Wagler Shows Off Custom Diesel Engine for 50-Foot Skater at PRI Show

In conjunction with Wagler Competition Engines, Missouri performance boat enthusiast and racer Tyson Garvin is showcasing the first of two custom diesel engines at the Performance Racing Industry show in Indianapolis starting today (Dec. 10) that will be going into his new Skater Powerboats catamaran.

Tyson Garvin’s new turbocharged diesel engine (left and below) from Wagler Competition Engines is on display today through Saturday at the PRI show in Indianapolis. Photos courtesy Tyson Garvin

Built specifically to tackle endurance records, as well as the occasional race or top-speed shootout, Garvin’s 50-foot Skater will feature a pair of the marinized GMC Duramax diesels punched out from their original 6.6-liter displacement and equipped with a precision 98mm turbocharger and a billet titanium compressor wheel.

Wagler and Garvin, which will have the engine on display through Saturday (Dec. 12) at the Wagler Competition Engines booth (#3043), said the high-output diesel engines that have been spruced up to fit into the performance boat world produce about 1,200 hp and 2,000 foot-pounds of torque.

“Between the eye candy, such as the clear valve covers and polished everything else, this is not the engine you’d picture in your head when someone mentions the word diesel,” Garvin said. “We’re hoping to get the engines in the boat pretty quickly after the show and work on getting it rigged in time to take it to the Miami International Boat Show in February.”

Garvin, who set the Boating Magazine Bermuda Challenge record two years ago in a diesel-powered Skater 399 V-bottom with driver Chris Fertig, is expecting to take down some other endurance records in 2016 and beyond, including a possible attempt at a circumnavigation record. The boat is well equipped for the task with a fuel capacity of 1,400 gallons between two 500-gallon main tanks and a pair of 200-gallon tanks forward.

Related stories
On to the Next Record: A Guinness Record
Up for the Dam Challenge