Catching Up With Tyler Miller—On Success, His Driver And The True Meaning Of Christmas – Speed on the Water

If anyone in the offshore racing world has had a big year, it is Tyler Miller, the owner and throttleman of the M CON Class 1 and Super Cat teams. Miller, who lives in Wathena, Kan., with his wife, Lindsey, and their children, would be a shoe-in for “Person Of The Year” if speedonthewater.com named one.

In January, Missi Coil and Lindsey Miller joined their husbands in Seattle for their American Power Boat Association Hall of Champions honor. Photo courtesy M CON

Miller and M CON team driver Myrick Coil began the year with their induction into the American Power Boat Association Hall of Champions in late January. Just four months later, they entered the Union Internationale Motonautique Class 1 ranks in a new Skater Powerboats catamaran—the subject of a Speed On The Water/Scrapyard Media documentary—backed by Monster Energy. By the end of the 2023 UIM Class 1 World Championship Series, they had earned three podium results and finished fourth overall.

But the best was yet to come. After earning their second consecutive APBA national championship in the Super Cat class, they backed up the 2022 Super Cat world title with a repeat performance at the Race World Offshore World Championship in Key West, Fla.

Through it all, Miller has been the definition of class and humility—and positivity. He’s a bright light in a sport that too often goes dark by its own accord. To know him as a friend isn’t just to love him. It is a blessing.

On Christmas Eve, I caught up with Miller and asked him five questions. Here’s what he had to say.

Claiming back-to-back national and world Super Cat titles was an impressive feat. It must have required lot of focused effort. Tell me about it.

Earning back-to-back national and world championships takes an enormous amount of energy, persistence and undivided attention to every detail down to the last nut and bolt by each and every team member. The team’s focus throughout the entire season cannot stop or you’ll have gone from first to last in a moment’s notice in such a strong Super Cat class.

By the end of the season, we are all emotionally and physically drained—it takes it all out of you, the grind is real. But for me, keeping everyone involved and mentally focused with our eyes on the prize is what keeps M CON at the top. “Stay strong, and only the strong will drink from the chalice of victory.”

You had a lot of ups and downs during your inaugural Class 1 season. Walk me through a few of them.

Our Class 1 season began with a majority of ‘downs’ that resulted in the end of a rookie season being all on the upside. With high hopes for our team and sponsor Monster Energy, the first couple of races left us short of the finish line with mechanical failures. In offshore racing for me, finishing the race is the No. 1 goal and with back-to-back DNFs things were looking very desolate from the bottom of the standings, which was where we were.

But with true grit and determination our team adapted and overcame to finish our first race in Michigan City (Ind.) We followed that with two podium finishes in Sheboygan (Wis.) That was a major milestone that showed the Monster Energy/M CON team will not stop until its on top.

You’ve shared you the cockpit with Myrick Coil for several years. What qualities as a driver does he bring to the game?

Sharing the cockpit with Myrick Coil is more to me than just the 10 to 15 laps on the course. We’ve become family through boating and offshore racing. Myrick’s wife, Missi, and their children, Preston, Kennedy, Jax and Cam, as well as Lindsey and our children, Bryer, Brailee, Bentlee and Barrett, ride along with us in spirit at every race. That’s something we both bring to the cockpit and it has made our commitment to perfection in the boat—and our ability to become one—the best I could ever ask for.

Inside a raceboat or on the docks, Tyler Miller and Myrick Coil are completely in sync. Photo by Cole McGowan copyright Powerboat P1

In 2023, Speed On The Water and Scrapyard Media produced a video on the build of your Class 1 Monster Energy/M CON raceboat. What elements of the production and the story itself did you most enjoy?

My favorite aspect of the production was the way Scrapyard Media and the Speed On The Water team created a storyline that keeps the viewer in suspense about whether or not the boat would get completed throughout the whole video. As they always do, and I mean always, the best-in-the-world Performance Boat Center crew finished by working double overtime as promised and delivered a race-ready Class 1 catamaran. And that was a big part of the story.

What will the Miller family be doing on this fine Christmas Day?

Christmas Day will be all about the birth of Christ, remembrance of my sister, Jamie, and family for us. We celebrate with our children and our amazing granddaughter, “Tyler G”—love the name—as well as our four pups! I’m up early drinking coffee by 4:30, 5 a.m. waiting on the kids to wake up so I can cook them breakfast and open gifts. Then we’ll enjoy the afternoon with family and a Chiefs win over the Raiders (laughs).

Not only did Tyler and Lindsey Miller decorate Greene Street with their Class 1 Monster Energy/M CON raceboat for the 2023 Speed On The Water Key West Bash, their winning bid for an auction item donated by Mercury Racing helped raise $200,000 for the local charity. Photo by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.