MTI vs. Skater: New LOTO Dam-to-Dam Record Challenge Planned
World champion offshore racer and 2022 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout Honorary Chairperson Taylor Scism has announced she will drive her MTI 390X Team Marine Technology in an attempt to set a new Dam-to-Dam Challenge speed record on the Monday morning of Aug. 22, prior to LOTO’s popular Shootout Week. Scism will pilot the boat alongside her father, MTI President Randy Scism.
But they won’t be alone. National champion offshore racer Tyler Miller, who owns and throttles the Super Cat M-CON 388 Skater with driver Myrick Coil, will also attempt to set the record on that day. Miller’s attempt comes on the heels of a run he recently made with a crew that included his wife Lindsey Miller, Shane Sherman and M-CON Crew Chief Jake Leckliter on July 28; regrettably, the propellers on his personal Skater 368 catamaran suffered several broken propeller blades, thwarting his chance of breaking the long-standing record with only 40 miles left in the run. He will have this same crew on board for the August run and both Skater and MTI outboard catamarans are powered by twin Mercury Racing 450Rs.
In the Dam-to-Dam Challenge, racers run from Bagnell Dam in Lakeside, MO, to Truman Dam in Warsaw, MO, and back. The teams must complete the 188-mile trip in less than 2 hours, 29 minutes and 49 seconds, which is the current standing record set by Tyson and Tristan Garvin (along with passengers Shane Sherman, Andy Sanders and Michael Donahue) in their 39′ V-bottom Skater, powered by twin 480-hp Cummins diesel engines with Arneson ASD8 surface drives on Sept. 20, 2014.
The record attempts are being conducted to raise money for the Shootout charities. “We decided to work together on it this time and do some work for charity,” Miller tells Speedboat. “Taylor reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, I know you guys did it last year. We’d like to like to do it during Shootout Week and see if we can raise some money for charity this year.’ So during the recent PBC Outboard Fun Run dinner, we talked some more about it and decided to promote it as a small Skater versus MTI event and just have fun with it, just to raise some more money for charity.”
Miller’s proceeds will benefit Kids’ Harbor, a child advocacy center serving the Lake of the Ozarks area in Central Missouri, Fort Leonard Wood, and surrounding areas. The agency assists victims of child abuse and their safe caregivers as they make their way through the difficult and often frightening process of a child abuse investigation.
“Kids’ Harbor is so thankful for the continued support from the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout,” says Cara Gerdiman, executive director of Kids’ Harbor. “We’re thrilled that M-CON chose, and will race to benefit, our mission to provide coordinated response, healing and prevention of child abuse in our community. This support helps to ensure Kids’ Harbor remains a shining light through the storm of abuse.”
Fans are encouraged to donate by clicking here. Additional charities to be announced soon.
Scism tells Speedboat that they plan to stagger the two launches, “probably by 10 or 15 minutes,” she says. “It gets pretty narrow on the part that you can actually run in, so we won’t run together for everybody’s safety. There are a lot of bass boats out there, and I don’t want anyone causing any issues. Staggering will help with some safety concerns as well.”
The plan is for each team to depart from The Neon Taco restaurant on Bagnell Dam Strip. They will then head towards Truman Dam and then return to Neon Taco, while being chased and documented by Speedboat Magazine, courtesy of Tom Cline Helicopters. All other details regarding the run, including additional plans to track the boats via telemetry technology, are currently under discussion, Scism says.
Source: https://www.speedboat.com/mti-vs-skater-new-loto-dam-to-dam-record-challenge-planned/
