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Manufacturers and Dealers
by Published on 02-09-2016 01:20 AMCategories:
In the performance boating world, the one thing that has remained constant every since the first Roman added extra rowers to his Galley, there is never enough horsepower. In today's world, there are several options to try for more horsepower, and several players who want to provide the ultimate horsepower option. There are also several questions begging to be answered. Like: What is more important, horsepower or torque? Many don't realize that the horsepower at the crankshaft of the engine is multiplied by the gear ratios of the drives or transmissions. So, an engine with 500 foot pounds of torque, passing the power through a 1.5 drive, has 750 foot pounds of torque at ...by Published on 10-28-2015 10:36 PM
Back in Key West a year ago the key players from Performance Boat Center at Lake of the Ozarks approached the key players from Douglas Marine in Douglas Michigan about a possible race boat project. After some discussion, the project was a go.
Since that time, we here at Serious Offshore Sports have once again had the opportunity to watch the creation of a one of a kind Skater come from a waxed mold, to a finished project. Well, that finished project hit the water today, so now we can finally chat about the build and show some of the photos as we have followed it.
It floats!!
...by Published on 09-24-2015 09:02 PMCategories:
After the boat was finished with all of the base paint prep work, it went into the paint booth for the final application of the paint to make the final design come to life. Take a peek as we have watched this transformation to the current status. What an amazing piece of eye-candy. In the water, this beauty is going to stun!!
First View.
Finished Base
The Vision!
Sleek!!!
This boat ...by Published on 06-23-2015 08:26 PMCategories:
As we spend time at Skater watching custom boat after custom boat being built, every once in awhile a completely new design floors us. This has happened recently, as you are aware, with the Pure Platinum 388, the 50' Shades of Grey, and the all new 318 wide-body outboard currently beginning its rigging process.
Now, Skater has done it again. The new 478 we have watched for the past 8 months is getting to a point where they have decided to allow the secret new build out. The lines on this boat are something that we cannot wait to see on the water. In our humble opinion, they are superb. ...by Published on 06-02-2015 11:35 PMCategories:
As we've been following the build of this Skater 318, we are certainly impressed with the thought, build, and the overall impressions this "First" projects.
Now that it has the final clear shot in the paint booth, it is time to show you what has been transpiring, and tell a little bit of the why.
After the last clear topcoat in the spray booth. Still drying!
Sanding out the boat for prime.
Prime in the booth.
Sand Again!
Painting the final design.
...by Published on 05-13-2015 09:19 PM
A couple weeks ago we had the opportunity to chat with Bob "JR" Noble, Mark Kowalski, and Dave Hutchinson while they were visiting Skater to check up on both of their team's boats. It was a slight bit colder up here than in Florida when they left. (Mark just had to drive over from Ohio).
The current boat, damaged in Key West as most will remember, was almost ready to take home for final rigging to be ready for the Cocoa Beach race. Dave was able to take it back south to TNT the next day for final assembly, rigging, and testing.
"Past"
"Bumping" with Broadco in Key West
Oops, Drive ...by Published on 05-12-2015 09:48 AM
Many times we hear about “The 1%” in today’s news stories. When it comes to scarcity however, Platinum is found in only .01 parts per million of the earth’s crust, making it one of the planets most elusive elements. In the 18th Century, platinum’s rarity made King Louis the XV of France declare it “the only metal fit for a king”. So, when Bill Pyburn collaborated with Peter Hledin to produce the latest “Pure Platinum” Skater, they had a lofty target to attain to make sure the finished product would live up to the rarity of its namesake.
Photo Courtesy Shoot 2 Thrill Pix
...by Published on 04-17-2015 11:52 PMCategories:
Is this fifty shades of grey, it very well may be and we will double check with the paint designers. But Skater is, with this 50 feet of fulfillment (as Christian Grey says in Fifty Shades of Grey), “Raising the ordinary to extraordinary”. And extraordinary is the perfect word to describe this Skater beauty.
We are kind of hoping they name it “Fifty Shades of Grey”. Seems perfect for something that can hurt you while looking this good and giving you pleasure at the same time.
Follow along as we show a few photos of this extraordinary craft being built. We will add to the photos in the thread ...by Published on 02-23-2015 07:22 PM
James Kimmel, the original Jimmy Kimmel as he says, is proud of his new 30’ Skater SS and has every right to be. The color scheme, right down to the specially wrapped steering wheel, gauges, gauge bezels, and interior stitching set this beauty off as a performance boat with all of the looks, performance, and custom tweaks that have given Skater their outstanding reputation. I think he was more impatient than he let on while at the show in Miami. Their winter play spot in Florida had to be waiting for this beauty to see what it could do in his hands.
During ...by Published on 02-11-2015 01:50 AMCategories:
Saber Marine has taken their new 34 off to the 2015 Miami Boat Show. As we have been watching the build, it has definitely shown itself to be a best-of-the-best offering.
Coming home from paint.
From the Balsa cored hull,
To the Balsa Cored Head bulkheads, head walls, and a multitude of other places to save weight and give strength, it has been obvious this is no cookie-cutter offering from a cut and paste builder.
And to save even ...by Published on 08-30-2014 10:39 PM
As ranked in most military expert’s reviews, the F-4 Phantom, F-15 Strike Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor, and F-117 Nighthawk are 5 of the top U.S. Fighter Jets of all time. But, if the military had decided to build a high performance fighter catamaran, this latest Skater F-426 at 12 feet wide and 42 feet long, is what they would likely conceptualize and commission to protect us all from evildoers on our waterways.
There is nothing that can be over-stated about the distinctiveness of the paint when compared to other high end performance boats on the water. The team assembled to design this scheme ...Published on 03-07-2014 11:13 PMCategories:
On The Inside
We had the opportunity to visit with Ian at the Miami Ilmor display and personally tell him thanks for the way their company handled one of our members engine problems. It is no accident that Ilmor has grown at a tremendous rate, and made a reputation for product and service excellence, while others have had issues.
At the Miami show they had their latest V-10 725 which first put them on the performance boat map, their Indy drive system, and some of their new V-8's.
It's ...by Published on 03-02-2014 07:58 PMCategories:
Active Thunder had a presence at the Miami Boat Show this year for the first time in over 4 years. It was nice to chat with the owner Pat Haughey while looking at his latest 37 Xcess. As many of you are aware, our member Mike Sommers has a 37 Active Thunder in bright red with black stripes which he had at the Boyne Thunder Poker Run this past summer.
The boat has also ...Published on 02-08-2014 08:32 PM
by Serious News
Some of the Serious Offshore Sports news team had the opportunity to visit a few of our West Michigan performance boat builders and shops. We started out the day by visiting Precision Power Offshore to see Ben Wiersum at his new location and find out what was interesting there.
http://www.precisionpoweroffshore.com/
Ben had the 43 Checkmate, among others, in the shop being attended to.
Wicked Won was not in the main shop at the time, but it is a sweet boat they are starting to build new engines for.
Our next stop was Douglas Marine, home of Skater and the incomparable ...Published on 10-14-2012 09:22 PMCategories:
by Tommy Snyder
Quick- name two 40-year-old performance boat companies still owned and run by their founder. Don sold Cigarette- twice. Reggie is gone from Fountain. Formula? Nope. The Porter’s have owned it a long time but didn’t start it. Your list is stuck at one. Pantera. I began thinking about this as I traveled to visit Pepe and Jo Nunez at Pantera. After close to 40 years, how are they still at it? After a brief time there, I think I found out. Family and enthusiasm. While this story began with the idea of a behind the scenes look at Pantera’s production facility and the boats they’re building, I realized quickly that the story here ran much deeper.
40 Years of History...
As I walked in to the Pantera offices I’m immediately greeted with the welcoming smile of Pepe’s ...
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The Inside Articles -
It's 2024, (no longer 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 or 2023)
Ratickle Yesterday, 04:57 PM