Though the Skater 388 catamaran model remains dominant in offshore racing’s Super Cat class, the brand had all but vanished from the Super Stock ranks before driver A.J. Bogino and his throttleman father, Pete, ran a new 32-footer dubbed Lake America to fifth place in this month’s Roar Offshore Fort Myers Beach event. The experienced Ontario, N.Y., offshore racing duo arrived at the Southwest Florida venue with minimal testing-and-setup time. Other than a few stickers, the outboard-engine-powered cat was a blank canvas.
And yet they bested 12 other teams in the Sunday championship round.
The Lake America team returns to competition this weekend in Clearwater, Fla. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
“We excited to be back in the game,” A.J. Bogino said during a telephone interview this morning. “I think we were the fourth quickest in the Friday testing session, and it was our first time on a course with buoys and other boats.
“We were way above expectations for what we thought we would do with the boat for the first time out,” he added.
During Sunday’s finale, the Lake America team started sixth—thanks to strong qualifying performances the day before—and held fourth position for much of the race before crossing the start-finish line and claiming their strong result. Their debut-outing in the new cat was enough to impress event the Douglas, Mich., catamaran builder’s national sales manager Tony Cutsuries.
“Our 32 did very well for the first time out,” he said. “We’re all pretty excited about that.”
The team will compete in the Race World Offshore event in Clearwater, Fla., and the Englewood Beach, Fla., in October. Then it’s off to the Key West World Championships in November.
Pete Bogino has owned multiple Skater catamarans during his boating life. His son inherited the same passion for the brand.
“My dad is a Skater guy at heart,” A.J. said. “He’s had multiple Skaters since I was a little kid. He’s very excited. As much as he says he ‘hates racing’ and is ‘over it,’ I think he’s addicted to it. We actually did some prop-testing yesterday. It’s a little tough because we test in fresh water and compete in saltwater, so we always see a difference in water pressure.
“Hopefully, we can improve from here,” he added. “I think we set the bar pretty high.”