Hey Bob, Thanx for the insight. I have a guy who races MTIs out of the Marina Im taking delivery at. He's gonna kinda show me the ropes. I do realize it may be different than an IO MTI but there has to be a lot of similarities. I am aware of the learning curve with speed. A lot of people think you can just get in and go fast. I know my Checkmate is no comparison for what Im about to step into but there was a huge learning curve there. It took me a while to get up to speed on that at 21 ft and 80 plus mph. Im not saying its the same but I definitely have respect for learning the boat. I know people who had my same rig and after a couple years still haven't quite mastered top end. Im cautious but adventurous at the same time. I was gonna take the Tres Martin course but couldn't nail down a time from Merc. Im looking forward to getting comfortable with my new friend and know how fast things can turn bad on the water. Most of my boating will be in the Barnegat Bay. Usually no more than 3 foot at the extreme. Its a good place to learn. Plenty of room and no big swells. Steve.

Pretty sure I know who will be going out with you from the marina you are taking delivery at. Actually a good friend of mine. Look forward to seeing you boat up close cause I have no doubt the pics are not doing it any justice.

Havent spoken to him directly yet but his boss Richie said he's sure he'd be happy to help. Ha Funny can't imagine him saying no to that kind of help. He ran down in Key west this past year correct . Boat was named War Paint I think. Steve.

Sounds like you'll have a good teacher for the first couple times out. I was lucky to have Rick Bowling and Howard Arneson as my mentors coming up through the ranks of performance boating. Rick held the Tres Martin school up at his place in Tahoe last year (I wasn't able to attend), and said he highly recommends it to anyone with a high performance boat (especially a cat), experienced or not. If you can make one of his classes, I would say it would be priceless to you being a new cat owner. A guy in my area stepped up from a 100mph v-bottom into a 150mph 32 Skater two seasons ago and rolled it, killing himself and his 3 passengers. Rick took him out for his first drive with it, but in hindsight, it probably wasn't enough. A two day course with Tres might have prevented such a tragedy. Not trying to scare you Steve, as your 30 ob is a much more docile, forgiving boat than a 2,000hp inboard 32, but any cat can bite you. The more knowledge you can gain sooner, the better off you will be. And btw, any word on your motors yet?

Hey Dale, My motors are done actually but need some special treatment. Steering and such. Sounds like they're on track for delivery before the end of the month. Finishing up interior now. Wow its a lot of work. Enjoyable tho. I am thinking about the Tres Martin Course but I couldn't do anything as far as booking because I wasn't sure If the boat would be done even this season. Probably do it next season. Insurance wouldn't apply until I took the course and I wasn't going to pay for something and not have any coverage unless its sitting in the marina on a trailer. Where I ended up getting coverage it wasn't necessary. The Rep from the company highly recommended it. Said it was a great value and could save my life. I get it. Ill take it a little easy this year as Ill only have about a month of season left when I get it. Skater will ring it out for some top speed numbers so we'll have an idea what it can do. I'll give it the respect it deserves. Im not a crazy maniac and I understand there is a learning curve. I have two 800 horse Shelby GT 500s in my garage that most people would run right into the trees if they were given the chance. Takes some time to get the hang of things. Its ok to scare me. I can take it. Ha. Probably keep me in line. Thanx again for the advice. It is greatly appreciated. Ill keep all up to date. Things should start to happen again soon. Steve.

Nasty bug, you should def take the course as soon as you get your boat. It is priceless and I would not wait. Totally worth it!

Are you going with the Mercury tie bar setup or the Latham?

DK

Hey DK, I was debating on whether to go with the Latham set up because it may have gotten me the motors quicker but there was a question of waranty issues and mercury finally decided to get the job done for me and give a decent time line for delivery. I think there is a question as to which is better. Latham builds real nice stuff but I wanted to keep all aspects of my warranties in place. Merc never said they wouldn't honor them if the work was done by Skater with the Latham product. They got back to us before we got that far. Tres Martin was totally booked up pretty much last I checked and Im still not sure when my rig is getting here. Ill probably make arrangements to take it early next year. My boat will pretty much be put away for the season the end of September. Im not gonna get it in at that time. Even if I could Ive waited so long at this point that I don't feel like making any more arrangements this Summer. I talked to Tres and he seems like a real nice guy and very knowlegeable. I actually met his brother down in Key West at the worlds another real nice guy. There is no doubt that his service is of great value in IMPO. I don't want to die and since at this point ill probably only have a month to run around on the water I won't have much time for conquering the learning curve. This may sound stupid but I probably will hang speed wise where I get comfy which won't be close to my top end. Im going out to Skater to run the boat with them before I take delivery so at least Ill have that going for me. Ha. Ill be able to tell real quick if this thing is way out of my league or not. Ive been boating since I was 6 obviously not speed boats but I know the water very well. Have owned my own boats that have run 84 plus since 1990. I can run a 21 checkmate 80 plus mph into a pretty good head wind with 3 foot of chop. Its not fun or smart but I was younger and dumber back then. Not many on here that can do that. I am totally aware of how bad things can get with very little warning. Not saying it in any way qualifies me to run a cat but I'm totally aware of how dangerous it can be on the water. In my experience around here it seems the faster a boat goes the dumber the captain is. I do appreciate all the concern everyone is giving me. Its nice to have so many people give so much great advice. Promise Ill get in touch with Tres this winter. Steve.

Steve, Run it. don't be afraid, just cautious. The biggest thing that you need to remember is to NOT turn sharp under 40 MPH. Cats like to lean out at slow speeds! Lots of capsizes there. Real unnerving feeling! At least in my 28. Your boat will be much more stable than my 28. Keep the trim neutral at best and a little negative at + 90MPH. Also, a cat will not slow down like a V hull when packed with air. So plan accordingly. Good luck and you will have the time of your life! Just my thoughts from another Skater newbie.

You will be fine if you have mastered those cobras on the street and track. Have a blast and don't be timid about bundling up. I run year round. 48* weather is worth 2 mph with my setup. Just remember socks.lol. Excited 4 ya!

Hey Bob, Thats very funny. 48 degrees at speed is absolutely freezing. I brought a boat i had down to be winterized late in November one year. It was a little colder than 48 and I wasn't bundled up.Who knew, I was never out in weather like that. Just on plane at about 30mph it felt like razorblades were cutting my ears off. ouch. Not fun here at all in the cool time of year. Plus everyone disappears and hibernates. I hate it. Love that you get another 2 mph tho. Most people would think thats stupid the 2 mph. Its great. What do those stupid non speedboat people know anyway. Ha. Yeah the GT500s are ferocious. In 45 degree weather I can pull the tires loose from the pavement at 120mph. Its very scary. I have people tell me all the time," my mustang has 400 horsepower I can drive that thing". yea 400 horse aint cutting it anymore. I used to think that was quick too. I know there are a few guys running around by me with 1200 horse in their street cars but I haven't run into them yet. They can be very dangerous if you just get in and think you know what your doing. Took me a little while to get comfortable and its still scary some time. I imagine the Cat is a lot worse but I get the learning curve thing. Gotta have respect. And once again HA I love you go out in 48 degree weather and get the 2 mph you do. Most people are totally incapable of understanding what that can mean. Sometimes its everything. Thanx Steve.