In typical fashion, Ron Szolack—the host behind the fifth annual Skaterfest that’s just seven weeks away according to the text he sent me this morning with a smiley face behind it—will debut a new Skater Powerboats catamaran at the event he hosts from his amazing waterfront home in Harrison Township, Mich., as a tribute of sorts to Douglas Marine founder Peter Hledin and everyone at the Douglas, Mich., company who builds the Skaters he and so many covet.

There aren’t too many houses in the country like this one in Harrison Township, Mich. Photo by Chip Miller

Szolack said his new 40-foot Skater with twin Mercury Racing 1350s will be ready in time for the event, which is scheduled for July 31 to August 2. But that’s not all he’ll have ready to take for a spin from his docks and his boathouse. Along with Tom Cat, the 46-foot Skater with twin 1350s he’s owned for a year (a long time for him), he’ll have his newly acquired 2002 46-foot Skater Double Take, which is powered by twin 1,400-hp Sterling Performance engines.

He invites any Skater owners interested in attending to reach out to him by calling 586-945-9494. Other than “I wish I were going,” there’s not much more I can say about Skaterfest that you can’t read for yourself in last year’s Skaterfest recap I wrote (with help from eight people who were there) for my OffshoreOnly.com column. Look for reports from Skaterfest 2015 again on speedonthewater.com.

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Ron Szolack, pictured with Peter Hledin and his son, Michael, at last year’s Skaterfest in the first image of the slideshow above, will have the three Skaters that follow in the slideshow (including his new 40-footer) at his house for this year’s event.

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