With a season of top-speed shootouts in his 32-foot Gone Again Skater Powerboats catamaran behind him, Texan Kenny Mungle’s focus has shifted to his 2016 shootout ride, a pre-owned Skater 368 cat he purchased in June. Powered by a pair of supercharged 1,550-hp Sterling Performance engines with Arneson ASD-8 surface drives, the 36-footer is getting set up at TNT Custom Marine in Miami.

After several test sessions, John Tomlinson, who co-owns TNT with Mike Thomas, recommended removing the rocker panels (essentially trim tabs) that were mounted in recesses in the rear running surfaces of the rudder-steered catamaran’s sponsons. Tomlinson and Mungle also consulted with Peter Hledin of Skater Powerboats in Douglas, Mich., on the project. The recesses—one in each sponsor—will be “glassed in,” according to Tomlinson, by Guardado Marine in Opa-locka, Fla., to create continuous running surfaces. Then the catamaran will be returned to TNT for more testing.

When Mungle’s Skater 368 returns from Guardado Marine, its rocker plates will be gone and the recesses in the sponsons will be filled (click image to enlarge). Photo courtesy/copyright TNT Custom Marine

The goal is to improve the boat’s handling manners and stability during deceleration from high speeds, according to Tomlinson, as well as help maintain water pressure consistency for its twin engines. Mungle said that Skater’s standard water pickups will be installed once the glass work is finished.

“We’re just waiting for a place in line with Eddie (Guardado)—I’ve used him for glass work forever and he always does a great job,” Tomlinson said. “Once we get it back, we may have to adjust the drive height for the Arnesons, but we won’t know about that until we run it. You have to do one thing at a time.”

After the work at TNT is complete, the boat will be transported to Texas where Mungle and company will outfit the cat with its electronics and communication system, as well as its state-of-the-art oxygen system from Lifeline Race Gear. Then it will go back to TNT for its final setup.

Editor’s note: Speedonthewater.com will continue to follow this project as it progresses.

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