Caterpillar C32

1. 42000sBayliss, Intensity
2. 102010sScarborough, American Custom Yachts
3. 152020sJarrett Bay, Spencer

First on record

OptimumTitan hull 2 · 2004

Latest on record

Da BaitMichael Rybovich & Sons hull 9 · 2025

1 more with no year on record.

The C32 is a Vee 12, four-stroke-cycle diesel. Bore is 145 mm, stroke 162 mm, and displacement 32.1 liters.¹

The ACERT version is twin turbocharged and aftercooled. Cat's 2015 pleasure-craft guide rated it from 1,470 to 1,925 mhp at 2,300 rpm.²

The C32B followed at 2,025 mhp, then the C32B Triple Turbo at 2,433 mhp. The displacement and core architecture were generally maintained.⁴

Cat sorts marine ratings by duty, from A, unrestricted continuous, to E, high performance. The C32's top pleasure-craft ratings, 1,825 and 1,925 mhp, are E ratings.^2,3

An E rating allows rated load and rated speed up to 8 percent of the time, at up to a 30 percent load factor.³

The C32B is not a common rail engine. Electronically controlled unit injectors fire each cylinder in two shots, a small pilot burst and then a main burst. The Triple Turbo replaces two parallel turbochargers with three sequential units, the outboard pair joining as speed builds.⁴

Power & Motoryacht credits the 1,925-mhp C32 ACERT with serving battlewagons and big motoryachts for well over a decade. Marlin notes the C32 line's long history in sport fishing.^4,5

Cat aimed the C32B at new sport fishing boats and built it as a drop-in replacement for the existing C32, which suits repowers. The C32B 2025 adds 5 percent more power; the 2433 adds 20 percent.^5,6

Cat lists the C32 ACERT high-performance engine at 6,780 lb dry. Marlin puts the C32B 2025 slightly heavier than older C32s.^1,5

Cat's pitch for the C32B was wide-open throttle as much as 8 percent of the time, and Cat's E rating assumes 250 to 1,000 hours a year.^3,6

Cat says the C32B is about 25 percent quieter than older C32s at idle and trolling speeds.⁴