Currently in construction at Skater Powerboats in Douglas, Mich., a pair of 28-foot Skater catamarans will be sent to Grant’s Signature Racing in Bradenton, Fla., for rigging in July or August. According to company principal Grant Bruggemann, one of the cats will be set up with twin Mercury Racing 300XS outboard engines. Power for the other 28-footer will either be the same models of direct-injection two-strokes or a pair of Mercury Verado 400R outboards.

Grant Bruggemann and his team are in the process of rigging the recently repainted Cleveland Construction raceboat, which Bruggemann will throttle and maintain this season.

While those rigging jobs are down the road, the team at the shop—home to Brian Jackson and Offshore Outdrives since October 2017—is working six days a week on current rigging projects that include Todd Fountain’s well-known 46-foot Skater catamaran called Tom Cat. But with the offshore powerboat racing season just around the corner, Bruggemann and company are particularly focused on preparing the Cleveland Construction team’s 38-foot Skater catamaran.

“Our job is to make sure the Cleveland Construction boat is in tip-top shape and ready to run at the front of the pack,” said Bruggemann, who will throttle and maintain the Sterling Performance Engines-powered cat this season. “It’s been all hands on deck around here with Cleveland Construction to get it ready in a timely manner for testing by—weather allowing—the third week in April. We’ve been working six days a week.”

With a 36-foot Doug Wright catamaran currently in paint but slated for delivery to Grant’s Signature Racing for rigging next week and Matt Rice’s 36-foot Skater cat—currently at Skater for fiberglass repair and paint work—heading to the shop in the next three to four weeks, things won’t be slowing down for Bruggemann anytime soon. Having Jackson in house to handle all drive work has made operations far more efficient, he said.

Said Bruggemann (pictured), “Our job is to make sure Cleveland Construction is in tip-top shape and ready to run at the front of the pack.”

“We’ve been jelling nicely—it’s like we’ve never been apart,” said Bruggemann, who once shared a facility with Jackson on the other side of the state. “He helps us with drives, transmissions, gimbals and whatever we need. It really does help to have Brian and his full workshop here. It makes us a one-stop shop.”

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