Mercury Racing powers new World Speed Record

by Mercury Marine Media on 13 Jan 2009 A Skater 368 catamaran powered by twin Mercury Racing 525 EFI engines – coupled with Mercury Racing dry-sump Six drives and Mercury Racing CNC cleaver propellers – has set a new offshore world kilometre speed record of 212.40 km/h (131.981 mph) in the Cat Lite category.

TEAM AMSOIL comfortably surpassed the previous mark of 203.90 km/h (126.703 mph) after several days of trials on the Salton Sea, a large salt lake in the Southern California desert,

The Salton Sea is a unique environment, combining below-sea-level air density, extremely high salinity in the water, cool desert air and a perfectly undisturbed surface to provide the perfect setting for world record speeds.

But you also need the right equipment.

“We tried everything this year, and we always came back to Mercury Racing CNC props based on acceleration, lap times and top speed. Mercury Racing props are always 4 to 5 seconds faster. For us, Mercury Racing CNC props are our only choice now,” said TEAM AMSOIL’s veteran throttleman, Bob Teague who took the record with driver Paul Whittier.

The two are doubly pleased with the record given TEAM AMSOIL actually ran aground on a poorly dredged section of the lake during the initial trials, costing the team a day spent doing extensive repairs to the bottom running surface of the boat.

The record caps off a near perfect racing season for TEAM AMSOIL which also claimed the 2008 titles of SBI World Champion, Cat Lite High Points Champion in the OPA Racing Circuit, Winner of the Geico Triple Crown, Offshore Super Series National Champion and High Points Champion.

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