Project Relentless: Updating Dale Rayzor's 2009 Skater 36 Catamaran

Difficult as it was for Northern California’s Dale Rayzor to part with his beloved Skater Powerboats 30 Prototype catamaran—one of the Douglas, Mich., company’s most exquisite creations—this fall, it was time. In 2019, the longtime Discovery Bay resident repowered the cat with Mercury Racing 400R outboard engines. Though he loved their reliability and fuel efficiency, he missed the raw power delivered by the boat’s original Sterling Performance engines.

Called Relentless, Dale Rayzor’s 36-foot Skater catamaran is undergoing a complete graphic transformation by Chris Mills at Boat Customs.

But for his routine trips to San Francisco Bay and future Pacific Ocean adventures to Santa Cruz, Rayzor wanted “more boat.” And given that he plans to keep his famed Freedom Skater in Michigan full-time and run it sparingly in poker runs there and in Florida, the 46-footer wasn’t an option.

So after a farewell day on the water during the inaugural 2020 Unleashed Poker Run on the Sacramento River Delta, the 30-footer was delivered to its new owner in Texas. The owner, in turn, sent his 2009-completed Skater 36 powered by 2010 Mercury Racing 700SCi engines to Rayzor, who dubbed the boat Relentless.

“I hope not to have to buy another boat for 10 to 15 years,” he said, then laughed.

The first order of business for Rayzor was refreshing and updating the 36-footer’s 700-hp supercharged engines, which came to him with 200 operating hours. To that end, he turned to his frequent Discovery Bay neighbor Bob Teague of Teague Custom Marine in Valencia, Calif. Teague, who owns a second home in Discovery Bay as well as his primary Valencia residence, took the boat’s heads and headers to his shop. The headers needed replacement so Teague ordered a new set, complete with drain systems to prevent water reversion, from CMI.

“Bob took a personal interest in the boat because it was originally built for him,” he said. “Pete Hledin of Skater sent it to him as a bare boat, interior installed but no rigging, and had him send it back because apparently he had a buyer who wanted a boat right now. Bob sent it back and then ordered his 40-foot Skater.”

Additional engine improvements included a TCM valvetrain upgrade package and new Whipple rotors and intercooler upgrades for the superchargers. On the setup side, Steve Seaton, another Rayzor friend and neighbor, of Seaton’s Marine in Discovery Bay, lowered the drive heights and changed the drive rotation from inward to outward.

By the time Rayzor’s gets his latest prize back from Boat Customs in late spring, it will boast a completely different look.

Less than in love with the catamaran’s existing paintjob, Rayzor had it hauled to Boat Customs in Caledonia, Mich., where Chris Mills—another longtime friend and the man responsible for the 30 Prototype conversion a couple of years ago—is handling its new graphics package. From the start, Rayzor knew he wanted something unique.

“Everything is stripes—everything is symmetrical—these days,” he said. “Chris and I came up with something different, something asymmetrical with powder blues and silvers. After I brought the boat to Chris, I stopped by Skater and showed the rendering to Peter Hledin and Tony Cutsuries. Pete said he could not think of another Skater that had been done in those colors.

“Chris is also going to ghost an American flag in the tunnel on one of the sponsons,” he added. “I always like to have a patriotic element in my boats.”

Until the cat actually is in the Boat Customs paint-booth, Rayzor is keeping the design concept/rendering under wraps.

“It should be done by May and back here for the summer,” he said. “It will be plenty fast—it should run 140 mph—and it’s a heavy, 9,000-pound boat that will be good for rough water in the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay.”

Editor’s Note: Speedonthewater.com will follow this project and publish updates as it progresses.

Project Relentless: Updating Dale Rayzor’s 2009 Skater 36 Catamaran

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