Inside SOTW Mag: Tomlinson’s Take—Right On Schedule

We’re just halfway through the six-race American Power Boat Association Offshore Championship Series and it’s already been a big season for offshore racing and the Performance Boat Center team, the team I throttle for with driver Myrick Coil. On the sport side, the first three races have seen excellent turnouts in many classes and three different winners in the Supercat class, which is one of the classes where the Osage Beach, Mo., full-service powerboat dealership fields a team. (Performance Boat Center also launched a really exciting Super Stock team with Myrick Coil and Rusty Williams, both company employees, this year.)

Dialing in a new raceboat always takes time, and the new Performance Boat Center team boat—a 41-foot MTI catamaran—is coming right along. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

More specific to our team, we brought our new 41-foot MTI raceboat into the Supercat fray this season. We finished third at the season-opener in Cocoa Beach, Fla., third but were moved to fourth at the Lake Race in Central Missouri and third again in Sarasota, Fla. Now, we’re getting ready for the St. Clair River Classic in Michigan at the end of July.

Given that we’ve won our share of world championships and have been one of the most consistently competitive teams in the Supercat class in recent years, you might think we’re disappointed with our performance so far.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. New raceboats take time to dial in. I’ve dialed in more than a few during the years, and it can take one to two full seasons— including lots of testing and practice—to get it right.

To enjoy the complete feature, click the download link for the PDF of the May/June 2019 Speed On The Water magazine, and please share any feedback with us below, via email or on social media.