First-Time Eliminator Owner Thrilled With First True-Tunnel 255 Speedster
Late last month, the team at Eliminator Boats in Mira Loma, Calif., showcased its first true-tunnel 255 Speedster catamaran during the Desert Storm Poker Run in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. On top of unveiling the closed-deck 25-foot cat, which is powered by twin Mercury Racing 300R engines, during the event’s Thursday Street Party, Eliminator president Jake Fraleigh spent the following day on the water with the boat’s owners, Tony and Caprice Thurlow.
Las Vegas-based powerboat enthusiasts Tony and Caprice Thurlow enjoyed running their new Eliminator Boats 255 Speedster at the Desert Storm Poker Run in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., last month. Photos by Jeff Helmkamp/Helmkamp Photos
“We did the unveiling on the street party and everyone who walked up was pretty amazed by it,” said Mark Baker, Eliminator’s general sales manager. “We had the new 255 sitting back to back with a center-pod 255 owned by Zach Bale so people could easily see the difference. We got a lot of questions; mainly how does one perform versus the other? And the answer is they both perform great—the true-tunnel 255 is a little better at high speed, while the center-pod 255 has slightly better handling at lower speeds.
“The boat ran fantastic when we took it out to Lake Elsinore to do initial testing and our team was very impressed,” he continued. “The boat turns like no other. You can carve it at 70 mph and it stays flat and takes a nice set. Then we took it out to Lake Havasu in the rougher water for Desert Storm and it did even better.”
Baker said Fraleigh took the Thurlows out in the boat and did the poker run with them on Friday. Then, after finishing the run, they tooled around the lake outside of Havasu Landing before Tony Thurlow took over from there and ran it the rest of the weekend.
Although the Thurlows, who live in Las Vegas and own a home on the Colorado River in Needles, Calif., haven’t had the chance the run the boat since Desert Storm, they planned to use it quite a bit over this Memorial Day weekend. They’re also signed up to run it in the upcoming Lake Mohave Fun Run (June 7-9) organized by Eliminator and hosted by Don Laughlin’s Riverside Resort Hotel & Casino in Laughlin, Nev., although it’s not limited to Eliminator owners only, according to Baker.
“The Thurlows were very excited to get their boat,” Baker stated. “It’s their first performance cat. In fact, Tony was the one who asked if we could build one without the center pod so we had a discussion with our team and we went for it. We figured the boat could still perform and perform at a higher speed, which was the scenario. It also provides exceptional planing and cornering on top of the ability to run in bigger water.”
Powered by twin Mercury Racing 300R engines, Eliminator Boats’ first true-tunnel 255 Speedster catamaran was unveiled during the Desert Storm Poker Run Street Party.
Tony Thurlow, who was hands-on throughout the build process, was awestruck by his new 25-foot, fully capped catamaran.
“All I can is say that the boat runs awesome—it’s going to be such a fun riverboat,” Thurlow said. “We definitely ended up with a very nice boat. It accelerates well, handles precisely and feels very balanced. I can’t wait to get even more time behind the wheel.”
Thurlow added that it was enjoyable working with the team at Eliminator and observing the development of the company’s first true-tunnel catamaran, which took longer to build but was worth the wait.
“Eliminator has an open-door policy so I visited them several times during various stages of the build process,” said Thurlow, who is a financial advisor who owns Thurlow Wealth Management in Henderson, Nev. “ It was fun seeing it pop out of the mold and things like that. I didn’t want to be too much of a bother but I couldn’t help but check in from time to time.
“I can’t say enough about the boat’s fit and finish; it’s great,” he continued. “The boat is everything I expected it to be. I’m not much of an artist so I picked out the colors and let Jake and those guys handle the design elements.”
Baker said the company is currently building a second true-tunnel 255 for a customer and that he anticipates more orders to come in. He also said that the true-tunnel version is only going to be available with twin outboards and in a closed-deck configuration.
He added that interested customers could call him for more information or come to the Mohave Fun Run in a couple of weeks and see the Thurlows’ boat in person. There is still time to register for the fun run on the company’s website.
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