American Ethanol continued its dominance at the 2023 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, winning its ninth consecutive Top Gun title on Sunday.
The 51 Mystic with Tony Battiato driving and John Cosker on the throttles laid down a 214-mph run, the fastest speed ever since switching to a 3/4-mile course in 2017. The boat broke a blower belt on one of the 4,500-hp engines about three-quarters down the course, otherwise the catamaran still has more left in it.
“We didn’t know what was going to happen because we put two new motors in,” said Don Onken, owner of the American Ethanol Mystic Race Team. “It was the first time we ever dropped the hammer on it.”
The team made a second pass of 186 mph on Saturday and then pulled the catamaran from the docks at Captain Ron’s on Sunday without making an additional run. Without the 214-mph first run, American Ethanol’s eight-year run as Top Gun could have been in jeopardy.
Myrick Coil and Rusty Williams running Slug Hefner’s 438 Skater Dirty Duck with twin Brummett 2,300-hp turbocharged engines had a 194-mph pass, improving on Saturday’s run of 187 mph.
The 35th running of the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout presented by Performance Boat Center had some records broken over the weekend.
Vision Marine set a new electric speed record running an S2 catamaran in collaboration between Shaun Torrente and Ocke Mannerfelt. The catamaran was designed for Super Stock racing and built by Charleston Composites. The new model is about 2 feet longer than the catamaran that Torrente piloted in 2022 to set the electric boat record of 109 mph.
Using the same power set up with E-Motion electric outboard motor and powertrain system, Torrente ran 116 mph on the 3/4-mile course smashing the old record. The record run came with limited testing, as the group had just 15 days to rig the boat and get it ready for the Shootout.
“I’m relieved that we got another record and we (validated) that the boat is working properly and going in the right direction,” Torrente said. “I’m happy for all the guys at Vision (Marine) and I’m happy for my guys but for me there’s two things, winning and misery, and we won.”
Other highlights from the 2023 Shootout include:
–The Factory Billet/Outerlimits smashed the V-bottom record on Sunday pulling an incredible 184-mph run with owner and driver Jim Schultz and the throttleman Mike Faucher. The 51-foot Outerlimits has a pair of 2,000-hp turbocharged engines.
–Velocity Powerboats’ Scott McCormick ran the company’s new VR1 with a pair of Mercury Racing 450-hp and got an impressive 107 mph from the V-bottom boat. McCormick had had two previous passes of 106 mph before upping it 1 mph.
–Despite on-and-off rain all day Saturday, organizers had a record 253 total runs over the two days. It made for nonstop action for thousands of boats lined along the course and fans watching the television coverage.
–Powerboat P1 handled the media coverage for the first time and stepped up the television production by adding cameras and using drones (when it wasn’t raining) to follow the boats. Marine industry legend Bob Teague of Teague Custom Marine and announcer Rod Smith handled the announcing duties over the two days.
Look for the complete story in the next issue of Poker Runs America.
