Douglas Skater establishes new world speed record

by Bob Wonders on 15 Jan 2009 A Skater 368 catamaran has set a new offshore world kilometre speed record in the US Cat Lite category, slashing over a course on a Southern California lake at 212.40km/hr (131.981mph).

The Michigan-built racer, ‘Team Amsoil’, comfortably surpassed the previous best time of 203.90km/hr (126.703mph).

Veteran US throttleman Bob Teague and driver Paul Whittier achieved the new record after several days of trial on the unique Salton Sea, an environment offering below-sea-level air density and water boasting extremely high salinity.

The 376 square mile lake, the largest lake in California, is within the Colorado Desert in Southern California.

'It provided the perfect setting for world record speeds, with cool desert air and a perfectly undisturbed surface,' Teague declared.

The Skater was powered by dual Mercury Racing EFI engines each delivering 525hp coupled with Mercury Racing dry-sump Six drives and CNC cleaver propellers.

'We tried various set ups and a range of propellers, but we always found the Mercury Racing CNC propellers gave us four to five seconds superior speed,' Teague added.

The pair was exceptionally pleased with the record given that the Skater ran aground on a poorly dredged section of the lake during initial trials.

It cost the team a full day and required extensive repairs to the bottom running surface of the Skater.

The Salton Sea boasts a maximum depth of only 1.524-metres (5’).

Teague said the new record capped off a 'near perfect year' for ‘Team Amsoil.’ The crew also claimed the Geico Triple Crown, the Offshore Super Series and the US Offshore High Points championship as well as the Cat Lite championship on the US offshore circuit.

Douglas Skaters have enjoyed considerable success on the Australian and New Zealand offshore circuits.

Steve Searle’s Gold Coast-based team, ‘Acme Racing’, which raced to a comprehensive victory in the last round of the Australian Offshore Superboat Series, is a Douglas Skater as is the Kiwi Supercat Lite ‘Rayglass’, mentioned in last week’s Powerboat-World.

‘Douglas’, incidentally, is the name of the Michigan town, the home of Skater since its formation by Peter Hledin in 1974. Hledin remains CEO of the company, but it has come a long way since he launched his first model, a single-outboard Skater 18.

Today, the company produces a range of performance-oriented catamarans from 8.53 –metres (28’) to 14.02-metres (46’).

Several of the leading US offshore teams ‘go to war’ in Skaters.

The 8450 square metre (91,000 square foot) factory in Douglas, Michigan, is high tech in every sense.

Skater was among the first US manufacturers to employ and perfect vacuum bagging technology and use S-glass, Kevlar and epoxy resins.

The company specialises in complete customisation for its clients, even to the extent of designing upholstery and hull graphics to suit each individual.

Skaters are usually outboard or stern drive powered and although the breed is recognised as a designer-manufacturer of race boats, its top sellers are actually recreational craft, albeit very, very quick recreational craft.

Take a look at the range via the website, www.douglasskater.com