Curtis Putting The Spirt Of Qatar Cat ‘On A Diet’

With the 37th annual Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in Central Missouri opening in just four-and-a-half months, throttleman/project manager Steve Curtis has increased his focus on slimming down the 50-foot Mystic Powerboats Spirit of Qatar catamaran. Curtis and company have already inspected the seals on 50-footer’s twin 3,800-hp T-55 turbine engines, each of which has fewer than 200 operating hours. Their injectors will be sent out for complete rebuilds next week.

With the scoop atop is canopy removed to save weight and new graphics from sponsor Darana Hybrid Electro-Mechanical Solutions, the Spirit Of Qatar Mystic catamaran will boast a new look for the 2025 Shootout. Photo courtesy/copyright George Denny.

Running on the then-mile-long Shootout course in 2014, the cat reached an event-record-setting 244 mph with Curtis throttling and then-owner Sheik Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani behind the wheel. For safety reasons, the course was trimmed to three-quarters-of-a-mile in 2017.

The current-course record of 221 mph was set in 2024 by throttleman John Cosker and driver Tony Battiato in American Ethanol, a 51-foot Mystic catamaran owned by Don Onken and equipped with approximately 10,000 hp worth of piston-engine power.

“With shorter course and less time for the turbines to spool, weight means more,” Curtis emphasized. “The boat needs to drop a little weight to be more competitive.

“So we’re putting it on a diet,” he added, then laughed.

Curtis’ goal is to take 500 pounds out of the cat before testing begins. A switch to lithium batteries from the current conventional-cell batteries in the boat will save 100 pounds, according to Curtis. Removing the scoop atop the canopy will cut off another 100 pounds.

“You don’t need the scoop for Shootout competition,” Curtis explained. “It was there for open-ocean endurance racing, which never happened.”

The all-time Lake of the Ozarks Shootout Top Gun with a 244-mph performance in 2014, Steve Curtis is readying the record-setting Mystic cat to compete for the time in 11 years. Photo courtesy/copyright Gary Stray.

Curtis hopes that much of the remaining weight loss will come fabricating existing parts, such as the boat’s rudder, out of titanium. He described the costs involved as “really expensive,” but added that owner Darryl Cuttell understands the benefits.

“I have this great titanium source and fabricator I work with in the U.K.,” said Curtis, who divides his time between his home in England and his shop in Stuart, Fla. “I would like to get the engine exhausts made of titanium, but I don’t know if that will happen this time around.”

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