If all goes as planned next month, Mike and Jackie Jordan are going to be enjoying their new Eliminator Boats 40 Speedster for several weeks on Lake Havasu, the Colorado River-fed lake that borders Arizona and California. The Jordans, who are from Norco, Calif., and have a place at Havasu Landing on the California side of the lake, are planning to use their 40-foot catamaran powered by twin Mercury Racing 860 engines in the back-to-back, mid-to-late April Super Cat Fest West and Desert Storm Poker Run events in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. It’s also going to be on display at the Lake Havasu Boat Show, April 9-11, according to Mike Jordan.

Powered by twin Mercury Racing 860 engines, Mike and Jackie Jordan’s new Eliminator Boats 40 Speedster is a magnificent machine. Photos courtesy Eliminator Boats

“I grew up going to Lake Havasu—I’ve been boating on Havasu for the past 47 years—and ever since I was a kid the boat to have was an Eliminator,” said Mike Jordan, who stepped up from an Eliminator 28 Eagle V-bottom to the 40 Speedster, which is based off the company’s Super Cat Light championship-winning offshore racing hull. “I’ve always been a fan of the company. I owned a 230 Eagle and a couple of 280 Eagles, one with a big Pfaff motor and another one with a Teague engine. Ultimately the 28 just wasn’t getting it done on a Saturday on Lake Havasu. So I went to Eliminator thinking I’d build a 30 Eagle with twin 565s.”

Long story short, the Jordans came to the conclusion that they would be better off with a catamaran, although they didn’t want to go with outboard engine power.

“We looked at the new 31 and 33 cats that Eliminator was working on, but then we saw the 40 with the new bustle, the huge cabin and the expansive cockpit, which we ended up extending another 18 inches, and we were sold,” said Mike Jordan, who is in the transportation business and now a board member and part owner of Eliminator as of September 2019. “We wanted a bigger boat and we wanted inboards—big-cubic-inch, naturally aspirated, run-around-all-day engines. The 40 Speedster seemed like a perfect boat for the 860 engines, so it kind of made sense to us and here we are, very happy with the decision.

“The boat runs great,” he added. “It feels big, but not too big. This was Eliminator’s first 860 build and I think the engines are a homerun. They pull hard—from 70 to 100-plus mph, they really put you back in your seat. The Mercury SmartCraft DTS (Digital Throttle & Shift) is incredible, too. The boat is so responsive and it handles extremely well.”

Opting to save some weight in the build process, the Jordans went with a carbon-Kevlar layup and Coosa Composites for the stringers, bulkheads and transom, which left the fully capped boat more than 2,000 pounds lighter than the previous 40 Speedster built with a pair of Mercury Racing 1350/1100 engines.

Check out the slideshow above for more images of the Jordan family’s new 40-foot catamaran.

“The Jordan family’s boat is very near and dear to me,” said Eliminator’s Mark Baker. “It’s my first Eliminator sale/new build for one of the best families I’ve ever met. The boat is a head-turner and it shows everything that Eliminator is about. Everyone at the factory is responsible for bringing this beautiful machine to life.”

One of, if not the only, performance catamarans of its size to offer a cabin with two 6-foot couches and a forward berth for overnighting or simply getting out of the weather, the 40 Speedster is just as welcoming from the six-person cockpit with two 12-inch Garmin GPS displays to the GatorStep marine flooring-covered steps between the gull-wing-style engine compartment to the extended transom.

“We plan on doing a few destination poker runs this year so we can see some different parts of the country and get some exposure for Eliminator,” Mike Jordan said, who added that the family’s go-to stereo guy, Dave Dawson of Wired 4 Sound in Lake Havasu City, is going to handle the boat’s complete sound system soon. “The entire team at Eliminator went above and beyond. They did some cool stuff with the rigging, little things like getting IMCO Marine to create black powdercoated vent lines that matched the driveline covers rather than using standard dryer vent hose for the blowers.”

Not only did Mike Jordan sign up to take the Tres Martin Performance Boat School UPC 125+ driving course shortly after taking delivery of the boat, but he also registered his whole family for the class, including Jackie, their 24-year-old daughter, Taylor, who graduated with a business accounting degree from San Diego State University in 2019 and now works at Eliminator, and their 16-year-old son, Jake.

“Tres’ school was a lot of fun and a great experience for my family,” he said. “We’re tickled to death with the boat. And we’re thrilled to be a part of the Eliminator family, as customers and as partners in the business. There’s great synergy going on at the shop right now thanks to the super cohesive team Jake (Fraleigh, Eliminator’s president and partner) has put together. My wife and I decided to get involved because we can see where Eliminator is headed. She and I have strong sales and production backgrounds so we’ve been able to provide insight into different business techniques in and around the facility.

“I have a good feeling about this—I can’t wait for April so we can show off the 40 Speedster and the other new models from Eliminator,” he added.

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