Skater Powerboats, Peter Hledin's Michigan Catamaran Factory

Hledin's shop near Lake Michigan

Skater was Peter Hledin's creation in 1974, and half a century later he still runs it, now from a 95,000-square-foot factory in Douglas, a harbor town on Michigan's west coast. The company bills itself as the leading name in performance catamarans and claims it was the first builder to master vacuum-bagged laminates of epoxy with S-glass, Kevlar and carbon fiber, methods applied to every hull it makes. Its trophy cabinet backs most of that up.

Skater works like a custom shop rather than a production builder. Every boat is built to order, from paint and interior to the power package, and the company says no two Skaters are the same. The lineup runs from the 28 through the 308, 318, 368, 388, 40SS, 418, 426, 438, 46 and 50 to the 588, and nearly every model can be ordered with inboard or outboard power.

The 388 and the race record behind it

The Skater 388, our covered model, outsells everything else in the catalog. It is the mid-size flat-deck catamaran Skater markets as its reigning national and world championship offshore race boat, and its run of shootout results shows why: a 388 broke 185 mph at Lake of the Ozarks in 2010, another pushed the mark well past 195 at the same event in 2014, and in 2024 Dial 911 came within half a mile per hour of 200 at Desert Storm. Dimensions, laminate and power options are on the 388 page.

No launch year for the 388 has been published, and we were unable to pin one down. Most are rigged with big Mercury Racing sterndrive engines, though Skater delivered its first outboard version in 2022. Retailers including Performance Boat Center have placed orders for both racing teams and recreational owners.

Buying a used Skater

Because the composite hulls age slowly and the engines get rebuilt or swapped, Skaters keep their value better than almost anything else in the performance world. On a used boat the power package and its records drive price more than the model year does, and our 388 page lists recent asking prices. Expect surveyors and underwriters to dig into any racing past.

Get documentation before you get excited about paint.

• Dyno printouts, rebuild invoices and hours since the last rebuild
• Drives, gearcases and transmissions with service intervals
• Both sponsons and the tunnel for strike damage and wet core
• Transom knees and bulkheads where the engines are mounted
• Tank liners, filler necks and vent lines
• Any race history and structural repairs