Over his nearly 50 years in racing, Errol Lanier has known only two places to be, out front on the water, or upside down with a wrench in the boat shop.

From the The Swap Shop Preston Henn's STREAKER and Bertram's 49er in the early 1970s, and Bernie Little's Natural Light, pioneering the early Kevlar V's in the UK, Errol's skills as at the Throttles, the most demanding job on the water, set him apart.

Rocky Aoki of Benihana one of Offshore Powerboat Racing's biggest sponsors, saw a pairing with Lanier as his shot at glory in his own races, and his plan worked perfectly. He won the 1979 Benihana Grand Prix in Point Pleasant, New Jersey and setting the speed record from Key West to Cuba in the newly bought and repainted Yellowdrama III, the Cougar Powerboats Catamaran that was the first to win a UIM ClassOne Offshore Powerboat race, before later that year a nearly tragic accident testing a loaned Cigarette boat under the Golden Gate Bridge where Lanier's CPR training as a Lieutenant firefighter came in handy to save the life of the crew, but was the end of Aoki's racing career, sustaining chronic injuries that affected him until his death in 2008.

It didn't stop Lanier though, who continued his run of successful seasons with Paul Clauser's SATISFACTION in the early 80s. He rigged the 1980 Cowes-Torquay-Cowes winning Scarab with hired crew Bill Elswick and Richie Powers before finishing third with Lanier and Clauser in a Cougar Cat in 1981 but ended up taking home the prestigious Harmsworth Trophy and continued winning worldwide in Cougar Cats through the mid 1980s, while also rigging for Apache Powerboats, and later Don Aronows USA Racing Team.

In 1986, with Bob Kaiser's Gallagher Kaiser Corp, the black SYSTEMS number 7 became a staple of late 80s Offshore racing, setting the world avg speed record of 108mph and winning the US-1 Open Class National Championship their first year together, setting his place as one of the greatest offshore racers of his time, through multiple eras at a time when races went hundreds of miles offshore for hours.

That legacy shapes everything we do at Lanier Custom Boats. When Errol retired from racing in 1999, he looked at the small boat market, and their performance/safety issues in rough water at high speed, and right away knew he had the solution.

Cougar entrusted Lanier with the legendary hull design, and with some tweaks by Clive Curtis and Errol, and a deck designed for anglers, we made a completely unique platform that allows the average boater and angler to have a taste of that Championship legacy in their garage, and for over 20 years we have been pushing the limits.

As new outboards increase in power to weight ratio, and lightweight materials like Carbon Fiber become more affordable, the necessity of a 20ft. hull that can handle high speeds over 100mph, especially through boat wakes and rough water at the center of large lakes and bays, or during inclement weather is becoming more and more apparent.

As a former Safety officer and fireman, the well being of the community has always come first to Errol Lanier, and if you like to stretch the limits the way we do, when boating with the family especially, we feel this platform is an absolute necessity.