36 Activator (Skater?) cat?
 

On a "cat hunt" roadtrip over the past couple days to check out some boats, I stumbled upon what I was told to be a 36 Activator cat yet it looks a lot like a 36 Skater classic with quarter canopies. It has 572's with Blower Shop huffers, big stainless marine(?) manifolds with dry tails, has SSM drives on jack shafts, and a Kevlar hull with new tanks. The beam width looks to be about 9 feet. It's definitely an ex-race boat that's been converted. Spent an hour crawling all over it today. I've never heard of an Activator cat and thought they only made Vees. Does anyone know of these or what the hull lineage is? Most importantly, what's something like this worth or worth putting money in it?

(Sorry to put this in the general discussion section but I'm not 100% sure what brand it is)

Not sure if this would help identify it or not but... it's solid white except for yellow on the underside of the hatches and white interior with purple piping. Canopies are blacked out and has a dual helm. American flags on the inside of the sponsons.

what do you mean "drives on jackshafts" ? Are the drives or engines offset for some reason? pics?

The motors are very forward in the bilge with driveshafts. They aren't offset that I could tell by the looks of them. No pics unfortunately. I wish I had taken some but I completely forgot.

ahh drive shafts . . . just wondered if it was some trick install, jackshafts are for offset drivelines. Nearly all cats are set up with drive shafts for balance. What are they asking for it?

Sounds like Team Activator boat out of Ohio. Always figured it was a Skater. You are allowed to rebrand a boat if a certain amount of work is done but couldn't imagine changing on a Skater.

The engines may have some offset because it does have a set of k-planes on the back of the sponsons. It was just brought in by the owner and is being gone through before it's up for sale so a definite number isn't set yet. I'm supposed to get pics emailed to me in a few weeks when its finished along with the price.

yes activator did make a cat,call rage powerboats in Bridgeport ct,mark who is the original activator manufacture works there,the owner from rage named rich used to own an activator cat but I don't think it had jack shafts

Billy Mauff ran a 35" Activator cat called Hot N Nasty...

Almost every big cat you'll find will have the engines pretty far forward.


I thought Hot n Nasty was a Cobra?

Vortex5021 is right, there may have been a Cobra cat at one time, but I saw the Hot N Nasty the Activator catamaran at a race many years ago in Kent Island Maryland. Thee race held right by the Bay Bridge (Annapolis to Kent Island); to give you an idea how long ago that was the Zero Defect Skater was racing that day.

i think there were 3 or 4 of the activator cats made ,,

Gotcha. Jason was racing a Pro-Stock Skater called "Stylin" when the Hot N Nasty Cobra was racing. early 90s

NIce! They must have built that after the Cobra outboard boat

That looks exactly like it but with a back seat. How'd they run? Like a Cobra cat or a Skater?

Looks like an older Skater. Nothing like the Cobra

I totally agree. The question is does it run like a Skater or more like a Cobra (efficiency, ride, etc)

Ive never been in one, but if it has the same tunnel width and height as a 36 Skater I bet it rides great! Worth a test ride for sure. Could be a really nice piece

Ok guys, I'm 100% sure it's the boat in the pics on post #5 in this thread...

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...or-cat-ct.html

It is NOTHING like a 36' Skater, It is actually more like a 33' Chris Cat than anything else....

I stand corrected. Ryan would certainly know. Skater deck, Christ Cat bottom? Why? lol

About 8 years ago I looked at one in Jersey. The layup is nothing like a Skater!
There are some real good deals out there especially on skaters.
You wont be sorry if you choose one!
Good Luck on whatever you go with!

Thanks everyone for the info/advice. Knot-Right, I agree and I think I'm gonna pass. Like you said, too many good deals out there to settle.