Outboard Skater Fun Run Opening Day—By The Numbers

Not counting Chris LaMorte’s Skater 36 catamaran powered by twin 700-hp stern-drive engines, 6,100-hp worth of outboard engine-equipped Skater cats took over the guest slips this morning at Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grille in St. Petersburg, Fla. The lunch trek officially opened the fifth annual Invitational Outboard Fun Run organized by LaMorte and his friend Ron Muller of Electronics Unlimited in Fort Lauderdale. Twin outboards powered each of the 10 boats in the mix, meaning each average 620-hp worth of hardware on its transom.

Built 31 years ago, Alex Middleton’s Skater 24 catamaran is a timeless beauty. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Here a few more key numbers and data points from today’s happening:

• LaMorte had the only stern-drive cat in the mix, but two other participants—both Floridians—have stern-drive cats under construction at the Douglas, Mich. Marc Halpern, who ran his orange and white 308 cat, is building a 388 with Mercury Racing 1100 engines. Muller, who sold his 308 to the absent Shane Mahieu of Upstate New York and rode with LaMorte today, has a 368 in the works. (His power decision is still pending approval at home.)

Both are expecting their boats to be completed this year, and according Skater national sales manager Tony Cutsuries, they will be. Like his pal Muller, Halpern has participated in all five events.

Between the water and the weather, today was as good as Southwest Florida boating gets.

• First-time fun-run invitee Branden Burgess of Michigan had the youngest boat in today’s mix with his 2021 model-year Skater 368, the only boat in this weekend’s fleet equipped with Mercury Racing 450R outboards. Burgess bought the boat from the one-and-only Tyler and Lindsey Miller in 2022.

• Though they didn’t make it to lunch, the oldest cats in the mix were 24-footers, one a 1984 build owned by Alex Middleton, the other a 1987 creation owned by Ryan Beckley. Because they showed up after the trek to Doc Ford’s they’re not included in today’s lunch-run boat-count and combined horsepower total. Unfair, perhaps, but my list, my rules.

• As for the run itself, weather and water conditions could not have better. All 10 boats skipped the Intracoastal Waterway on the outbound leg and ran in the Gulf at speeds approaching—and even exceeding—100 mph. The entire fleet returned on the Intracoastal Waterway, which thanks to low-speed zones took twice the 20-plus minutes required to reach their destination.

• Texan Jimmy Soros traveled more than 1,100 miles to run his 24-foot Skater. That made him the farthest traveled. Beckley had the shortest trip as he lives in Bradenton, which is less than 15 miles from Sarasota. But a few last-minute details still kept him from leaving on time. In fairness to Beckley, departure time from the Sarasota was a torturous 10 a.m.

Today’s outboard Skater fleet was a thing of beauty.

• Tonight’s dinner at the Sarasota Hyatt starts at 6:30 p.m. and I live in Bradenton, which means I better get moving if I want to be on time. That’s been a struggle for me so far this week, so I can’t be too hard on Beckley.

Lunch run No. 2 is set for tomorrow.