Skater At 50—From Wild To Mild With A Legendary 32
Built in 2009 for now-former offshore powerboat racer Vinnie Rifice, a Skater Powerboats 32 catamaran powered by supercharged 1,100-hp engines posted a radar-captured speed of 173.2 mph that year. Word travels quickly among the Skater faithful, and the cat became known as the fastest 32-footer ever built for pleasure use by the Douglas, Mich., company. Yes, the boat’s hull was widened 12 inches and the catamaran earned the Skater “3212” model-name. But the cat’s overall length didn’t change so the “world’s fastest” pleasure-version handle stuck.
After one test-ride with Ron Szloack (left) in the 32-footer, Greg Harris was hooked. Photo by Jay Nichols copyright Naples Image.
To no one’s surprise, the 32-footer eventually ended up in the hands of Skater collector Ron Szolack. Szolack was living in the St. Clair, Mich., area at the time and still hosting Skaterfest (now dubbed Weekend At Ronnie’s and moved to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri). South Florida’s Greg Harris and Yvonne Aleman attended the 2016 event, fell in love with the boat and bought it a few weeks later.
The cat, which they named Mad Props, replaced their 37-foot Active Thunder V-bottom dubbed Fast At Last. They continued their tradition of two-person operation with Aleman driving—she’s not the kind of gal content to preen beside her boyfriend and just enjoy the ride—and Harris throttling.
The 32-footer was the first catamaran the couple owned and piloted together.
A former offshore racer, Harris knew he didn’t want the hassle and expense of maintaining finicky monster engines. His plan from the start was to repower the cat with a pair of more-docile and reliable Mercury Racing 700SCi powerplants. The next summer, he tasked Jason Ventura of Brand X Marine to handle the job and Harris, who was among the many would-be buyers fleeced in the 2004 National Liquidators debacle, and Aleman had the catamaran he’d always wanted.
The couple sold the boat to James Branton—a well-known Skater-man—in 2020. Repainted by Phil Hess of Upstate Powerboat in New York, the 32-footer reportedly is now owned by a couple out West and Harris and Aleman are on their second new DCB Performance Marine M37R catamaran.
Mad Props in flight in Southwest Florida with Harris and Aleman at the controls. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
The couple adores its current and former DCB creations—both dubbed Mad Props—as well as the team behind them at the Phoenix-headquartered company. Unless they build another DCB cat at some point, they won’t be parting with their 37-footer anytime soon. They are devotees of the brand.
But they will always have a soft spot in their hearts for their first and only Skater catamaran.
“I would absolutely buy it back and change the paint back like the original design and just use it for a few events a year,” Harris said. “It is iconic to us as well as the Skater community.”
Added Aleman, “I cried the day that boat left here.”
Ecstatic as Harris and Aleman are with their second DCB catamaran, Harris said he’d buy back their 32-foot Skater and run it sparingly as a second boat. Photo courtesy DCB Performance Marine.
The 32-footer is now the property of Robert Allen and Annabelle Winters, whose home-water will be Lake Havasu. Dan MacNamara at Team Archer Marine Southern in Southern California recently re-powered—and completely re-rigged—the cat with Mercury Racing 1075 SCi engines.
“It was a bare hull when we first got it,” Archer said. “We are still prop-testing to dial it in.”
Here’s a look at the boat in its current state.
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