Powerboat P1, the exclusive worldwide rights holder for the UIM Class 1 World Championship, announced today that M-CON Racing will be joining the race series in 2023. Based in Kansas and currently focused on defending their APBA Super Cat national title, the M-CON team of Tyler Miller and Myrick Coil will be competing next year in a canopied Skater 438 catamaran powered by Mercury Racing 1100 Competition engines and transmission package.

“We decided earlier this year to race Class 1 in 2023 to continue to elevate our racing program and because of our pure passion to race offshore powerboats in the premier class,” says team owner and throttleman Miller. “Our decision to run Skater Powerboats was based on the long standing pedigree of safe and competitive masterpieces Peter Hledin has created for many years, together with the success M CON Racing has had to date in powerboats built by Skater.“

“I’m excited,” Coil tells Speedboat. “It’ll be fun to race the fastest class. It’s not necessarily the most competitive class—I still feel that Super Cat and Super Stock are really competitive. But it will be a learning curve. At Performance Boat Center, we work on QC4v engines all the time, so it’s a huge deal to know the mechanicals and the rigging, and what to expect when it comes to potential issues and things like that. But it’s a new boat, and it’ll have surface drives—we haven’t raced a surface drive boat since Dave Scott’s 50′ Mystic.”

The new, purpose-built Class 1 boat will be a Skater 438, equipped with the strongest cockpit canopy ever built by the company, surface drives and rudder steering. Miller anticipates the boat being completed at Michigan-based Skater by early March and, under the supervision of driver Coil, it will then move to Performance Boat Center in Missouri for rigging. All initial testing will be carried out on the team’s home waters at Lake of The Ozarks. The M-CON plan is to become a two-boat team next year by continuing to race their Skater Powerboats 388 catamaran in the Super Cat class.

Skater Powerboats founder and owner Peter Hledin, who for more than 40 years has been the industry leader setting the pace by continually bringing innovation and advanced designs to the market, is excited to be building the new boat: “The first 438 we built was dubbed Rockette, powered by twin Mercury Racing dual-calibration 1550/1350 engines, and now we have the first race version built for the Class 1 series,” he says. “I think it will do extremely well and I’m really glad this is happening for Tyler. He’s a great gentleman and a loyal customer.”

Hledin has built two race boats and a pleasure boat for Miller, making the new 43-footer Miller’s third Skater powerboat, and he sees this as an opportunity to build the Class 1 series and get people excited. “This is an American-built boat that can really compete and hopefully others will see that and follow,” he adds.

“M-CON Racing is one of the most professionally run teams in offshore racing and this is an exciting decision by the current Super Cat national champions,” says Powerboat P1 CEO Azam Rangoonwala. “They are always looking to break new ground in promoting and marketing the team, with Tyler and his wife, Lindsey, bringing to the sport the outstanding energy and skills they demonstrate in running their successful M-CON company. This significant development is testament to our ambition to return the UIM Class 1 championship to the pinnacle of powerboat racing. Peter is the ultimate craftsman so I expect this combination to really make a mark in the Class 1 series next year.”

Huski Racing throttleman Steve Curtis, a veteran Class 1 racer, said: “I will be really excited to go head-to-head with Tyler. His record speaks for itself, so you know he’s going to be very fast from the get go. He also has the full backing of Skater Powerboats with his new boat. It’s great for Class 1 as we want the best of the best from around the world to compete against.”