Sterling Nears Completion On ‘All-New’ Superboat-Class Engines

While two Superboat-class teams—Warpaint and WHM Motorsports—currently are running pairs of naturally aspirated 750-hp engines from Sterling Performance on the Super Boat International circuit, the Milford, Mich., engine builder has not built new engines “from the ground up” for any catamaran in the class since the technical rules were rewritten two years ago. With new 750-hp engines nearing completion for WHM’s upcoming new 40-foot Skater raceboat, that’s about to change.

The new WHM Motorsports Skater catamaran (the existing boat is shown here) will have Sterling’s first pair of “from the ground up” 750-hp Superboat-class engines. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

“The engines for WHM are going to be our first completely new pair that aren’t a refit of something else since the rules were changed,” said Mike D’Anniballe, the owner and founder of Sterling Performance. “We plan on optimizing the engines to their full potential under the current rules for the class.”

D’Anniballe said he plans to have the engines done in time to be installed in the new WHM cat for SBI’s August 1-3 race in Michigan City, Ind.

In other Sterling offshore racing news, he added that the 46-foot Skater cat, Total Monster, powered by twin 1,500-hp supercharged Sterling engines, recently took first place at an offshore race in Trinidad organized by the Trinidad and Tobago Powerboat Association.

“They broke a rocker arm on Friday, so we flew a person down there on Saturday to fix it,” D’Anniballe said. “We got it fixed in about 30 minutes, and they went out and won both races.”