First let me answer the easy question. The windscreens work wonderfully for the front seat. The back seat is like being in a hurricane, but that is the case in most fast boats.

Never having owned an 38 Top Gun , it is difficult to do an fully accurate comparison of the 2 boats in ‘snotty’ water: however, my previous non Skater boat was a 37 OuterLimits, which has many similar handling and design characteristics as the 38 Top gun. I also race v-bottom boats for many years.

My 30 Skater and my 37 Outerlimits are totally different, in how they run in flat water, how they run in rough water and how they turn. Both are the best of V and Cat. Generally, the OuterLimits is more luxurious and is a better rigging job, the Skater is more speed oriented and a better built hull. Under 90mph, I generally choose the OuterLimits. From 90mph to 110mph, its a toss up. Over 110mph, the Skater is the only choice. It really comes down to personal preference and use, how fast you go most of the time, and in what condition you do most of you boating. MPH per HP, and the speed to power-dollars ratio, makes the cat my personal preference.

Now with respect to “snotty’ water, please understand, when I can boat 300+ days a year, here in SW Florida, I just never seem to need to go boating in anything less than perfect conditions. In April when the boat was first delivered, and this past weekend, were the nastiest conditions I have been out in, on the 30 Skater. Now understand I am not talking about big long rollers, like in the ocean in NJ. The wind was blowing steady at 25mph, the harbor was rocking and rolling, with white caps. The 30 Skater did really well, but was a different feeling than my 37 Outerlimits. Big heavy Vs tend do push down choppy water, the 30 Skater tends to ‘float’ over the chop, but it is a bouncy ride.

I personally, would not have chosen my 30 Skater as my primary hi-performance boat if I still lived in NJ. This is due to how and where I used my boat, most of the time. The ocean, where I did most of my boating between Point Pleasant (Manasquan inlet) and Island Beach State Park/Long Beach Island (Barnegat inlet) was, generally speaking, more suited to the 37 OuterLimits than the 30 Skater. Inside Barnegat Bay, whats a different story, and as I said above.

It all comes down to how, and where, and in what conditions you choose to do most of your boating.

This is just my opinion, and I am sure that some will disagree with me.

Back in Jan-Feb of 2002, my wife and I looked in Cape Coral, inside Cape Harbor. It was really nice, but we settled on the river front place, we now call home.

Lots of pics of our place at www.dkorinc.homestead.com in the general picture gallery

We are the one with the dock that sticks out the farthest

As Mark previously stated, thanks for your thorough explanation and comparison! Posts like that really help me to decide which way to go with my next purchase. I'm leaning toward a cat.

AppSysCons, now that you've had your 30' Skater for a good number of months and run it in varying conditions, do you ever 'wish' you pulled the trigger on a 32' Skater with twins or is the 30' more than sufficient? BTW, I live in NJ and do most of my boating in Barnegat Bay with an occasional Atlantic run.

Best regards,
Dan

First, let me say, once you have owned a Skater cat, you will most likely never want to go back to any V-bottom.

The 30 Skater is actually 30ft 8in long, and only 2 inches narrower that the 32. Hull to hull, not really any difference to speak of, the 30 hull is amazing in rough water. I would like more speed, that would require inboards, but the $ to $ comparassion, and the cost to operate comparassion is off the chart.

Like I said earlier, if I was in the ocean in big rollers on a regualr basis, this hull would not be my first choice, I would have stuck with the 36 Skater.

The 300xs package comes with a 2 year warranty, and my boat has been averaging 2.54mpg, you just can not beat that.

For me this boat is all about, the best hull, the best materials the best construction, going fast, and a high fun to $ ratio.

Thanks again!
Dan

The joys of living and boating in FL.

Several pictures from outing. South down Charlotte Harbor, West out to the Gulf, South down the Gulf, to Captiva where hurricane Charley cut through. The Gulf and bay were one for a time. Starting to shoal over now.

Two more.

You should bring your skater down to the fun run this saturday the 24th in Fort Myers. I would love to have another 30 cat to run with!

Don

Glad to hear you are enjoying her.

Have family (son-if-law & daughter) visiting this weekend, and the back seat in a 30 cat, is not the best place to be in an event.

Will most likely take a ride down Charlotte Harbor to watch.

You have a 30 Motion with 300x or 300xs or something else? Those are great boats.