Mystic 50 Open Cockpit: The Ultimate Pleasure Cat

The first open-cockpit 50-footer from Mystic Powerboats is at once outrageous and stunning.

Let’s get this out of the way right now. A 50-foot catamaran with 3,600-hp worth of turbine engines, six seats in the cockpit, no cabin, and a sticker price of $1.6 million is not a “rational” purchase. First, nobody actual needs—quite a different word than wants—one. Second, there are better investments out there. Lots of them.

On the other hand, if you’re into really high-performance boats, it’s hard to see Mystic Powerboats’  latest creation, an open-cockpit 50-footer, as anything less than a dreamboat. Owned by Paul Iser and tagged Fly Boy, the new model is the first Mystic 50’ catamaran to have an open cockpit—and, as such, to be labeled a “pleasure boat.”

To date, Mystic founder John Cosker has overseen the creation of 11 of his prized 50-footers—nearly all with full canopies and turbine power, most of which were handled by John Arruda at Turbine Marine.

All except for the most recent offering have been used for offshore racing. (Cosker says he considers the four-seater he built for performance-boat enthusiast Don Onken “a race boat,” because in essence it’s a canopied model with an open top.)

The most notable still-active 50’ Mystic racer is Miss Geico, which is piloted by Marc Granet and Scott Begovich. It has power from Whispering Turbines and runs, for all intents and purposes, in a class of its own. Another turbine-powered 50’ Mystic, Aqua-Mania, occasionally competes with Miss Geico, as did JBS Racing (yet another turbine-powered 50’ Mystic) before owner Jeff Stevenson exited the offshore competition world.

And there is the 50’ Mystic Nauti-Marine, powered by alcohol piston engines and piloted by well-known racer David Scott and throttling legend John Tomlinson. At last year’s Lake of the Ozarks Shoot, the boat posted a liquid-mile top speed of 218 mph.

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