Skater 318 and DCB M29: Sport Catamaran Win-Win
A closer look at two stars of the go-fast boat market
A key factor in the boom of performance-oriented center-console V-bottoms, outboard engine practicality is driving yet another segment of the marketplace: Custom-built sport catamarans, which are generally defined as models from 22 to 34 feet long, with outboard power, are white-hot. And like performance center-consoles they’ve become popular with former owners of larger stern-drive go-fast boats.
Need convincing? In 2016, outboard-powered sport catamarans led sales for California-based DCB Performance Boats and Michigan-based Skater Powerboats, two of best-known custom high-performance catamaran builders in the world. Skater took seven orders for its 318 model last year, while five buyers stepped up to buy M29 catamarans from DCB. While that sales volume might not seem particularly impressive to those unfamiliar with the custom go-fast boat market, it’s significant to close observers. Also significant is that both offerings price out in the low-six-figure range.
With Mercury Racing Verado 400R outboard engine power, the DCB M29 is finding a national audience.
That all of the 29-foot DCB and the 31-foot Skater catamarans noted above were ordered with twin Mercury Racing Verado 400R outboard engines—also the outboards of choice in the performance center-console segment—is no surprise. Sport catamarans are aquatic hot rods.
But with a pair of 400 HP Verados, they’re also sane aquatic hot rods. The fastest Verado 400R-powered DCB M29 to date has run 118 MPH, which, as it happens, is the highest top speed achieved by a Verado 400R-powered Skater 318. And while no reasonable person would argue that 118 MPH on the water is slow, it is significantly slower than the 180-plus-MPH speeds the fastest high-performance “pleasure” cats are reaching these days.
But top speed is one data point, and a frequently overrated one at that. The DCB M29 and Skater 318 can cruise all day long at 60 to 100 MPH, which is where most owners will spend the majority of time running.
Skater Powerboats took seven orders for Mercury Racing Verado 400R outboard-powered 318 sport catamarans last year. Photo by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
That both models can accommodate six passengers—including the driver and copilot—is yet another part of their appeal. True, both offer either minimal to zero space below their decks to call “cabins.” Equally true, the most comfortable seats in each boat are their twin buckets in the front of the cockpit, as their rear benches are best described as cozy. But sport catamarans are all about the ride to and from a given destination, or just simple out-and-back blasts. The thrill of the ride tends to make a potentially cramped bench seat and lack of luxury irrelevant.
While Skater catamarans have been embraced around the country for decades, their DCB counterparts have predominantly attracted a West Coast following. But thanks to the M29 with Verado 400R outboards, that’s also changing. Two of the three M29s ordered and built last year went to buyers in the Midwest. Another went to a customer on the west coast of Florida. Equally intriguing, two of the three 29-footers built last year went to buyers who also own performance-oriented center-consoles, which makes the cat the equivalent of a sports car for someone who also owns an SUV. That’s something builders on both the center-console and sport cat sides of the market would love to see become a trend.
Representatives from both DCB Performance Boats and Skater Powerboats say they don’t expect sales of their respective sport cats to decline. On the contrary, they believe that all things being equal with the United States' economy—the ultimate factor, especially when it comes to big-dollar discretionary purchases (for nobody “needs” a six-figure 29- or 31-foot sport cat)—this year’s sales will eclipse last year’s sales. That’s not just go-fast boat builders being bullish, as orders were still coming in at both companies as 2016 came to a close. And boat-buying season is just getting started.
