‘World’s Fastest’ Skater 32 Pleasure Cat Back In Action

Built in 2009, a 32-foot Skater Powerboats flat-deck catamaran powered by twin 1,000-hp PSI supercharged J.C. Performance engines with Mercury Racing No. 6 drives has found a happy home with Greg Harris and Yvonne Aleman. Well known in the performance boating community, the couple took possession of the boat today during the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in Central Missouri and plan to run it this weekend, though not in the top-speed contest.

Sent from Michigan, the boat arrived at Performance Boat Center in Osage Beach. Not only did the folks at the full-service dealership keep the cat “under wraps” for Aleman and Harris until they were ready to unveil it, they completely cleaned the 32-footer for the couple. “As usual, Brett Manire and everyone else at Performance Boat Center went above and beyond for us,” said Aleman.

Aleman and Harris enjoyed an extended demo ride in the 32-footer during Skaterfest earlier this month (click image to enlarge). Photos courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

Thanks to a 173.2-mph radar-recorded run in September 2009, the 32-footer—originally owned by offshore racer Vinny Riffice—became known within the Skater community as “the world’s faster Skater 32 pleasure cat.” If a pleasure-version Skater 32 has posted a faster top speed, no one involved is aware of it. (Because its hull was widened 12 inches, the catamaran officially earned the Skater 3212 model designation but is still a 32-footer.)

Harris, who raced outboard-powered cats on the Super Boat International circuit from 2003 through 2005, became aware of the boat not long after it made its way into the history books and day-dreamed of owning it one day.

“It’s an incredible boat, but it was always out of reach for me,” said Harris. “We were able to make a deal to acquire it, so now it’s ours. Yvonne and I love all the big builders and have developed great relationships with Skater, MTI and so on, but this particular boat presented the opportunity for us to get into a very nice catamaran at a price point we could not walk away from. Another sticking point was its size, making it manageable for only the two of us to run and transport without help.”

 In motion or at the docks, the 32-footer is a stunner. Photos courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

A mutual friend of Harris and Aleman, noted performance-boat owner Ron Szolack, whose favorite hobby is reselling new and pre-owned Skater models, made the deal possible after he acquired the boat. In what could be described as one of the most generous demo rides in go-fast boating history, Szolack loaned the boat to the couple during his recent Skaterfest weekend in Michigan. Both Harris and Aleman logged seat time behind the wheel as well as in the throttle-person position. When the weekend ended, they made Szolack an offer and he accepted.

“We are so happy to have something this nice that a friend made possible,” said Aleman. “Ron has been great with us and patient with us. We are not rich. There were a lot of moving parts that had to come together since Skaterfest for this to come to fruition. A lot of sacrifice went into making this happen.”

The couple will run the boat as a team, with Aleman driving and Harris throttling. Photo courtesy/copyright Yvonne Aleman.

While the 32-footer’s engines have slightly less than 100 running hours, Harris said he plans to replace them—when budget allows—with Mercury Racing 700 SCi engines to create “a more-reasonable package.” Until then, he and Aleman plan to run the boat conservatively and get nowhere near its top-speed envelope. Jason Ventura of Brand X Hi-Performance Marine in Pompano Beach, Fla., will be handling their maintenance while Devin Wozencraft of Caifornia-based Wozencraft Insurance is handling their insurance.

Aleman and Harris plan to run the cat, which they’re calling Mad Props, as a team. She’ll handle the driving. He’ll take the throttles.

“We ran it during Skaterfest on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and we loved it,” said Harris. “And thanks to Ron, who quietly offered it to us, we were able to make the deal. We couldn’t be happier.”

Related storiesEditor’s Note: A certified public accountant, Yvonne Aleman is a frequent contributing photographer for speedothewater.com. Greg is real estate in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area and is a well-known moderator for offshoreonly.com, a popular online community.

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