Which Engines Power The Record-Breaking Boat 'American Ethanol' And Who Owns It?

If you love competition, your aim is, of course, to win — and win as much as possible. Whether you're a professional basketball player looking to win an Olympic gold medal or you're getting mad at your family because you foolishly decided to play a game of Monopoly, that drive to come out on top is relentless. However, it's rare to win consistently at the highest level, which is what makes the race boat American Ethanol quite remarkable.

Although you may have never heard of this boat, American Ethanol has been on a decade-long dominant run that shows no signs of slowing. Last month, it competed in the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, an annual boat race that goes back to the late 1980s. Not only did American Ethanol win this year's Shootout, this was its 10th triumph in a row. And it does more than come out on top — it dominates. This year, it set a new speed record for the course: a whopping 221 mph, beating its own record of 217 mph, which had stood for eight years. Let's look at who owns and operates this vessel and what, exactly, makes it so spectacularly fast.

American Ethanol was built in 2013. Its port of call is Easton, Illinois and its owner is Don Onken, founder of Onkens, Inc., which provides everything from automotive oil tanks to recycling trailers. 

Dan Onken is the boat's owner, but he's not the one who operates it in these high-speed races. That job is split between two people, as the boat doesn't just need a driver, Tony Battiato, but also a throttler, John Cosker. To get to these extraordinary speeds, the driver and the throttler have to work closely together to make sure they are getting the optimal performance, with the driver steering and the throttler controlling the speed. For your average day on the lake, these can be done by one person, but here, so much control and focus is required that one person needs to dedicate themselves to each job. Battiato and Cosker clearly work perfectly together to be breaking these kinds of records.

A boat being able to travel 221 mph across the water is not just a matter of having a very powerful engine, though the right engine is incredibly important. Every detail about American Ethanol has to be precise. The boat is 51 feet long and is constructed of carbon fiber, giving it a light weight that can glide across the water with ease. The manufacturer is Mystic Powerboats of Deland, Florida, which primarily produces luxury powerboats, and is obviously no stranger to emphasizing the power.

American Ethanol gets about 10,000 horsepower from its four engines. They're not four of the same engines, though. One side is equipped with two engines made by Mercury, which makes some of the most powerful boat engines, and the other features two Chevrolet engines. This kind of power lets the boat deal with the ultimate resistance of water, and with sometimes-balky weather conditions, too. Of course, these engines are also modified, as each engine is fitted with a supercharger.

If the name of the boat didn't give it away, American Ethanol runs on E-90 ethanol fuel, designed specifically for racing purposes. Once you combine all of that design work with two pilots who know how to maximize what it is capable of, you are able to set a new course record of 221 mph for the 2024 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout.