Just got back from spending 2 hours with Michael Landis American Express out in his 2005 28' Pantera powered by the Single Keith Eickert - Sterling 675 SC..

Motor and boat ran perfect. We first ran in the bay for an hour and then decided to go out in the Ocean. The inlet was BIG due to a steady East wind at 15 MPH and the tides heading out. Real 6 footers. Once we got out we ran along the beach in 4-5 footers cruising at 60-65 MPH with my hands of the wheel. I then headed straight out into the waves and as we got out near the gulfstream we ran head on into "real" 5-6 footers. WE ran into them at 65-70 MPH on GPS. Boat performed perfect and motor had awesome acceleration and throttle response. Could have ran a bit harder but being that the motor and drive were new decided it would be better to let Michael put some more break in and seat time.

Michael did a great job driving and drove the boat into the mid 70s with no problem.

We also tested a 5 blade 28' pitch "labbed" Hydromotive and spun that up to 5150 RPM and got up to 77.5 MPH on GPS. The motor makes power up to 5450 RPM so the boat should run consistent 82-84 MPH speeds on GPS with a 4 - blade Bravo 1 labbed 30 pitch. We are testing with a 28' pitch 4 blade Bravo 1 non labbed at 5450 RPM. I tested with this prop a few months back and took it over 80 MPH on GPS in bad conditions.

We had no deck hatch installed since it was being painted and the wind was being caught up in the cabin and holding the boat back. The bay was blowing with an East wind cross chop and making it very difficult to get a good top end run.

We still got a day left of paint work and gelcoat "wet sanding" but overall Michael and myself were very pleased with the boats performance.

Cruising speeds were impressive.

Regards,

JO - Pantera Boats

Glad to hear that thing is tearing up the water!

Since you were running w/o your hands, couldn't you have taken some pics???

Glad to see things coming together.

I took along my Digital camera but forgot to take pics. Michael had to catch a flight at 5:00 PM so we had to get back on land.

Hope Michael enjoys it for many years now.

JO

Glad to hear everything is running top notch!!

So when is it going to be in NC. we are all waiting to see it and we do have a club meeting on Sunday!!!
Glad everything went well and I know he will be proud to show it off when it gets here.

Man thats great news. I know Micheal had to have a smile from ear to ear. Glad to see you guys getting this boat done. We can not wait to see the final product up here in the Carolinas.Good Luck Pantera and thanks for taking care of Micheal while he was there.

David Ledford

Great news Jo. Way to follow up and take care of issues!!

Its Good To See The Job Finished And Running Great Like Anything The Pantera Guys Put Out Congrats. Thats One Hell Of A Nice Piece Boat And Engine Best Of Luck Laz Mesa

Great job by both involved, that is the nicest PANTERA that I have ever seing, just my .02 .