Two names—one for a human being and the other for an event—jump to mind when you think of Mystic Powerboats. The human, of course, is company owner John Cosker, who founded the DeLand, Fla., custom high-performance center and catamaran company in 1996.
Equally obvious for any self-respecting go-fast boating fan, the event is the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in Central Missouri, where a 51-foot Mystic catamaran dubbed American Ethanol is the reigning—not to be confused with the fastest boat in the event’s 37-hear history, though that, too, is a Mystic cat—Top Gun.
The throttleman of American Ethanol, Cosker doesn’t love attention. He’s a soften-spoken, mellow guy who mostly lets his brand speak for him. But because he is, first, the main man behind Mystic and, second, a Shootout star, he gets more attention than he’d like. Still, he handles the limelight with warmth and humility like the gentleman he is.
Yet there are there are two other Mystic Powerboats names, Doug Harrell and Ryan Zivitski that come to mind at least for customers and other devoted fans of the brand.
Harrell is Mystic’s long-time paint-man. Zivitski is the company’s general manager.
Both are celebrating their 10th anniversary with Mystic. Both have watched the brand grow from its early center console days, which began with the M4200. Both have been involved with all 93 builds of the 42-footer since its introduction at the 2016 Miami International Boat Show.
Both have sons who are or were involved with dirt-bike racing.
Harrell and Zivitski bleed Mystic blood, as I’ve known for years but learned again yesterday when I visited Mystic headquarters to check out the new M5200 being built for South Florida Mystic dealership owner Chris Richards of Angle of Attack Marine.
Both men focus keenly on their clients during different stages of the design process. That doesn’t just help Mystic satisfy its customer. It helps the company evolve its product lines.
“We listen to our customers when they suggest something different,” Zivitski said. “With the M5200 center console, for example, no two are the same. And that makes a lot of sense. It’s a big boat, and we are a customer builder. We say yes to almost everything.
“Once a customer sees something we’ve done for another customer, he or she tends to fall in love with it,” he added.
Harrell agreed. “I get a basic idea of what the customer wants and then give them lots of options,” he said. “Then I let them choose.”
Good leaders that they are, neither Zivitski nor Harrell sees himself as superior to any of the other 53 current Mystic employees. They’re just a bit better known, though not nearly as “famous” as their boss.
“All of the jobs here are important,” said Zivitski. “We’re a team.”