Celebrating Skater At 50—A New Article Series

Established in 1974 by Peter Hledin, Skater Powerboats, aka Douglas Marine, has produced some of the most remarkable high-performance catamarans in go-fast boating history. In fact, you could make a case—and it would be a strong one—that Hledin’s creations out of Douglas, Mich., put catamarans on the high-performance powerboat map.

The most recent catamaran built for the Union International Motonautique Class 1 ranks is a Skater. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

From the first 24-footer, which took offshore powerboat racing by storm shortly after it was unveiled, to the reigning Super Cat national and world champion Skater 388, Hledin’s catamarans have been forces to reckon with in the offshore realm since they were introduced. But while the company’s raceboats put it on the map and became the stuff of legend, Skater pleasure catamarans became renowned for their rough-water ability and sheer speed.

And of course, they were artwork. Deck tooling only exists for the builder’s smaller models. That means most Skater decks are built by hand, which makes every Skater literally one of a kind.

Now Skater is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Starting today, Speedonthewater.com will join Hledin and his team in that celebration with a weekly article on the brand, from past to present. Articles will go live every Wednesday morning.

But first, we need to get you better acquainted with Hledin and the Skater company. So today we revisit two relatively recent videos on the subject produced by Speed On The Water and Scrapyard Media.

Enjoy the show—and get ready to help us celebrate a legendary brand.