Pratt And Wyatt Joining Forces In df Young/Good Boy Vodka-Backed Mystic Cat for 2024 Class 1 Season
The man behind the burgeoning Good Boy Vodka brand and its accompanying line of hard seltzers, Alex Pratt will join df Young team owner/throttleman Rich Wyatt in the cockpit of his 50-foot Class 1 Mystic Powerboats catamaran for the 2024 Union Internationale Motonautique Class 1 World Championship Series. Good Boy Vodka will be a co-sponsor and the team will be based in Sarasota, Fla.
The new cockpit duo will compete together for the first time at the Class 1 season-opener, May 17-19, in Cocoa Beach, Fla.
Captured here with offshore racing great Steve Curtis (left), Good Boy Vodka’s Alex Pratt is eager to get back inside a Class 1 raceboat cockpit with Rich Wyatt (below). Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix
“We plan to be a front-runner this season and will be testing next month to get some seat time together and make sure the boat is dialed in for the Cocoa Beach season-opener,” said Pratt, who is the former driver of the Class 1 XINSURANCE/Good Boy Vodka team. He parted ways with the team during the 2023 season.
According to a press release from Powerboat P1, the promoter and organizer of the Class 1 series, Pratt and Wyatt met while competing against one another in 2022. Pratt, a former professional motorcycle racer, is entering his third season in Class 1. Wyatt, who has just one Class 1 season under his belt (including a victory at the 2023 Mercury Racing Midwest Challenge in Sheboygan, Wis.), has been competing in the sport since 1999.
In addition to adding Pratt as its new driver for the 2024 season, the team has been working to improve the cat’s mechanical reliability on the racecourse.
“There has been a learning curve with the new power and systems in the boat,” Wyatt said. “We have addressed the issues that gave us some trouble last season and there seems to be a good fit between Alex, his vodka brand and the team.”
Following the Cocoa Beach season-opener, the Class 1 series will move to the Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri (May 31-June 2), Sheboygan, Wis. (August 9-11), Sarasota, Fla. (September 13-15), and St. Petersburg, Fla. (October 18-20). Though the Race World Offshore Key West World Championship is not part of the UIM Class 1 World Championship, most Class 1 teams are planning to compete in the November 3-10 event.
Rendring courtesy/copyright Chris Dilling/Grafik EFX Design.
Azam Rangoonwala, the chief executive officer of Powerboat P1, described the cockpit pairing as an “attractive mix” and said he was looking forward to seeing Pratt and Wyatt compete alongside one another.
“Rich’s considerable experience and professionalism makes him an ideal ambassador for Class 1, and we are looking forward to welcoming back the Good Boy Vodka crew to our race events this season,” Rangoonwala said. “Strategic partnerships are a vital part of our business, and we will continue to work closely with Alex and his team to help them meet their brand objectives.
“I expect df Young to mount a serious challenge for the 2024 world title,” he added.
Wyatt and Pratt will run the 50-foot df Young Mystic catamaran in Class 1 this season. Photo by Pete Boden. Photo of Rich Wyattt courtesy/copyright Powerboat P1.
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