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Inside Skater Powerboats with Peter Hledin
For over 35 years Skater Powerboats has been building Catamarans and Peter Hledin has been the industry leader setting the pace by continually bringing innovation and advanced designs to the market. All SKATERS are unique in ways far beyond paint, graphics, and interiors. SKATER give the owners the ability to influence deck design, interior design, hull side contours, and of the famous individualized SKATER bustle’s.
Peter is quick to note that when he builds a new model, every inch of the boat is calculated and designed to carry the dimensions throughout the boat rather than just stretching or widening an existing model. The new 428 Skater is a perfect example of a new hull that has had months of design criteria worked into the build. Most notable is the additional space for the larger engines now in the market place.
PowerBoatNation recently visited the SKATER factory in Douglas, Michigan and had a chance to visit with Peter. We hope you enjoy or video tour of SKATER POWERBOATS!
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46-foot Skater: Strong Personality
- By Marilyn DeMartini
- Updated: August 19, 2009
ytgaug19mos525.jpg
Barry gets a little rambunctious around the water! That’s the warning Barry Zekelman’s father used to issue to friends who took his young son along on their South Florida vacations.
“I guess I’m still that way!” laughs Zekelman, recalling his early love for the water-and for speed. “I used to race motocross, cars-I’m still a car fanatic- it’s the adrenaline, the rush!” says the man who owns various Ferrari Enzos, Lamborghinis, Porsches, and Mercedes- in addition to a new 50-foot Outerlimits catamaran with turbine power.
Man of Steel , as the Outerlimits is also known, and its Z-emblem have been Zekelman’s on-water identity for the past 18 years, as his business is Atlas Tubing, the largest manufacturer of steel tubing on the continent. Other aptly named boats in his fleet have included 39-foot and 63-foot Sea Rays, a 75-foot Sunseeker, an 88-foot Leopard, a 92-foot Mangusta, and a 123-foot Heesen-before the new 164-footer. And that’s not counting a 35-foot Cigarette Café Racer, 42-foot Aronow, 42-foot Comanche, and two 46-foot Skaters.
“I’m still very loyal to Peter [Hledin of Douglas Marine, manufacturer of Skater catamarans] but the timing wasn’t right,” says Zekelman. “I wanted something different and the closed-canopy Outerlimits with turbines seem to fit. I got passed by a turbine boat in a Poker Run.” With maybe a tad of competitiveness, he decided to power this new boat with Lycoming helicopter engines, capable of speeds over 200 mph.
“I like the torque, pick-up, and acceleration, even more than the top-end speed,” says Zekelman, but considering his last state-of-the-art 46-foot Skater had 1,500-horsepower Sterling Performance engines, it seems safe to say that “top end” is still a factor in this Man of Steel ‘s performance choices.
But Zekelman is a true family boater- not just a go-fast enthusiast. The luxury yacht and the speedy powerboat are two aspects of his zeal.
“I just love being out on the water-I don’t care if it’s in the yacht, a boat, or a Sea-Doo!” he says. “The big boat stays in the islands-that’s to clear my head and to relax. But the speedboats stay behind my house (on Lake St. Clair, across from Detroit, in Windsor, Canada). I love the convenience-we just drop it in the water, go for a run, put it back on the lift, and jump in the pool!”
Weekends are for family, so his wife Stephanie and two children are used to the dual boating lifestyles. “They’re two different things and they like them both,” Zekelman says. The powerboat has tremendous visual appeal with its own personality. “ Man of Steel is a superhero-he’s unstoppable, nobody can beat him, and he’s out for justice!” is how Zekelman describes the character he presents to painters for inspiration as they create his theme boats. Dean Loucks of The Art of Design in Elkhart, Indiana, took on the most recent design and paint challenge for Zekelman, including a Peterbuilt tow truck for boat transportation to select recreational events. Though this boat was designed as a showstopper, Zekelman talks about his spectacular boat modestly. “I don’t need to go out and show off, this is just for me!” he says, “I gave Dean a lot of freedom-he’s a very creative guy and I’m very pleased!”
At press time, the boat was undergoing testing at Turbine Marine in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where Zekelman will do some seat time to “dial it in.”
“I don’t want to get out there without getting to know turbines,” he said. Then it will be back to northern Michigan, where Zekelman finds a brief escape from the everyday-where he can don his Z-emblem speedster like a $2 million costume and become Man of Steel -if only for a few stolen hours with his family. There is justice in that and yes, Barry is still rambunctious around the water!
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Sneak Peek: Skater 388 Power Plays
On his way to cover the fourth annual Kuttawa Cannonball Run in Kentucky this weekend, speedonthewater.com chief photographer Pete Boden detoured to Skater Powerboats in Douglas, Mich., yesterday to check in with company founder Peter Hledin, national sales manager Tony Cutsuries and the rest of the Skater crew. While he was there, he snagged a quick side-by-side shot of a pair of new Skater 388 catamarans that are ready for rigging.
Next up for engine installation rigging, these Skater 388 cats are headed to buyers in Arizona and Michigan. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix /speedonthewater.com.
One will be powered by twin 1,100-hp supercharged engines from Sterling Performance . The other will be powered by twin 1,100-hp turbocharged engines from Mercury Racing . Appearance Products is producing the interiors for both 38-footers, which will be painted in house by the father-and-son team of Steve and Jake Schulte.
“We are just slammed with builds in addition to those two,” said Cutsuries, who is headed to Skaterfest in early August and Super Cat Fest later that month. “We’ve been cranking ever since we reopened .”
Dubbed Mavrik , the Sterling engine-powered 388 is going to Michigan-based David Schaller, who owns a 32-foot Skater of the same name. The Mercury Racing engine-powered 388 is headed to a Skater client in Lake Havasu City, Ariz.
Related stories New Skater 368 With Twin Mercury Racing 1100s At Home On Lake Powell And Lake Havasu Skater Powerboats Restarts Production
General Specifications
- Length 30’ 7”
- Beam 10’ 2”
- Weight – Outboard 3000 LBS
- Extra 10” wide, tunnel is now 62”
- Fuel Capacity 160 Gallons
- Sponson Deadrise 18 Degrees
- Construction Hand Lay-Up
- Engine Configuration Twin or Triple Outboard
- Twin 80 gallon fuel tanks with ethanol resistant liner
- 3” Aircraft fuel fills, fuel pickups, fuel senders and vents
- Custom bucket seats and three passenger rear seat
- SS lift eyes, bow and stern, bow & stern lights, bow rail and pop up cleats
- Heavy duty transom, braced with four knees for the new 400HP outboards
- Five structural bulkheads
- All fittings through bolted with SS fasteners
- Standard high gloss white gelcoat
- Entire hull, deck and subcomponents built using S glass, carbon, balsa sandwich construction and epoxy resin
- Custom modifications available for race
- AFT storage compartment
- Additional hull laminations
- Engine Stringer and support systems
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Spectre Powerboats New Owner Excited About Miami and Beyond
In just two weeks, new Spectre Powerboats owner Chris Ivey will be getting his feet wet in the business at the renowned Miami International Boat Show . Ivey, a former endurance sportscar racer who owns an armor-plating business and recently purchased Vision Boats , which manufacturers 18- to 24-foot flats boats, said he is excited to own a brand of boats that has been respected for its handling, performance and craftsmanship over the past four decades.
Spectre Powerboats is back in business and will be at the Miami International Boat Show . All photos/video by Carelton Holt/ gdifilms.com
Ivey said that they will have a couple of 55-inch 4K televisions to show off the high-quality 4K video put together by Carelton Holt of Granite Digital Imaging , who is spearheading Spectre’s marketing efforts and will be collecting footage from the show, too. A couple of flats boats also will be part of the company’s display in the outside pavilion tent (booth No. 3883).
Ivey, of Tucson, Ariz., said he acquired the company name, rights and assets from Gary Smith, who coincidentally lives in Tucson as well, last week. Smith, who owns the notable Predator Skater Powerboats catamaran, was involved in a legal battle over the Spectre molds in 2013 ( read the story ), and has had the company for sale since then.
According to Ivey, all of the molds are en route to the company’s new Fort Pierce, Fla.—another coincidence as that’s where Frisini Motorsports (the company who owns Sonic Boats and previously leased the Spectre molds) is based—and that production will begin soon on new 32- and 42-foot catamarans. The Spectre lineup also includes 30- and 36-foot cats.
The boat pictured in the slideshow above will be on display in Miami.
“I’m looking forward to building Spectre back to the brand it once was,” Ivey said. “We bought the facility in Fort Pierce to build the Vision line, but we also wanted to get into a larger line of boats so the opportunity with Gary and the Spectre deal was perfect. I’m a motorhead and have always been interested in boats. The offshore stuff is kind of new to me, so I’m so excited to get after it.”
Ivey said you can expect to see the company at several events throughout the year including two in April—the Florida Powerboat Club ‘s Tampa Bay Poker Run and the Desert Storm Poker Run in Lake Havasu City, Ariz.
Related stories Countdown to the 2015 Miami Boat Show
Powerboatnation Snags Mansion For Miami Boat Show Party
Buffalo poker run registration opens.
IMAGES
COMMENTS
Ross, owner of RP Elite Motors & Marine, and Kyle, the President of Marine Service, walk us through the Skater Powerboats Factory. Get a glimpse of how these...
By Matt Trulio. November 25, 2012. Despite a long day of building custom, 24- to 50-foot high-performance catamarans at Skater Powerboats, the company he owns and founded more 30 years ago, Peter Hledin is in the mood to talk. That's right, the guy who started the whole thing with a 24-foot catamaran that set the offshore racing world on fire ...
Welcome to Skater Powerboats! Those who crave tear-duct draining, cheek-smearing velocity on the water know there is only only one king: Skater! When it comes to performance, the automobile world has Ferrari and Lamborghini, while motorcyclists long to ride a Ducati or BMW. The Number One builder of high-performance catamarans in the world has ...
A former offshore powerboat racing world champion, Danny DeSantis has owned every catamaran model Skater Powerboats in Douglas, Mich., has ever built—except the coveted 388. ... So DeSantis, who owns McLaren of Boston in Norwell, Mass., had to have one. During the 2015 SBI Offshore World Championships in Key West, Fla., he ordered the 38 ...
For the most passionate and informed members of the Skater Nation, the Skater Powerboats 40-foot catamaran named Barbedwire is likely a familiar boat. ... Erickson, who owns several boats including the former Miss GEICO MTI canopied raceboat with his wife, Michelle, asked Maryland Offshore to customize the boat a little more to his liking.
Skater Powerboats At 50. Imagine if a new boat appeared today on the offshore racing scene and instantly dominated all its competition. Such was the case in 1984 when Bob Erickson and the late Hurley Stepp fielded Miss Minneapolis, the first Skater Powerboats 24 catamaran to pull offshore racing duty against what was then a fleet of V-bottoms.. To learn more, we turned to longtime Skater man ...
When the opportunity arose to own Tomcat, an iconic 2001 Skater Powerboats 46-foot catamaran that was restored and repowered in 2013 with twin Mercury Racing 1350 engines and M8 drives, Todd Fountain of Newport, Mich., couldn't resist. A self-proclaimed "V-bottom guy"—Fountain has owned several Cigarette Racing Team models and currently has a triple-engine Statement Marine 380 SUV ...
For over 35 years Skater Powerboats has been building Catamarans and Peter Hledin has been the industry leader setting the pace by continually bringing innovation and advanced designs to the market. All SKATERS are unique in ways far beyond paint, graphics, and interiors. SKATER give the owners the ability to influence deck design, interior design, hull side contours, and of the famous ...
Ross, owner of RP Elite Motors & Marine walks us through the Skater Powerboats Factory. Get a glimpse of how these amazing speedboats are made out of Douglas...
Owned by longtime Skater client Sam Jirik of Arkansas, the 36-footer currently is in Miami at TNT Custom Marine, where it was rigged with the supercharged V-8 outboards by the TNT crew. The 368 is the Douglas, Mich., custom high-performance boat company's first build with 450R outboards. John Tomlinson, who co-owns TNT with Mike Thomas ...
Skater Power Boats For more than three decades, Skater Power Boats were—and to some extent still are—the gold standard in go-fast pleasure and racing catamarans. Long before there was MTI and Mystic, there was Skater built by Peter Hledin, the founder of Douglas Marine in Douglas, Mich. What started with a simple 24-foot catamaran became a ...
Skater Powerboats, Douglas, Michigan. 30,652 likes · 8 talking about this · 286 were here. Those who crave tear-duct draining, cheek-smearing velocity on the water know there is only one King. Skater Powerboats, Douglas, Michigan. 30,654 likes · 21 talking about this · 286 were here. ...
Skater 338 Receives Incredible Make Over And Mercury Racing 860 Repower. Last fall, I briefly reported on a stunning Skater Powerboats 338 catamaran that was given a comprehensive overhaul thanks to the teams at Boat Customs in Caledonia, Mich., Appearance Products in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Double R Performance in Oro-Medonte, a township in ...
Belanger's Skater 50 dubbed KONG was water-tested last weekend when the team from TNT Custom Marine in North Miami launched the radical catamaran for the first time. "It is absolutely perfect—everyone involved with the boat did an unbelievable job," said Belanger, who sold his G-Force Skater 438, which also has twin Mercury Racing 1550/ ...
And that's not counting a 35-foot Cigarette Café Racer, 42-foot Aronow, 42-foot Comanche, and two 46-foot Skaters. "I'm still very loyal to Peter [Hledin of Douglas Marine, manufacturer of Skater catamarans] but the timing wasn't right," says Zekelman. "I wanted something different and the closed-canopy Outerlimits with turbines ...
The 28 Skater has many times been described as a Porsche on the water. It's light weight, nimble handling, combined with real offshore capabilities make it one of the most sought after outboard performance catamarans of all time. The cost effective standard deck provides seating for 5, with a sleek fairing on the deck, and a large rear hatch ...
Still, plenty of boats such as Double Take, a 46-foot catamaran built by Skater Powerboats in Douglas, Mich., in the mid-2000s, remained fine candidates for a full windshield conversion. Owned by John and J.P. Frohlich, ... The elder Frohlich, who also owns the well-known Kemosabe Apache Powerboats V-bottom, ...
The DCB M29 and Skater 318 can cruise all day long at 60 to 100 MPH, which is where most owners will spend the majority of time running. Skater Powerboats took seven orders for Mercury Racing Verado 400R outboard-powered 318 sport catamarans last year. Photo by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix. That both models can accommodate six passengers ...
On his way to cover the fourth annual Kuttawa Cannonball Run in Kentucky this weekend, speedonthewater.com chief photographer Pete Boden detoured to Skater Powerboats in...
Yesterday's tests of the first Skater Powerboats 28 catamaran powered by twin Mercury Racing Verado 400R outboard engines delivered impressive results, not the least of which was a top speed of 120 mph. Tony Cutsuries, the Douglas, Mich., company's national sales manager, put the 28-footer, which was outfitted with Mercury Racing CNC 15" x 34" five-blade propellers, through its paces ...
Skater took the very successful 308 and made it even better. With a 10" wider tunnel and flat-deck/wrap-around windshield configuration, the 318 brings an entirely new level of comfort and looks to the 308 hull it is based on. With a wide cockpit for seating of up to 6, this outboard-only model gives up very little to the larger inboard models.
Skater 40 from Douglas Marine: Exquisite catamaran delivers stellar performance. Top speed for the Skater 40 was 147 mph on radar. (Photo by Tom Newby) As happens in fall, a thick south swell was pushing up from Baja California when we tested the Skater 40 in San Diego. That translated to evenly spaced, for the most part, 3- to 5-footers, with ...
Ivey, of Tucson, Ariz., said he acquired the company name, rights and assets from Gary Smith, who coincidentally lives in Tucson as well, last week. Smith, who owns the notable Predator Skater Powerboats catamaran, was involved in a legal battle over the Spectre molds in 2013 (read the story), and has had the company for sale since then.