard specific boats and are not converted sterndrive boats. They both achieve speed in excess of 130 without sacrificing stability and are not propped for just top end but over all boating pleasure. This is not a knock on any brand as most know my feelings towards 388 skaters but the comment really relates to the size of the boat and being specific to outboards.

Randy had 10-11 deposits in KW and he said he planned to have all of them delivered by Aug. I believe he had a couple hulls already in St. Louis

All valid points but I think Matt has nailed it...the cost to re-rig one with the new 450's is a big driver I'm sure and regardless of the type boat we run everyone always wants the latest and greatest thing to hit the market and if your already purchasing a new O/B Cat price is not a barrier. It will be interesting to see the speeds of the new 38's with the 450's, I really like the looks of the Mystic 38 with the open deck on the back.