Floats like a butterfly…. Yep. Stings like a bee.

This 30-foot Shifty Cat, composite construction is powered by a pair of Mercury Racing 300hp outboards. It’s all yellow, with black accents, and there’s your bee. The team is their 3rd season, commencing in 2022, but take a deeper look, and you can see something special going on, and they have desires to become a two-boat team, as well!

Driver Mike Ratcliffe knows a thing or two about speed, having participated in both car and drag racing. After competing in Offshore Racing, he simply said, “I have never experienced a bigger adrenaline rush than this!"

Throttleman and Mechanic Karl Wall brings to bear some 30 years of Offshore Racing in Supercat 400, Supercat 600, Supercat 1000, and Supercat Extreme (Class1). He holds two Championships in Supercat 400 and one Championship in Supercat 1000, as well as being the current speed record holder in Supercat 400. Karl also competed in New Zealand from 2015 to 2019 in Supercat 400 and Supercat 600, winning the Lachlan Wall Memorial Supercat 400 Trophy, and the New Zealand Supercat 400 Championship. In 2017 he was back up Thottleman for Team Australia, who were competing in China and Dubai in the XCAT series, and finished second in the World Championship.

Their shore crew consists of Rachel Ratcliffe, Tracy Wall, Caleb Ratcliffe, and Heath Leftwich, and overall the team states they enjoy the sport, and the family atmosphere. They are definitely out there to win, but adamantly also point out they want to have fun as well. Their favourite venue is Newcastle, as it was the best of both worlds, with the calm of the harbour and the roughness of the Tasman Sea.

Their favourite racing moment was winning the Lachlan Wall Memorial Trophy in New Zealand. The New Zealand Offshore Racing Committee honoured Karl, Tracy and Jade with naming the Supercat 400 Championship after him when he passed in 2015, so winning the trophy meant everything to him and his family.

#Team99TheStingOffshore
#RacingForLachlan