Eliminator Boats Unveils 255 Speedster With Ilmor Engine And Drive At Desert Storm Street Party

Mark Baker, the general sales manager for Eliminator Boats, was most definitely excited to unveil the Mira Loma, Calif., company’s latest 255 Speedster this afternoon during the Desert Storm Poker Run Street Party in Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

Today’s Desert Storm Poker Run Street Party attendees got the first peek at the latest 255 Speedster from Eliminator Boats.

Not only is the 25-foot catamaran his personal boat, it’s a particularly unique model based on its power and drive configuration, which he said was inspired by a previous Eliminator he owned, a 24-foot Daytona with a MerCruiser Blackhawk surfacing drive. Complementing its classy black and white six-seat cockpit and clean and flawless white gelcoat with black accents, the new 255 Speedster’s power package is likely the most attention-getting aspect of the boat as it is powered by an Ilmor Marine MV8 570 engine coupled with an Ilmor One-Drive system featuring a two-inch-shorter lower unit.

“First I have to give credit to the rigging guys—mainly Chris Camire, Sr., and Chris Camire, Jr.—for getting this boat together in time for us to bring it to Desert Storm,” Baker said on Thursday morning. “Those guys finished the boat at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday and we loaded it on the trailer and left for Havasu. We did a shakedown in it yesterday and started the initial prop-testing phase.”

Eliminator Boats Mark Baker (left) and Jake Fraleigh (right) were excited to unveil the new 255 Speedster in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., alongside Mike Lindberg, vice president, marine at Ilmor Engineering, Inc. Photo by Jeff Helmkamp/Helmkamp Photos

With help from the team at Eliminator and an Ilmor contingency of Oliver Ray, Nick Reed, Chris Pollum and more, Baker is expecting to do a lot of time testing the boat next month and throughout the summer. He said Hill Marine is working on some hubbed five-blade cleaver-style propellers to try and that he plans to test different drive and engine heights.

He also said the counter-rotating dual-prop drives have historically worked well on the 25 Daytona bottom, which is the foundation of the 255 Speedster that Eliminator introduced in 2019. All but one of the 255 Speedsters that were built since then have been outboard-powered; the one with sterndrive power had a Mercury Racing 565 engine and a Bravo One XR drive.

“The idea to use a counter-rotating surfacing drive isn’t new but to do it with the new LS platform that Ilmor is using for this motor with the company’s One-Drive system is exciting to me,” Baker added. “I want everyone to see the new LS platform and get a better understanding of the benefits of a counter-rotating surface drive. All of us at Eliminator are thrilled to be part of Ilmor’s leap back into performance boating.”

Eliminator unveiled the 25-footer at 1 p.m. this afternoon and there’s no doubt the boat is going to get a lot of eyeballs today and throughout the rest of the week. The Ilmor team, which is in town for the event, even contributed a 570 engine on a stand to go along with the display.

“We’re stoked to be here—the timing of this unveiling is perfect,” said Oliver Ray, Ilmor’s senior director of business development. “We’ve kept a close eye on the market and we feel like there is a great opportunity for our product to fit right back into it.”

Pollum, Ilmor’s marketing and communications manager, added that the product development that went into the package for Eliminator is just the beginning.

“This is the natural extension for our One-Drive product family as we move into the recreational performance market,” said Pollum, who was thrilled with how well the initial test went yesterday. “The opportunity to bring a dual-prop drive into this industry with the superiority of products that are on the water is exciting. We believe the product can provide a greater level confidence between increased stability and control not to mention the maneuverability at the dock thanks to the smooth shifting.”

Check out the slideshow above for more images of the 255 Speedster courtesy of Eliminator Boats, Tom Leigh/Tommy Gun Images and Jeff Helmkamp (Ilmor Marine team).

The 255 Speedster, which Baker named Double Down in recognition of his twin boys, Daniel and Jacob, is of course loaded with top-of-the line creature comforts, electronics and stereo equipment.

“Craig McLean (Eliminator’s operations manager) tooled the piece of acrylic into the engine hatch and he also tooled the windshield almost an inch taller, which we might incorporate into future builds,” Baker said. “The interior is all vinyl to keep it classic looking and we shortened the seat pedestals two inches.”

The Eliminator crew installed Mercury VesselView displays in each dash with a Simrad monitor in between. A Rugged Radios VHF intercom system was included and Kicker Marine speakers were selected with the team going as far as to mold a speaker into each headrest.

Along with the 255 Speedster, which was sitting on a trick, triple-axle trailer from Extreme Custom Trailers, today’s Desert Storm street party attendees can check out several other models from the company and pick up Eliminator merchandise at the same time.

Editor’s note: Speedonthewater.com will follow up with this story as the boat gets dialed in.

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