Skater At 50—The Original Game Changer

Imagine if a new boat appeared today on the offshore racing scene and instantly dominated all its competition. Such was the case in 1984 when Bob Erickson and the late Hurley Stepp fielded Miss Minneapolis, the first Skater Powerboats 24 catamaran to pull offshore racing duty against what was then a fleet of V-bottoms.

To learn more, we turned to longtime Skater man and quasi brand-historian, veteran offshore racer Ryan Beckley of Sarasota, Fla.

From the moment it touched the racecourse, Miss Minneapolis ran away from its competition. Photo by photo by Ron Thibadeau courtesy of Chris LaMorte.

“Bob Erickson and Hurley Stepp went out and obliterated all the rest of the boats currently racing,” Beckley said. “After the Skater 24 came out, the classes were separated into catamaran and V- bottom. It put (Skater Powerboats founder) Peter Hledin on the map as a raceboat builder.

“The 24 could outperform anything with outboard engines—even boats with triple outboards—in most conditions,” he continued. “They upped the kilometer records at the time by 5 to 10 mph every time they ran it and figured out setup. They ended up with a 24 Skater running more than 100 mph with two 200-hp outboards.”

Bob Erickson (left) and Hurly Stepp.

Beckley, who competes in the Super Stock class and until recently ran a 30-foot Skater, described Stepp as one of his earliest and most significant influences in the sport.

“Hurley was a professional throttleman and one of the best set-up guys around,” he said. “He was one of my mentors.”

Editor’s note: Launched in February 2024, “Skater At 50” is a new weekly article series celebrating the 50th anniversary of Skater Powerboats. Speedonthewater.com will publish a new article in the series every Wednesday until the end of the year.