26TH ANNUAL LAKE OF THE OZARKS SHOOTOUT
Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, USA – August 23-24, 2014
For immediate release
Monday, August 18th, 2014
SHEIKH HASSAN SET TO CHALLENGE FOR SPEED
RECORD AT LAKE OF THE OZARKS SHOOTOUT
· Spirit of Qatar Team aims to topple Ozarks record of 224mph
· Sheikh Hassan and Steve Curtis target 2014 Top Gun trophies
LAKE OF THE OZARKS (Missouri, USA): His Excellency Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani and British throttleman Steve Curtis will attempt to break the speed record of 224mph when they take part in the world renowned Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in mid-Missouri this weekend.
The Spirit of Qatar Team, which runs under the auspices of the Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF), has now put the finishing touches to Sheikh Hassan’s exciting turbine-powered racer, Al Adaa’am 96, and the QMSF president and Curtis are confident that they can challenge for the speed record of 224mph that was set by Bill Tomlinson and Ken Kehoe at the helm of ‘My Way’.
The team tested the Qatar 96 boat last week to iron out any niggles and Sheikh Hassan arrives in the USA this week to make his final preparations for the popular shootout, which takes place on August 23-24.
Tomlinson and Kehoe earned their Top Gun trophies for setting the speed record in ‘My Way’ in 2013. On their second run of the morning last year they beat the previous record of 209mph that they had already equalled in their 50-foot Mystic catamaran, which was powered by twin Lycoming T-55 turbine engines.
“When we started our turbine project we set our targets on running various events and races,” admitted Sheikh Hassan. “We have been following closely the progress of ‘My Way’ for some time and we saw the boat at several runs and saw it last year running 224mph. It was only natural at the end of 2013 that we adjusted race programme for our team to include the Ozarks Shootout and hopefully set a better speed ourselves.
“I am delighted that the boat is ready and is on its way to the Ozarks. We missed the early races in Superboat International (SBI) to make sure that it was running as we wanted it. We have made some changes and added some more safety features.”
Sheikh Hassan hopes that he will be able to carry out some test runs on Friday (August 22), but admits that the maximum top speed is the only target for the weekend’s racing.
“The course is one mile in length and we have to enter the gate at 40mph and exit the course at our maximum speed, whatever that may be,” added the QMSF president.
“I hope that we can be close to the magical number of 224. I know ‘My Way’ had several runs before setting that number last year. We hope we don’t need to make several runs to reach the target. I hope that Steve and the rest of the crew will deliver the magic touch and we can win the Top Gun trophies on our first run!”
The Spirit of Qatar Team will have several chances to claim the record with professional teams permitted on to the course for their speed runs on both Saturday (August 23) and Sunday (August 24).
Ends
For further information:
Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Mobile: + 44 7831 123153, E-mail:
www.ndp-publicity.com (press releases).
www.qmsf.org