Mystic’s Mystery V-Bottom
We know they have one coming—but what will it be?
September 23, 2014
Members of the high-performance powerboating community primarily know Mystic Powerboats as a catamaran builder—and for good reason. The DeLand, Fla., company’s vaunted 50-foot, carbon fiber and epoxy catamaran model has an impressive pedigree that includes, most recently at Missouri’s Lake Of the Ozarks Shootout, a speed record of 244 mph, set by the Spirit of Qatar team's Al Adaa'am 96 turbine engine-powered raceboat.
The hull mold is complete for Mystic’s new—and to date mysterious—V-bottom.
My Way, last year’s Shootout Top Gun with a top speed of 224 mph, also is a 50-foot turbine-powered Mystic cat.
But before the end of this year Mystic will have a new V-bottom on the market. That’s the word from John Cosker, the owner and founder of the company.
"I've put hundreds of hours of engineering and design time into this project and I think it is going to be fantastic," said Cosker. "The first V-bottom I designed to build ourselves was a 55-foot, 7,500-hp turbine-powered V-bottom for Dave Callan. We also did 62- and 70-foot diesel-powered express cruisers, which ran in excess of 80 mph -- but there just aren't many buyers in the market for a boat like that. What we're moving forward with now is something that will appeal to a broad segment of the market. With Pier 57 Marine as our choice for distribution, we're even more confident that our new V-bottom, as well as our upcoming 40-foot catamaran, will be a success."
But will the new model be a pure go-fast V-bottom, a performance-oriented center console—still the rage in the go-fast boat world—or maybe even a sport cruiser? For now, Cosker said he wants to keep that under wraps. So, too, does Scott Sjogren of Pier 57 Marine, a Mystic dealer in Gurnee, Ill. Sjogren did say he is looking forward to having another new-model option from Mystic.
"I met John [Cosker] a while ago, and not only is he a great guy who does what he says he's going to do, he's an engineer building boats and not a hobbyist slapping something together," said Sjogren. "Because John has spent a lot of time over the years helping other manufacturers focus on their V-bottoms, he has not spent a lot of time of focusing on expanding his own brand. The 50 Mystic is a great boat—it's the best-riding catamaran out there—but there are only so many people in the market for a 50-foot cat. The first three new 40 Mystic cats -- it's a big model with an 11-foot beam and a 44-foot overall length -- are already sold, and I have four solid candidates for four more of those. But the line still needs something else, and that means a V-bottom.
"Sportboat, cruiser, or center console—there are a lot of options and a lot of different ways you can go with a V-bottom," added Sjogren. "John has been looking at all of those options. But at least for now that's all I want to say."
Rest assured, when we know Mystic’s secret so will you.
