A Red Rocket Roars Again Ahead Of The Binks Fun Run For Addiction Awareness.

The founder and owner of MTI, Randy Scism hasn’t ridden in the updated and repowered version of the flaming-red canopied RP 40 catamaran he unveiled at the 2012 Miami International Boat Show. And unlike the group gathered tonight at the Midtown Sundries restaurant in Denver, N.C., ahead of tomorrow’s third annual Binks Fun Run for Addiction Awareness on Lake Norman has not seen it in person. He’s only glanced at pictures of it.

On display for tonight’s opening party for the third annual Binks Addiction Awareness Fun Run, the stunning cat will kick off the weekend is strong fashion.

But Scism likes what he’s seen. “I’m told it runs as good as it looks,” he said. “Congratulations on a beautiful project well done.”

Those congrats should come as music to the ears of Upstate New York’s Kelly O’Hara and North Carolina’s Chad Shutter. O’Hara owns the 40-footer that was once the property of the late Texan David Spear. Not only did Shutter and his crew at BRP Marine Custom completely reinvent the catamaran’s interior and touch up its hull and deck, they filled its engine compartment with two brand-new Mercury Racing 1100 engines.

A South Carolina client originally commissioned the build, then-powered by Mercury Racing 1350 engines. MTI displayed the boat next to a 36-foot cat the company that would eventually become O’Hara’s current Holy Cow !!! ride, at the 2012 Miami affair.

In keeping his naming protocol, O’Hara,—a dairy farmer by trade—has dubbed his RP 40 Holy Cow IV.

O’Hara and Shutter were thrilled with the boat’s initial test session on Lake Norman.

“I first saw this boat in person during the MTI Owners Fun Run in March of 2017,” O’Hara recalled. “I told David Spear that if he ever wanted to sell the boat to call me and the deal was done. Due to David’s unfortunate passing I never had that opportunity and the boat was put into storage.

“In July of 2023 an article on Speedonthewater.com stated that Ron Szolack had purchased the boat, removed its drivetrain and had thoughts of an outboard conversion,” he continued. “During the Boyne Thunder Poker Run that year, I tracked him down and told him he couldn’t cut up this boat. He said, ‘Well, you’ll have to buy it then.’”

Twin Mercury Racing 1100s power the catamaran.

O’Hara did just that, and chose 1,100-hp, quad-cam four-valve turbocharged engines for their reliability to fill the empty engine compartment. He had no desire to push the boat anywhere close to the 180-mph top speed it had achieved with twin 1350-engine power. He knew the 1100s would be plenty.

But he did want a more modern interior. A long time BRP Marine Custom client, he tasked Shutter and his team to handle the project.

“Chad and the BRP team have completely updated the cockpit of the boat with multiple displays and Alcantara upholstery,” he said. “Laser-etched messaging in the materials of the seats and side panels adds a custom touch. Marine Mat decking was installed in the cockpit to both the floor and the bottom side of the roof. Marine Mat was also custom-designed by BRP to add style and functionality to the topside of boat, making walking on the boat safer and cooler for all.”

A closer look at some of the 40-footer’s details.

Other new features include a multiple-zone, Shadowcaster-controlled LED lighting system that O’Hara described as “perfectly executed by BRP,” as well as front and rear video cameras. A 24-volt air-conditioning systems keeps the cockpit cool, but for open-cockpit operation the top is removable. Each seat has its own five-point Simpson safety harness, and the cat has a bottom escape between its sponsons.

The 40-footer is displayed on a custom MYCO trailer outside tonight’s party venue.

“The fun part about this is Kelly really kind of let me go and run with the ideas I had,” Shutter explained. “Obviously, because the boat has such a clean look we didn’t want to go crazy, but we wanted to add a little more functionality. I’ll be honest, when Kelly said something about putting decking material on the top deck, I was a little skeptical. So, we spent some time putting tape lines in the top deck until we were able to come up with a cool design that would look more like a paint scheme than just added decking material.

Shutter was grateful to work with O’Hara, who gave him plenty of creative latitude with the project.

“All in all, it’s kind of an awesome feature,” he added. “Moving around the deck is so much better. And it makes the boat so much more user friendly.”

With the RP 40 now in his formidable stable of catamarans that include the aforementioned MTI 36-footer and a DCB Performance Marine M37R catamaran he co-owns with his friend Kiran Pinisetti of Indiana, O’Hara has three catamarans from which to choose. According to Shutter, who tested the finished product with O’Hara this week, the cat “runs great and accelerates hard.”

So O’Hara could be facing some tough decisions. It’s a problem he’s grateful to have. Likewise, Shutter was delighted and honored to lead the project.

“I can’t thank the O’Hara‘s enough for the opportunity on project as well as my right hand guy, Victor Jones, and the rest of my team/family members here at BRP for all of their hard work on this thing,” he said.