If you spend anytime on Instagram and follow the performance boat tags, you have probably come across several popular accounts in the North East that showcase what single engine performance boating is all about. One of those is Keith Annino aka “Uncle Keith,” who has a beautifully restored STV Euro. Keith has followed the path of many of us, growing up around a lake watching the fast boats run, then slowly getting into the affliction one boat at a time. Let’s take a look at Keith’s extremely clean Euro with a Mercury Racing 300R.

After getting into his first performance boat at a young age, a 10’ GW Invader, Keith went on to run a Hyrdostream Vector and then a STV Pro Comp before sourcing this STV Euro. The Euro is a great STV for the main reason that you can bring some friends with you, yet the timeless hull is very fast. STV has utilized a few different variations of their hull on the Euro deck. I’m not a STV historian but I believe the model name was technically EuroCompSki, but I could be wrong on that. To me the Euro looks the most modern, it looks ahead of its time even now.

Once Keith found the Euro, he knew it needed some work going into it. First order of business was gutting the boat and cutting out the old transom. A new 3 layer transom, with epoxy and glass between the layers was added. With the knees glassed in, Keith added aluminum enforcement in order to accommodate the new V8 four stroke’s weight. Luckily Keith is very handy and did all the work himself.

The bottom was blueprinted and Keith used a friend’s shop to paint the fresh STV with Awlcraft 2000, in white. Awlcraft 2000 is a marine specific, really durable acrylic urethane top coat. Keith got a hand from Glenn Foster, who has a huge Instagram account “Bayrippers” who wet sanded and buffed the Awlcraft to a mirror finish. I personally love the clean all white look. The STV already looks so wild, it’s nice with a simple color scheme.

Inside the boat, a new floor with storage lockers was put it and now the Euro is virtually a new boat. Keith acquired a new Mercury Racing 300R. The fun part is setting up a new combination like this. There aren’t a ton of 300R powered STVs right now, so a little trial and error was in front of Keith.

So far Keith has done really well using a Hill Marine, 5 blade Signature Cleaver (15.25 dia 35” pitch), the STV is running 122 MPH at 6,200 RPM. He runs it on the Merrimack River in Massachusetts, if you can catch him. With some buddies on board the beastly 300R still pushes the Roark Summerford designed center pod tunnel hull to 120 MPH and the best part is cruising all day while getting great fuel economy.

I think Keith nailed the look and execution of the incredible STV Euro with the modern touch of the Mercury Racing 300R. This is truly a rocket and shows how performance boating has a bright future.