Jan 21

Jan 21 Tuff 24 in Michigan: Single Engine Performance Boat That Hauls the Family

When it comes to performance boating, so many of us are either are born into it or stumble upon it. For TJ Grimes, he probably falls somewhat in the stumble upon category. By day, TJ works onMEFI 1-4 controllers and aftermarket ECUs at Baker Engineering, builder of custom race engines in Michigan. So when TJ went searching for a fast single engine V hull performance boat he inevitably came across Tuff Marine in Canada. For most readers of Wave to Wave, they know I’m a huge fan of Tuff and think they’re building some of the coolest boats on the planet.

In todays single engine market, there are a few options but the Tuff 24’ stands out for its incredible performance and design. Not only is it the fastest 24’ around, it’s subjectively the best looking. There’s something about anything that is well designed that is just easy on the eyes, it just proportionally works; and I think that’s exactly how the new Tuff boats are, from the 16 to the new 34.

The Tuff 24 is like a supermodel, there aren’t any bad angles. The hull’s foot print is narrow and lean so it can outperform smaller boats like the previous generation Tuff 21.

TJ knew he wanted a 24 and had the inclination to keep the colors as simple as possible which I couldn’t agree more with. The black bottom and white top are a beautiful and tasteful way to go. Although the boat looks good in any color, the crisp white and black is timeless. Another thing TJ wanted was to rig a 300XS, which is a little lighter and has proven a great match on lighter boats. With help from his wife Jamie, TJ did it all himself and judging from his day job, he’s probably very mechanically inclined and did a fantastic job.

Even though TJ and Jamie have a 39 Sea Ray and use it a lot, the Tuff was the first performance boat for him. And, in a turn of events, he ended up getting a Tuff 16 that was available while his 24 was being built, that really helped get some seat time in a pad bottom. Learning on small light boats is one of the best ways to learn and the Tuff 16 is one of the coolest boats on the water at any size. With a season of the 16 with a 90 HP Yamaha, TJ was ready fo the big leagues.

Tuff 16 yamaha — TJ owned this before the 24 and got some seat time in. This is one of the coolest little hot rod boats ever. Running a two stroke 90HP Yamaha.

One thing TJ mentioned was that after getting used to the boat “running the 24’ on the pad is one of the most addictive things I’ve ever done in my life!” He said passengers can’t believe how smooth the boat runs in a chop and just cruises so effortlessly. Tuff seems to really have nailed this one after putting in lots of R&D.

Running a Mercury Racing 300XS sportmaster, SeaStar Pro steering and SeaStar Xtreme jack plate. TJ and Jamie put it together and did some testing to dial it in early last spring. With the first real test, he had a run up to 90 MPH. His best run last summer was 101 MPH and with two people and gear, 98 MPH is no sweat. That is phenomenal performance for a 24 and a 300 HP. So far they’ve run a 32” Bravo and 32” Drag 4, both getting close the same top end but TJ prefers the all around driveability of the Bravo.

That’s clean. TJ has thought about tuning the 300XS but 100+ bone stock is hard to beat.

Some Tuffs are built with an ultra light carbon layup, whereas TJ’s is a more standard layup, probably better for running Lake Michigan. All Tuffs are custom, so you can build and configure your boat as you wish to a degree. To me, this a fantastic setup and build.

You might see TJ, Jamie and family around Lake Michigan and other nearby lakes but I doubt you’ll catch them.