Skater At 50—Life In The Fast Lane With The Great 368
Though it was introduced by Skater Powerboats in 2004 for offshore racing’s long-extinct Super Cat Lite class, the 368 catamaran quickly found a place among discerning buyers pleasure-boat buyers. So it makes perfect sense that Ron Szolack had the first open-cockpit pleasure version.
Szolack collects Skaters like one else in the Douglas, Mich.-headquartered brand’s 50-year history.
The most recent 388 catamaran completed—hull No. 69—was commissioned by Skater dealer Ross Ramsey of RP Elite Motors and Marine in Springown, Texas.
Lane’s Skater 388 catamaran is currently on a lift behind his New Jersey home.
As the original and current owner of the first 318 model Skater catamaran, which was built in 2017, Steve Lane of Toms River, N.J., has a place of his own in Skater lore. Lane is a long way from catching up with Szolack, of course, but his six-cylinder Mercury Racing 400R outboard powered model started him down the toward becoming a multi-time Skater owner.
Delivered in late 2022, his Skater 368 catamaran powered by twin Mercury Racing 1100 engines was a giant leap from his outboard-equipped 318. The long-retired 59-year-old didn’t get much time to run it on Barnegat Bay with his girlfriend, Nancy Quinlan, who also enjoyed driving the 318, that year, Yet they ran it enough to know they needed some professional driving instruction.
The couple completed the Tres Martin Performance Boat School last spring.
Skater national sales manager Tony Cutsuries put the cat through its paces prior to delivery.
“It was great,” said Lane. “You hear this all the time from people after they take the course. You think you know everything about your own boat. But you don’t. Tres certified Nancy and me. He taught us how to trim to correctly and how to turn it at high speed. He made us feel comfortable. I feel so much more in control and confident—but not overconfident— than I did before the course.
“And he was a really cool guy to deal with,” he added. “Very nice and very personable.”
Quinlan and lane enjoyed the Tres Martin driving course as a couple.
A broken wrist kept Lane off the water for much of 2023 boating season on Barnegat Bay. That makes this summer his first boating season with this 2022 model-year Skater, and he plans to run as often as possible with Quinlan on his home-water in the Garden State.
But he’s already impressed with the cat’s “massive” acceleration.
The author first spied Lane’s new 38-footer under construction in late 2021 during the production of the “In The Lead With Peter Hledin” documentary video.
“From 90 to 140 mph it’s incredible,” he said. “It’s pulls so hard—those engines are amazing. It’s nothing like my 30-footer, which isn’t a slow boat but takes time to get up to speed. You can cruise in this boat all day a 120 mph with the engines at 5,000 rpm. I run it mostly from 90 to 100 mph at 4,000 to 4,500 rpm and it just hums along.
“I’m so glad I got the 1100s,” he added. “I don’t think I would have been as happy with 700s.”
As for his Skater 318 catamaran, Lane isn’t looking to sell it. Instead, he’ll keep the cat at his second home in Sarasota, Fla., and keep the 388 in Toms River. When the 318 isn’t on a lift behind his home in the Sunshine State, Grant Bruggemann of Grant’s Signature Racing in Bradenton, Fla., will care for and house it when Lane is back in New Jersey.
During a vist to Skater headquarters, Quinlan got a close look at the power going into Lane’s 368 catamaran.
“I feel like an outboard cat is easier to deal with in Southwest Florida,” he explained. “And Nancy likes the ride of the bigger 368 cat on Barnegat Bay, which gets pretty bumpy sometimes.”
Lane paused and chuckled.
“That’s the plan, anyway, but who knows?” he said. “I may miss the acceleration so much that I bring the 368 to Florida and have Grant take care of both of them.”
Though Lane will keep the 318 at his second home in Southwest Florida, he has no plans to sell it. Photo by Tim Sharkey copyright Sharkey Images.
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