It’s no secret that Kenny Mungle, the bighearted Texan who owns the 32-foot Skater Powerboats catamaran Gone Again, has been in the market for a new Skater he can take to top-speed shootout events across the country. Well the cat’s out of the bag, so to speak, after Mungle posted on Facebook that he’s agreed to purchase a 2006 368 Skater that was purpose built to run fast.

Kenny Mungle hopes to run faster than 200 mph in this 36-foot Skater catamaran. Photo by Jay Nichols/Naples Image

Speedonthewater.com caught up with Mungle this weekend after his visit to TNT Custom Marine in Miami to check out the 36-foot four-seat canopied catamaran that was owned by well-known performance boater Ron Szolack. Mungle, who owns Kenco Bucket Trucks, was ecstatic about the acquisition.

“The boat is perfect for me—it really is,” Mungle said on Sunday during his drive back to Fort Lauderdale after a quick trip down to Key West with his wife, Myna. “Not only will it be capable of running 200-plus mph with its twin 1,550-hp Sterling Performance PSI blown engines, it has four seats so I can use it to raise money for various charities. I’ve been thinking about building a new 388, but this boat is perfect. It has two-speed transmissions, a heavy-duty Latham Marine rudder for steering and Arneson ASD-8 surface drives.”

According to Mungle, Douglas Marine built the 36-footer in 2006 as super-light shootout/kilo run boat for Art Zucker and Leon Derebery of Derebery Performance Marine. The partners never quite got the setup right and last year the boat ended up in the hands of Szolack, who was planning to have TNT rig it for this year’s Lake of the Ozarks Shootout. Szolack, who buys and sells boats like a broker on Wall Street dealing stocks, hasn’t made time for the catamaran lately so he’s glad it is landing in Mungle’s hands.

“This boat is better and safer than the boat Kenny is running right now, plus it’s built for shootouts being that it only weighs about 7,500 pounds fully rigged,” said Szolack, who has center consoles from Statement Marine and Mystic Powerboats on order as well as new 40SS Skater that should be complete by the end of July. “I think it’s going to be a great boat for him, I really do.”

Mungle, who is going to run the 1991 Gone Again Skater he’s made famous over the past few years at this month’s Texas Outlaw Challenge, next month’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees Performance Boat Challenge Shootout and the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in August, said he plans to name his “new” 368 Skater Gone… and leave it white but wrap it and dress up the cockpit and engine compartment with his favorite colors—orange and black.

“It’s going to be a few months before the boat is ready,” said Mungle, who is aiming to have it dialed in and ready to run by next spring. “The boat is gutted right now and the guys at TNT are starting to rig it. I can’t say how thankful I am that the boat is already there and those guys are working on it. Their experience is invaluable.”

Speedonthewater.com will provide updates on the 368 Skater as it progresses.

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