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Qatar 244 MPH Run, LOTO 2014
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Wrinkleface
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His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor al-Thani and British throttleman Steve Curtis obliterated the existing speed record of 224mph with a stunning speed of 244mph in their second run at the 26th Annual Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in central Missouri on Saturday.
The president of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) and Curtis decided to make their first attempt at the speed record as soon as the course opened in hot, humid conditions on Saturday.
They left the gate as the fourth boat with a legal start, only for the safety parachutes to deploy midway through the run. This failed to stop them posting an impressive first speed of 210mph through the flying finish.
Later in the session the pair took to the water again and a clean run was rewarded with the stunning terminal speed of 244mph recorded through the flying finish.
“I was confident that we could do it on our second run,” said a delighted Sheikh Hassan. “It was so nice to get it spot on. We had the boat under control all the time. Steve did an awesome job throttling it to the gate. He was on and off the throttles all through the mile run and I actually believe that the boat is capable of even more mph!
“We considered postponing the second run until Sunday, but I know the team wanted to get the runs out of the way. We were approaching the finish about 230mph and it felt like Steve backed off a little bit because that’s what we wanted to do. Then we started back on and I saw 240 and I’m pretty sure we reached 250 after the gate. That’s one milestone we have achieved with this boat. Now it’s time to go out and relax and look ahead to see what’s next.”
The Spirit of Qatar Team runs under the auspices of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) and Sheikh Hassan entered his turbine-engined, 50 foot Mystic ‘Al Adaa’am 96’ boat in one of the world’s biggest non-sanctioned powerboat events on the planet in the successful bid to overhaul the 224mph top speed recorded by Bill Tomlinson and Ken Kehoe at the helm of ‘My Way’ in 2013.
http://www.gulf-times.com/sport/192...hassan-and-spirit-of-qatar-smash-speed-record
The president of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) and Curtis decided to make their first attempt at the speed record as soon as the course opened in hot, humid conditions on Saturday.
They left the gate as the fourth boat with a legal start, only for the safety parachutes to deploy midway through the run. This failed to stop them posting an impressive first speed of 210mph through the flying finish.
Later in the session the pair took to the water again and a clean run was rewarded with the stunning terminal speed of 244mph recorded through the flying finish.
“I was confident that we could do it on our second run,” said a delighted Sheikh Hassan. “It was so nice to get it spot on. We had the boat under control all the time. Steve did an awesome job throttling it to the gate. He was on and off the throttles all through the mile run and I actually believe that the boat is capable of even more mph!
“We considered postponing the second run until Sunday, but I know the team wanted to get the runs out of the way. We were approaching the finish about 230mph and it felt like Steve backed off a little bit because that’s what we wanted to do. Then we started back on and I saw 240 and I’m pretty sure we reached 250 after the gate. That’s one milestone we have achieved with this boat. Now it’s time to go out and relax and look ahead to see what’s next.”
The Spirit of Qatar Team runs under the auspices of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF) and Sheikh Hassan entered his turbine-engined, 50 foot Mystic ‘Al Adaa’am 96’ boat in one of the world’s biggest non-sanctioned powerboat events on the planet in the successful bid to overhaul the 224mph top speed recorded by Bill Tomlinson and Ken Kehoe at the helm of ‘My Way’ in 2013.
http://www.gulf-times.com/sport/192...hassan-and-spirit-of-qatar-smash-speed-record
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An international offshore racing team laid claim to the Top Gun title in the 26th Lake of the Ozarks Shootout with an awe-inspiring speed of 244 mph.
It was an incredible show of speed and racing skill, as the Al Adaa 'am 96 Spirit of Qatar hit the 244 mph mark on their second run of the day on Saturday.
Owned and driven by His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor A-Thani, of Qatar, with British racer Steve Curtis onboard as the throttle man, the turbine powered 50' Mystic catamaran had hit 210 on its first run but ran into problems when the emergency parachutes deployed. By their second run, the team had their sites set on setting a new record. They didn't disappoint as they hit the tail end of the one-mile course at 244 mph. It was the Spirit of Qatar's inaugural Shootout appearance.
Sheikh Hassan and Curtis shattered the 224 mph record set in 2013 by Bill Tomlinson and Ken Kehoe in My Way. Tomlinson's My Way is also a turbine powered Mystic catamaran.
My Way did not make an appearance at this year's Shootout.
The Qatar team is new to the Shootout but is not to the world of high performance boat racing.
Sheikh Hassan is the president of Qatar Marine Racing Federation, headquartered in Qatar. Curtis is considered to be a world-class boat racing champion.
Temperatures reaching to the 100 degree mark did nothing to dissuade race enthusiasts from attending the annual event that raises more than $100,000 for lake area charities.
Thousands of spectator's lined the race course near the Hurricane Deck Bridge while others took part in the event from Captain Ron's venue at the 34.5-mile market.
Curt McGee, a Macks Creek resident and part of the CMS Racing team, was watching when the record-smashing run happened.
"It was, wow, outstanding. It took a ton of good teamwork to pull that off. I actually still believe they could have hit it harder though, but the water has been a little rough, this morning it was a little choppy," McGee said.
Even if you weren't watching at the moment the record was broken, just being in proximity to the course it was unmistakeable that something huge had occurred. That was the experience of Wayne Schaldenbrand, the president of Sunsation Boats out of Algonac, Mich.
"It was an awesome run. I've been coming here for 15-16 years and I've never heard a commotion like the one I heard when it happened. It's their technology. They under-propped it and figured out how to push the limits. They certainly have their stuff together. The air foil on the front to keep it down is quite impressive. It helps to have a $22 million budget, I guess," Schaldenbrand commented.
Although a tragic accident left two racers injured on Saturday morning around 10:30 a.m., the course was cleared and the race resumed within an hour.
Complete race results will be available later this week.
Read more: http://www.lakenewsonline.com/article/20140824/News/140829456#ixzz3BRnLZ7d2
It was an incredible show of speed and racing skill, as the Al Adaa 'am 96 Spirit of Qatar hit the 244 mph mark on their second run of the day on Saturday.
Owned and driven by His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor A-Thani, of Qatar, with British racer Steve Curtis onboard as the throttle man, the turbine powered 50' Mystic catamaran had hit 210 on its first run but ran into problems when the emergency parachutes deployed. By their second run, the team had their sites set on setting a new record. They didn't disappoint as they hit the tail end of the one-mile course at 244 mph. It was the Spirit of Qatar's inaugural Shootout appearance.
Sheikh Hassan and Curtis shattered the 224 mph record set in 2013 by Bill Tomlinson and Ken Kehoe in My Way. Tomlinson's My Way is also a turbine powered Mystic catamaran.
My Way did not make an appearance at this year's Shootout.
The Qatar team is new to the Shootout but is not to the world of high performance boat racing.
Sheikh Hassan is the president of Qatar Marine Racing Federation, headquartered in Qatar. Curtis is considered to be a world-class boat racing champion.
Temperatures reaching to the 100 degree mark did nothing to dissuade race enthusiasts from attending the annual event that raises more than $100,000 for lake area charities.
Thousands of spectator's lined the race course near the Hurricane Deck Bridge while others took part in the event from Captain Ron's venue at the 34.5-mile market.
Curt McGee, a Macks Creek resident and part of the CMS Racing team, was watching when the record-smashing run happened.
"It was, wow, outstanding. It took a ton of good teamwork to pull that off. I actually still believe they could have hit it harder though, but the water has been a little rough, this morning it was a little choppy," McGee said.
Even if you weren't watching at the moment the record was broken, just being in proximity to the course it was unmistakeable that something huge had occurred. That was the experience of Wayne Schaldenbrand, the president of Sunsation Boats out of Algonac, Mich.
"It was an awesome run. I've been coming here for 15-16 years and I've never heard a commotion like the one I heard when it happened. It's their technology. They under-propped it and figured out how to push the limits. They certainly have their stuff together. The air foil on the front to keep it down is quite impressive. It helps to have a $22 million budget, I guess," Schaldenbrand commented.
Although a tragic accident left two racers injured on Saturday morning around 10:30 a.m., the course was cleared and the race resumed within an hour.
Complete race results will be available later this week.
Read more: http://www.lakenewsonline.com/article/20140824/News/140829456#ixzz3BRnLZ7d2
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A bit of history
THE SHOOTOUT AND THE SHEIKH
Can Qatar’s turbine-powered cat top a liquid-mile speed record?
To understand why the Spirit of Qatar team installed twin 3,000-hp T-55 turbine engines in its Al Adaa’am 96 50-foot Mystic offshore racing catamaran, you have to go back a couple of years—to July 2012, in fact, and to the test session when Miss GEICO burned to the waterline during the Super Boat International Suncoast Sarasota Offshore Grand Prix.
While neither the catamaran’s throttleman Scott Begovich nor its driver Marc Granet was injured, the 50-foot cat—also a turbine-powered Mystic cat—was a total loss. That put the GEICO team out of the turbine offshore racing game and left the then-in-construction Al Adaa’am 96 raceboat without anything resembling consistent competition.
Miss GEICO had not just been a good target for the Qatar team in the Super Boat International Turbine class—it had been their only real target. What few Turbine-class teams existed rarely showed up to races. Qatar team leader Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani, who planned to drive his turbine boat with famed British throttleman Steve Curtis, had developed a healthy rivalry with the Miss GEICO team the year before when he ran one of Qatar’s piston-powered Union Internationale Motonautique Class 1 cats against Miss GEICO and got spanked. The good-natured war of words between Sheikh Hassan and Granet had been escalating ever since. In a struggling motorsport that desperately needs it, a good drama was shaping up.
Until Miss GEICO burned.
Still, there was time for Sheikh Hassan to install big piston power in his team’s new 50-footer. But he chose to go with two sets—1,800-hp T-53s and 3,000-hp T-55s—of interchangeable turbine engines for the cat. The less powerful T-53 engines were initially installed in the boat for offshore racing. They would be swapped for the more powerful engines for special events such as the Lake of Ozarks Shootout and perhaps, down the road a bit, an attempt to break the propeller-driven water-speed record in Qatar.
Finishing the Al Adaa’am 96 project took longer than anyone expected. The boat debuted weakly at the 2013 SBI race in New York. A few months later at the SBI World Championships in Key West, Fla., the cat struggled with mechanical problems—it actually caught fire during the final race on Sunday. Despite the setback, Sheikh Hassan and his team were undaunted.
“I am never discouraged or disappointed,” he said shortly after the races. “I will still carry on the momentum to move forward, and hopefully see the sport even healthier. We are 100-percent serious and committed to work to see it live up to its reputation and create interest for the fans to come and watch offshore racing again.”
Good to his word, Sheikh Hassan is back—and with two 3,000-hp turbine engines in his boat. While the team brought the 50-footer but didn’t run in Sarasota Grand Prix this summer, Sheikh Hassan said he is headed for the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout at the end of August and may even keep the 3,000-hp monster engine in the cat for the SBI Key West Worlds in November.
“The Lake of the Ozarks Shootout is something that I have been wanting to enter for some time, and it falls at a time in the calendar when we will miss a round of SBI competition,” Hassan said. “However, we have been working hard to ensure that the turbine boat is ready, and this will be a great chance for us to see what it is truly capable of.”
Set last year by Canadian Bill Tomlinson in My Way, another 50-foot turbine-powered Mystic cat, the current Lake of the Ozarks Record is 224 mph. Tomlinson does not plan to defend his title. He also doubts that his record will fall.
“If the Sheikh and his team are ready to run, I can’t wait to see what they can do,” said Tomlinson. “It’s one thing to run 200 mph in the boat—210 mph is another thing and every couple of mph after that [changes things] dramatically.
“I’m not sure if 230 mph is attainable or not in the Shootout distance,” he continued. “I mean, as far as the power and everything else goes, in a good run you could potentially maybe pick up another five mph or so in that distance, but you’re going to have to see how the boat responds to it. It’s pretty dicey; we’re already close to the edge.”
Now powered by 1,650-hp piston engines from Mercury Racing, the 44-foot Miss GEICO won’t be at the Shootout to fuel Sheikh Hassan’s competitive fire, but the two boats, though technically in different classes, will do battle come November in Key West.
Breaking the Shootout record will be, as Tomlinson pointed out, a tall order, especially for a team completely new to the event. Regardless, the performance-boat competition stage is set for some great drama for the rest of the season.
http://features.boats.com/boat-content/2014/07/shootout-sheikh/
THE SHOOTOUT AND THE SHEIKH
Can Qatar’s turbine-powered cat top a liquid-mile speed record?
To understand why the Spirit of Qatar team installed twin 3,000-hp T-55 turbine engines in its Al Adaa’am 96 50-foot Mystic offshore racing catamaran, you have to go back a couple of years—to July 2012, in fact, and to the test session when Miss GEICO burned to the waterline during the Super Boat International Suncoast Sarasota Offshore Grand Prix.
While neither the catamaran’s throttleman Scott Begovich nor its driver Marc Granet was injured, the 50-foot cat—also a turbine-powered Mystic cat—was a total loss. That put the GEICO team out of the turbine offshore racing game and left the then-in-construction Al Adaa’am 96 raceboat without anything resembling consistent competition.
Miss GEICO had not just been a good target for the Qatar team in the Super Boat International Turbine class—it had been their only real target. What few Turbine-class teams existed rarely showed up to races. Qatar team leader Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani, who planned to drive his turbine boat with famed British throttleman Steve Curtis, had developed a healthy rivalry with the Miss GEICO team the year before when he ran one of Qatar’s piston-powered Union Internationale Motonautique Class 1 cats against Miss GEICO and got spanked. The good-natured war of words between Sheikh Hassan and Granet had been escalating ever since. In a struggling motorsport that desperately needs it, a good drama was shaping up.
Until Miss GEICO burned.
Still, there was time for Sheikh Hassan to install big piston power in his team’s new 50-footer. But he chose to go with two sets—1,800-hp T-53s and 3,000-hp T-55s—of interchangeable turbine engines for the cat. The less powerful T-53 engines were initially installed in the boat for offshore racing. They would be swapped for the more powerful engines for special events such as the Lake of Ozarks Shootout and perhaps, down the road a bit, an attempt to break the propeller-driven water-speed record in Qatar.
Finishing the Al Adaa’am 96 project took longer than anyone expected. The boat debuted weakly at the 2013 SBI race in New York. A few months later at the SBI World Championships in Key West, Fla., the cat struggled with mechanical problems—it actually caught fire during the final race on Sunday. Despite the setback, Sheikh Hassan and his team were undaunted.
“I am never discouraged or disappointed,” he said shortly after the races. “I will still carry on the momentum to move forward, and hopefully see the sport even healthier. We are 100-percent serious and committed to work to see it live up to its reputation and create interest for the fans to come and watch offshore racing again.”
Good to his word, Sheikh Hassan is back—and with two 3,000-hp turbine engines in his boat. While the team brought the 50-footer but didn’t run in Sarasota Grand Prix this summer, Sheikh Hassan said he is headed for the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout at the end of August and may even keep the 3,000-hp monster engine in the cat for the SBI Key West Worlds in November.
“The Lake of the Ozarks Shootout is something that I have been wanting to enter for some time, and it falls at a time in the calendar when we will miss a round of SBI competition,” Hassan said. “However, we have been working hard to ensure that the turbine boat is ready, and this will be a great chance for us to see what it is truly capable of.”
Set last year by Canadian Bill Tomlinson in My Way, another 50-foot turbine-powered Mystic cat, the current Lake of the Ozarks Record is 224 mph. Tomlinson does not plan to defend his title. He also doubts that his record will fall.
“If the Sheikh and his team are ready to run, I can’t wait to see what they can do,” said Tomlinson. “It’s one thing to run 200 mph in the boat—210 mph is another thing and every couple of mph after that [changes things] dramatically.
“I’m not sure if 230 mph is attainable or not in the Shootout distance,” he continued. “I mean, as far as the power and everything else goes, in a good run you could potentially maybe pick up another five mph or so in that distance, but you’re going to have to see how the boat responds to it. It’s pretty dicey; we’re already close to the edge.”
Now powered by 1,650-hp piston engines from Mercury Racing, the 44-foot Miss GEICO won’t be at the Shootout to fuel Sheikh Hassan’s competitive fire, but the two boats, though technically in different classes, will do battle come November in Key West.
Breaking the Shootout record will be, as Tomlinson pointed out, a tall order, especially for a team completely new to the event. Regardless, the performance-boat competition stage is set for some great drama for the rest of the season.
http://features.boats.com/boat-content/2014/07/shootout-sheikh/
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