MTI At 25—Catching Up With Taylor Scism – Speed on the Water
Just three years ago, MTI founder Randy Scism was the best-known offshore powerboat racer in his family, a renowned multi-time national and world champion who parlayed his knowledge and experience into a remarkable career building high-performance catamarans and center consoles. Longtime fans of the sport know Scism as one of its all-time greats and always will.
Captured here with fiancé Shaun Peters, Taylor Scism has helped blaze a trail for the 450R Factory Stock class. Photo by Cole McGowan copyright Powerboat P1
But nowadays, the Scism you hear about on the racecourse is Taylor, Randy and Cherell Scism’s 27-year-old daughter. Through the force of her own grit, determination and talent, she has spearheaded the 450R Factory Stock category to a spec-class juggernaut that should see eight teams on the racecourse next season. Scism went from uncontested alongside throttleman John Tomlinson in the TS Motorsports 390XR catamaran to claiming a legitimate American Powerboat Association Offshore National Championship this season and finishing third overall in the world championships in Key West, Fla., where the team claimed top honors in 2022 to go with its 2022 APBA National Championship.
Along the way, Scism has inspired the first generation of young 450R Factory Stock competitors such as 22-year-olds Nick Imprescia and Ian Morgan of 151 Express and 16-year-old Caleb Mead of Mead Family Racing—with both teams running MTI 390XR cats.
Being backed by her famous father and his powerhouse brand certainly hasn’t hampered her success—Scism is Wentzville, Mo., company’s director of client relations—but that doesn’t come close to explaining it. But here’s what does. Scism is fearless and never sees quitting as an option.
And not only did she inherit her father’s determination, she picked up a bit of his natural offshore racing talent. Fortunately she inherited her mom’s charming personality and radant smile.
In the two years since the 450R Factory Stock became an official APBA class, TS Motorsports has earned two national titles and one world title. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
Yet Scism’s greatest asset could be that no one has more fun than her in the cockpit of a raceboat. She’s joyful and grateful and ferociously competitive, another quality she likely picked up from her dad.
Just ask her a few questions and find out. We did.
You had quite a season. You must have experienced some highs and lows this year.
Anytime someone new comes into racing I tell them you’ll feel every emotion humanly possible during the season. That was definitely the case for us this year. The high and low of the season could be summed up in Key West but I would say the high was winning Nationals. While it was our third win I felt it was the most meaningful because of the amount of strong competition we had in the class this year. The low was Sunday in Key West. Worlds was so close—we could just about reach it but it’s never fully over until it’s over and that’s racing. We still ended the season with a podium finish and couldn’t be happier with Willy Cabeza taking home the title, it was well deserved.
When you started in the 450R Factory Stock class, did you ever think it would grow as strongly and quickly as it has?
Starting the 450R class was a gamble with building a boat and committing to a new class. The hope and vision was that it was a class that was attainable by many manufactures with the specs set and powered by a stock, off-the-shelf factory Mercury Racing outboard engines. We are so happy the class has taken off like it has and that we hear more manufacturers and racers are planning to join us in 2024.
There are lots of young folks in your class. Logan Adan is 18. Caleb Mead is 16, and Nick and Ian are 22. That has to be satisfying and humbling.
I love the fact that we have a young class. I believe it was in Clearwater (Fla.) that 151 Express, Mead Family Racing, and myself were all on the podium and I had a realization that all the drivers are less than 30 years old. That is pretty big for half our class to have drivers of that age. I think it’s bringing up the next generation in offshore racing. It’s very positive for the future of our sport.
Taylor Scism has raced alongside throttleman John Tomlinson since the 450R Factory Stock class started. Photo by Cole McGowan copyright Powerboat P1.
MTI is still celebrating its 25th birthday, just a few weeks left. What does that mean to you and your family?
Our 25th anniversary is a big milestone. MTI has been officially around for the majority of my life and it has been amazing to watch the growth over the years. I grew up in this building. I used to be brought to work on my days off from elementary school and watch VHF tapes in my mom’s office. I’ve been here for five years now full-time, and even in the last five years we have grown a lot as a manufacturing facility, as a company and as a brand. I am incredibly proud of my parents and what they have grown and accomplished the last 25 years.
It’s an honor to be part of this company. And I’m really looking forward to what the next 25 years and beyond will bring.
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