The month of February seems like the perfect time to recognize the anniversary of an important series of boats/engines, the Scarab Thunder Series. While the Wellcraft 31-, 38′ -and 43-foot Scarab may not have been new when these models were developed, the boats were the platform in which Mercury Hi-Performance (now known as Mercury Racing) installed the first supercharged production engines at the Miami Boat Show in 1991. The engine manufacturer introduced the HP525SC, the HP600SC and the HP800SC in 31-, 38- and 43-foot Scarabs that were built with lightweight laminates and had sparsely equipped cabins in what we call the “Poker Run” edition today. They were the first boats with factory engines to run 80 mph.
