With seven 318 catamarans—each to be powered by twin Mercury Racing Verado 400R outboard engines—reportedly on order at Skater Powerboats in Douglas, Mich., Skater founder Peter Hledin and national sales manager Tony Cutsuries “couldn’t be happier” with the success of the 31-footer. The first of those seven 318 cats is scheduled for a mid-September delivery to a customer in Alabama.

“We’re going to take it up to Mercury Racing to dial in it first,” said Cutsuries. “I’m expecting it to be a lot faster than the first 318 with 400 Verados, which was a pretty heavy boat.”

Cutsuries credits Steve Lane, the owner of the first Verado 400-powered Skater 318 (shown above during its first sea-trials in late 2015 near Mercury Racing in Fond du Lac, Wis.), with fueling the popularity of the 31-footer. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

The next pair of 318 cats will be delivered to Performance Boat Center in Osage Beach, Mo., for customers in the Lake of the Ozarks area. Skater will mount the 400R outboards on jack plates prior to delivery to Performance Boat Center, which will handle the remainder of the rigging. The other four 318 models have been ordered by customers in Michigan and Wisconsin and will be delivered in 2017, according to Cutsuries.

“I don’t know exactly what’s driving the 318 craze, but it’s awesome,” he said. “I know that everybody loves the Verados—they’re proven. I do know it’s a great package, a turn-key boat with a very large cockpit that runs really, really well in rough water.

Cutsuries also credited Steve Lane, the owner of the first Verado-400R Skater 318, with helping showcase the cat.

“He has been 100 percent helpful,” said Cutsuries. “People see Steve running around in the boat. He’s taken so many people for demo rides it’s unbelievable.”

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