Shootout Record Smashed
In the face of tragedy, a big record fell in a big way.
September 16, 2014
Overshadowed to a significant degree by the death of Mike Fiore, founder and owner of Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats, after a horrific accident during the annual Lake Of The Ozarks Shootout in Missouri, was the surreal top speed posted about an hour later by the Spirit of Qatar team’s Al Adaa'am 96 raceboat.
With a 244-mph top speed, this 50-foot Mystic catamaran shattered the Lake Of The Ozarks Shootout speed record by 20 mph. Photo by Jay Nichols/Naples Image.
Tapping into 6,000 hp of turbine engine output, the 50-foot Mystic Powerboats catamaran reached a top speed of 244 mph on the Shootout’s liquid-mile course. In setting the new record, the cat eclipsed the mark set last year at the Shootout by owner/driver Bill Tomlinson and throttleman Ken Kehoe in My Way, another 50-foot Mystic cat with twin 1,800-hp turbine engines.
The record-setting run actually was the second and final pass of the day for Al Adaa'am 96. In its first attempt, the catamaran’s emergency parachutes—installed to help slow the boat if necessary—accidentally deployed. With open chutes dragging behind it, the 50-footer still reached 210 mph. But in the second run, everything clicked for driver Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and throttleman.
"We had so many things in the backs of our heads that could go wrong, especially after seeing what happened this morning with Mike,” said Sheik Hassan, who considered postponing his next attempt until the following day. “So when we got out there—I still had Mike's accident in my mind, I could see it, because we were right there—I said 'OK, let's just play it safe.' Halfway though the run, the boat started to porpoise a little bit. Steve got back on the throttles and nailed it. It hooked back up again and he hammered it all the way down.
It took driver Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and throttleman Steve Curtis (center) two attempts to break the record. Photo by Jason Johnson.
"We were approaching the finish and running about 230 mph and it felt like Steve backed off a little bit cause that's what he wanted to do," he continued. "Then he started back on and I saw 240—I'm pretty sure we reached 250 after the gate. That's one milestone we got out of the way with this boat. Now it's time to go out and relax and look ahead to what's next."
When the speed was posted on the live television feed from the event, the crowd in Captain Ron’s—headquarters for the Shootout—and on the docks out front at first went silent, then erupted in cheers. The roar from the crowd in the spectator fleet lining the right side of the course was audible from the docks.
Most longtime observers of the Shootout doubted the record would fall at all, much less be shattered by such a large margin by a team competing in the event for the first time. In an interview prior to the event, Tomlinson said he hoped the mark he set with Kehoe would be broken at some point, but also said it would be a tall order.
“It’s one thing to run 200 mph in the boat—210 mph is another thing and every couple of mph after that [changes things] dramatically,” Tomlinson said. “I’m not sure if 230 mph is attainable or not in the Shootout distance. I mean as far as the power and everything else goes, in a good run you could potentially maybe pick up another five mph or so in that distance, but you’re going to have to see how the boat responds to it. It’s pretty dicey—we’re already close to the edge.”
For Curtis, whose father founded the Cougar line of offshore racing catamarans based in the United Kingdom that once dominated the sport, breaking the record was bittersweet. Curtis had been working with Fiore on his new line of Outerlimits catamarans, and the two had become close friends. When Fiore delivered Outerlimits’ first new 46-foot catamaran to owner Joel Begin in Canada, Curtis went with him to help familiarize Begin with the cat.
"That was incredible," Curtis said shortly after the epic run. "I'm still shaking—there's still a lot of adrenaline pumping through my bones. It's a great feeling yet I can't help but think of my really good friend Mike and hope he can pull through."
Sadly, Fiore did not.
