Inside SOTW Mag: Big And Bold–Turner Up Skater 46

A performance boat owner for roughly half of his 41 years on the planet, Rob Turner of Sandusky, Ohio, spends his summers boating on Lake Erie, which is as notoriously mean-spirited as inland bodies of water come. So when it came time to order his first Skater Powerboats catamaran, a breathtaking 46-footer dubbed Turner Up that was completed earlier this year, rough-water ability topped his wish list.

Ohio’s Rob Turner said he agrees with Skater Powerboats founder Pete Hledin, who called his 46-foot catamaran the best rough-water boat his company builds. Photo by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix

“When I visited the Skater factory to decide what I wanted to order, I told (company principal) Peter Hledin what I was looking for and what I needed,” said Turner, whose last ride was a 46-foot Cigarette V-bottom. “Peter told me his 46 was his best rough-water boat.

“Lake Erie is rough,” he continued. “And even though this is the first cat I’ve owned, I have a lot of seat time in them.”

That was a little more than two years ago. Long before the boat powered by dual-calibration Mercury Racing 1550/1350 engines was completed, he started running with his friend, offshore racer Mark Kowalski, in the veteran throttleman’s Skater 388 catamarans. Turner also took the Tres Martin Performance Boat School with his fellow 46-foot Skater owner and friend Todd Fountain of Michigan.

“Mark helped me understand a few things—he really taught me a lot,” he said.

Kowalski also helped Turner get the new-generation, flat-deck 46-footer—the first to be equipped with a cabin according to Skater’s national sales manager Tony Cutsuries—dialed in. Working together, they tested various propellers and drive spacers before finding the ideal combination.

To read the entire feature on Turner’s 46-foot Skater, subscribe to Speed On The Water digital magazine by clicking here