Image of the Week, Part II: Shootout Flashback

With its engines more than two years in the making, the 36-foot Skater catamaran with the first pair of turbocharged 1,700-hp Sterling engines arrived at the 2013 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout last August in Missouri with more than a little buzz. Speedonthewater.com had covered the engine development project, one that skeptics believed would never be finished, since its beginning. The 36-footer, a former offshore raceboat converted for pleasure use, itself with its fixed No. 6 drives and rudder steering system was a bit of an oddity.

Not even the people involved with the project knew the Sterling 1700-powered Skater would reach 195 during the 2013 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image

Everything about the project was a little, well, different, and speculation on OffshoreOnly.com and other communities about just how fast the cat would go ran rampant. Everyone had a number, and most were between 170 and 175 mph.

So when John Tomlinson and Myrick Coil laid down a heart-stoppping run of 195 mph in the cat, people on site, as well as on the message boards, were blown away. From the docks, you could hear the crowd roar when the speed was announced on the live broadcast.

Of course, the turbine-powered My Way 50-foot Mystic’s run of 224 mph was every bit as stunning. But it took nothing away from the achievement of the Sterling-powered Skater, which remains the fastest gasoline-fueled, piston-powered boat in Shootout history. For Coil, Tomlinson and Sterling principal Mike D’Anniballe, it was one hell of a day.

So who will have that kind of day this year? We’ll find out in two weeks and—like you—we can’t wait.

Editor’s Note: Speedonthewater.com will be on site to provide real-time online coverage of the 2014 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout as well as coverage of Super Cat Fest, which runs concurrently, at the Camden On The Lake Resort.