Image Of The Week: Skater Time In Tampa
As reported yesterday, most participants in last weekend’s Florida Powerboat Club Tampa Bay Poker Run found Saturday’s conditions a bit wet and wild. But Michigan’s Ron Szolack, who rode with first-time Skater Powerboats catamaran owner and fellow Michigander Mark DiMichele in his recently purchased 38-footer, was not among them.
For Mark DiMichele, Ron Szolack and a couple of friends in DiMichele’s Skater 388 catamaran, Saturday’s Tampa Bay Poker Run conditions were nothing to get excited about. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
“Come on bro, it wasn’t that rough,” he wrote in a text message to me yesterday. “It was just enough to keep your attention. We ran 100 to 120 mph all day.”
Then he tipped his hand that maybe, just maybe, there was some work involved.
“My hand is sore from throttling so much,” he wrote.
All in good fun, and DiMichele—who handled steering-wheel duties alongside Szolack—got an adult portion of that last weekend in his twin Mercury Racing 1100 engine-powered prize, which originally was owned by well-known Skater fan Danny DeSantis of Massachusetts.
Watch DiMichele’s Skater 388 in action during last Saturday’s Tampa Bay event.
Now the boat is headed back to Miller Marina in St. Clair Shores, Mich. Come July, DiMichele will run it in the Boyne Thunder Poker Run, an event on Lake Michigan, where the water can go from glass to gonzo in minutes.
We’ll be sure to report how Szolack’s throttle-hand feels after that one.
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