Newton Takes Delivery Of Eliminator’s First Mercury Racing V10 400R-Powered 27 Speedster
Southern California performance boater Tim Newton is not unlike the many other owners of Eliminator Boats catamarans who are repeat clients, but the Coachella Valley resident who primarily boats on Lake Havasu can lay claim to being the first Eliminator customer with the Mercury Racing V-10 400R engines from the Mira Loma, Calif., manufacturer. And Newton, the proud new owner of a stunning walk-through 27 Speedster featuring the naturally aspirated 400-hp power plants, can’t wait to enjoy his fifth Eliminator this spring.
Tim Newton’s new 27 Speedster is the first Eliminator Boats model to be powered by the new Mercury Racing 400R engines and the five-time Eliminator owner couldn’t be more proud. Photos by Tom Leigh/Tommy Gun Images
While Newton is proud that he has the first Eliminator with the 400Rs and is very impressed with the power package that the Fond du Lac, Wis.-based company unveiled at the 2023 Miami International Boat Show, Eliminator president Jake Fraleigh said there are a few more boats in production that are going to be powered by the new 5.7-liter V-10 engines that can run on 87-octane fuel.
“The boat is amazing; at the end of the day, it turned out phenomenal,” said Newton, adding that it is a night-and-day difference between his new boat and his 2019 27 Speedster walk-through cat powered by a pair of Mercury Racing 300R engines. “It took a little longer to finish than expected, but the boat is phenomenal. The performance is unreal and the fit and finish is the best I’ve seen from Eliminator in any of my boats.”
Newton, who joined Fraleigh on Tuesday in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., to take delivery of the new 27-footer, owned a 2022 midcabin 31XO Speedster with twin Mercury Racing 450R engines prior to his new boat and after the aforementioned 27 Speedster with the 300R engines. He’s also owned a 30 Daytona and a 27 Daytona—so he’s obviously been a loyal customer.
“Oh yeah, they know me there,” Newton said with a laugh. “For close to two years I’ve been stopping by every Wednesday to check in. I walked around and shook everybody’s hands before I got the boat to thank them and let them know that I’ll be back when I come through town but that I won’t be stopping by all the time anymore.”
Instead, Newton will be driving 200 miles east to Lake Havasu to enjoy his new ride with his wife, Karole, and his friends.
“I’ve had the 300s and I’ve had the 450s, and all I can say after getting a few hours of seat time in the boat is that I made the right call,” Newton said. “The 400Rs are impressive. Now I have 20 cylinders back there and you can feel the difference. The boat pulls incredibly well. We put a Livorsi Marine 1100 tunnel tab on the back and it jumps out of the water. There’s no cavitation coming on plane and the boat doesn’t hop at all.”
Check out the slideshow above for more images of the new 27 Speedster.
Newton said Eliminator tested the boat on California’s Lake Elsinore to break in the engines and ran it up to speed with a set of Cleaver-style props, but that he’s going with his “old faithful MAX5 props” for his personal setup.
“I’ve been there, done that—I don’t need a top-end number,” he said. “Maybe it’s my stage in the game; I’m 66 years old and I don’t need to run 100 mph everywhere. My wife is comfortable at 80 mph and we have screens all over this boat so it’s not like she’s not going to know how fast we’re going.”
Newton laughed and said the 27 Speedster’s acceleration, thanks to the new 400-hp engines, is the real fun factor. He added that he ran the boat up to 104 mph on the lake this week and that it was completely effortless and there was plenty left.
“As far as fit and finish, this Speedster is the best of the last two I’ve had—I mean it far exceeds my 2019 Speedster,” Newton said. “We did a lot of firsts in this boat—I did a custom carpet kit that no one has done before in a 27 and I put bow hatches in it after the fact. Now Jake said he’s taken orders for a couple of new 27s with custom carpet kits and bow hatches.
“Overall, the interior came out amazing,” he added. “I took inspiration from an MTI that is owned by the guy who does the Howe2Live videos on YouTube, Mike Howe. I told Jake I wanted something like that on my boat and they put their own spin on it and it turned out great.”
Fraleigh said he was pleased with how the new seat design turned out.
“The new interior design came out nice with the shape and the new carpet kit,” Fraleigh said. “The boat turned out beautiful. And with the new 400Rs, it is a really nice piece.
“The 400Rs with the 27 Speedster is a great package,” he added. “I’m very happy for Tim. When he ordered the boat we were planning for the older 400s, but Mercury came out with the new 400Rs so we upgraded the engines and I couldn’t be happier. We’ve got more boats coming with the new 400Rs, too. Between the outboard and the sterndrive builds, we have a lot of cool builds happening.”
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