Father and Son Set to Test H.P. Mafia Superboat-Class Skater Today

After purchasing the former Page Motorsports 38-foot Skater Powerboats catamaran this summer, the H.P. Mafia team worked diligently to get its canopied raceboat ready to compete in the Superboat class at this week’s Super Boat International Offshore World Championships in Key West, Fla. Now the wait is over.

The H.P. Mafia team is looking forward to its first race in its new 388 Skater on Wednesday in Key West. Photo courtesy Anthony Smith.

“We’re putting the boat in the water for the first time on Monday,” said Anthony Smith, Sr., who hauled the boat from his H.P. Mafia engine shop in Sunrise Beach, Mo., to race in Key West with his 22-year-old son, Anthony, Jr. “We finished some last-minute adjustments we wanted to make once we got here and we’re making sure everything is square before we start testing tomorrow. Although we’re short on props, our engines are making good power and we think we have the CG all set up, but you never know until you run it, right?”

Smith, who built the spec-class 750-hp engines for the Skater in house, told speedonthewater.com during an interview on Sunday that the team is extremely excited to race. It helps that it is situated in the pits between the two CMS MTI catamarans owned by Bob Bull that are also from Lake of the Ozarks.

The slideshow above includes additional photos of the H.P. Mafia team’s new raceboat.

“We’ve got five teams down here from the lake, which is pretty comforting,” said Smith, referring to his team the two CMS boats, the Superboat Unlimited-class Speed Racer/Performance Boat Center MTI and the new Superboat-class Freaky Fast Skater from Performance Boat Center and Jimmy John’s. “In our opinion the Superboat class is the best one going. I think this is one of the best classes SBI has come up with—it puts everyone on a pretty level playing field.”

Smith, who has competed with his son in the Lake of the Ozarks Lake Race and in a variety of boats including Dennis Hillhouse’s D&M Motorsports cat, said the boat’s cockpit was converted from two seats to four and that the crew at Waves and Wheels in Osage Beach, Mo., handled the upholstery for the racing seats.

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