All-New Eliminator 35X Speedster Is Well Received At Back-To-Back Showcases
Fresh off its unprecedented unveiling in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., the last weekend of February, the team at Eliminator Boats proudly displayed its all-new 35X Speedster catamaran powered by a pair of turbocharged Mercury Racing 1100 engines at last weekend’s three-day Bart Hall Boat Show at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. And, as expected for a boat that the Mira Loma, Calif., company was able to keep under wraps until it was completely finished and dialed in, the responses have been overwhelming to say the least.
Eliminator’s new 35X Speedster has been making waves since it was unveiled in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., on February 24. Photo by Tom Leigh/Tommy Gun Images
“Showcasing a new boat like this has been an amazing experience for our team and our customers,” Eliminator president Jake Fraleigh said. “This was a big deal for us so we decided to make it exciting and have some fun with it. We’re very happy with how our first 35X came together. It showed well, it’s fast and it’s beautiful. And even better, the Surmay family is extremely happy with the boat. I have to thank the entire team at Eliminator for its dedication and effort.”
Yet maybe even better than the Surmay family seal of approval is the fact that the 35-foot-long, 9-foot, 10-inch-wide boat already has generated a lot of interest from current—and potential—Eliminator customers.
“We have been getting a lot of customer requests for the QC4v engines from Mercury Racing, which is the main reason for the 35X—we just needed a little more room in the engine compartment of the 33,” Fraleigh said, referring to the 33X Speedster catamaran from which the 35X was derived. “So we raised the back of the boat, extended it, made the hatches bigger and increased the room under the deck. And now we can offer the big Mercury power to customers who want it. Those engines are so impressive with that turbo; they’re just so relentless.”
The new 35X Speedster anchored Eliminator’s display at last weekend’s Bart Hall Boat Show in Pomona, Calif. Photo courtesy Mark Baker/Eliminator Boats
Fraleigh wasn’t shy in sharing that the boat with the twin 1,100-hp engines, M6 drives and 34”-pitch props reached a top speed of 151 mph during initial testing. His customer—and one of his partners in the Eliminator Boats ownership group, RevLine LLC—Steve Surmay downplayed that part of the boat’s performance after the Ohio-based performance boater was on hand for its debut showing in Lake Havasu City.
“I had never been behind the wheel of a boat with the Mercury quad-cam turbo power and I have to tell you the combination of the way the boat responded and sat down and was predictable was incredible,” said Surmay, who has owned a couple of catamarans from Eliminator and several other boats throughout his lifetime. “The boat feels nimble for its size. It’s everything I was hoping it would be and more. And the best part, besides the mind-blowing acceleration, is that when you run the boat up to speed it’s really controlled.
“We had an amazing time in Lake Havasu, getting to see them pull the cover off the new boat,” he continued. “To be quite honest, Jake, Mark, Chris and the whole team just did a really incredible job of thinking everything out for the boat’s debut. And for me, it was a better-than-expected turnout. I think people were happy to see a new model, and I thought the boat showed extremely well.”
Surmay expressed some pride in owning the first 35X, which he said wore the Eliminator perfectly. In fact, he’s hopeful the 35X continues to push the company to the next level.
“I have to admit I was a little concerned with the bustle being as long as Jake and the crew wanted to make it, mainly because I really liked the look of the 33,” Surmay said. “But once it started coming together, it looked fantastic. I mean the lines on this boat are so sexy. It seems so smooth and it feels like it flows together nicely.”
Check out the slideshow above for a few more images of the new 35X Speedster.
Overall, Surmay praised the team at Eliminator for its attention detail, which was on full display in Lake Havasu City and Pomona thanks to the boat’s stunning gelcoat graphics, pristine interior and first-rate rigging.
The first 35X Speedster also is going to be on display next month in Lake Havasu City at both the Super Cat Fest West and the Desert Storm Poker Run. After that, Surmay said he’ll take the boat home to the Midwest and run it on his home waterway, Dale Hollow Reservoir on the Kentucky/Tennessee border. He also plans to hit a handful of events this summer, including three in Kentucky—the Kuttawa Cannonball Run, the Lake Cumberland Thunder Run and the Lake Cumberland Poker Run.
He and Fraleigh both said that anyone interested in ordering a 35X can contact them with any questions.
“We don’t have to build a lot of them, but the interest has been strong, so I know we’ll have several more coming in the near future,” Fraleigh said. “Overall, we’re pleased with the new model’s reception.”
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