Inside SOTW Mag: Skater Powerboats 388—Super Sweet

So what’s better than taking delivery of a spectacular new Skater Powerboats 388 catamaran powered by a pair of 1,100-hp turbocharged Mercury Racing engines? Taking delivery of said stunner with 150 close friends on hand during an event held in honor of the Skater brand.

The first eight-seat Skater Powerboats 388 catamaran built is as good as it gets. Just ask longtime Skater customer Ron Szolack. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

That’s what happened in mid August when longtime Skater customer Ron Szolack hosted the annual Skaterfest in Harrison Township, Mich. Not only did Szolack get to show off the new toy he waited two years for, he and his good friend, Chip Miller of Miller Marina in St. Clair Shores, Mich., were able to get their hands on the most unique Skater 388 built to date.

Equipped with an eight-seat cockpit configuration—a first for the Douglas, Mich.-based company—the new 38-footer also is the widest one Pete Hledin and his talented crew have constructed. According to Szolack, the boat is 13 inches wider than a “standard,” as if you can call any Skater standard, 388.

“Skater didn’t just widen the cockpit to fit eight seats, they cut the boat down the middle and widened the whole thing,” said Szolack, who also has a new Skater 368 with twin Mercury Racing 1100 engines in production. “I like the bigger, wider boats anyway so I had a feeling the new 77-inch-wide tunnel would work well. But I had no idea how well. The boat was perfect right out of the box—we didn’t have to dial it in at all.

To read the full story, click the download link for the PDF of the July/August 2018 Speed On The Water magazine, and please share any feedback with us below, via email or on social media.