The Heavyweights Start Round Two. --- By Eric Colby

A war of words and performance between Fountain Powerboats and Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats has been the talk of the start of the 2007 racing season. For longtime fans of the sport, it brings back memories of the Fountain-Scarab battles in the early 1990s. At the end of the 2006 season, Outerlimits burst onto the scene in the Offshore Super Series Super Vee class with its 39＊ raceboat. Boatowner Joe Sgro throttled and teamed with driver Brett Furshman who brought his Miccosukee Indian Gaming sponsorship to the table. The team had already won the national championship when it arrived at Las Vegas and claimed the title. Then at the OSS world championships in Destin, Fla., the boat had problems on Day One, but showed its speed on the second day of competition, posting speeds that were nearly as fast as those of the boats in Super Cat Lite en route to the championship. This year, however, Furshman and Sgro parted ways amiably and Furshman was back in a Fountain at the OSS season opener in Biloxi. With Reggie Fountain Jr. on the sticks in Furshman＊s new 42＊ Fountain, the Miccosukee team made a strong statement taking the checkered flag and finishing 1 minute, 14 seconds ahead of the Outerlimits, which finished in third with Sgro throttling and Outerlimits president Mike Fiore driving. The 42＊ Fountain, Yachts Fountain, finished second. After the race, the OSS officials impounded one motor each from the top three boats and about two weeks later, technicians at Mercury Racing put all of them on the dyno. With OSS inspectors watching, the results were that all the engines were within 5 hp of one another. Furshman, who had always owned his raceboats, said that one of the reasons he decided to go back to Fountain was that the Outerlimits was Sgro＊s boat and that Furshman simply preferred to be in control of more aspects of a race team. Additionally, there was the determined persistence of the two Reggies, Sr. and Jr. and the Fountain racing crew chief Brian Forehand. ※He called me and called me,§ Furshman said of Forehand. ※He pretty much sold me that boat.§ Furshman and Fountain Jr., have been friends for years and ran one race together last year. The youngest Fountain spent most of the 2006 season throttling an MTI in the Super Cat Lite class, winning the world championship with the Speed Racer team. Offshore racing being what it is, of course, the boat was barely ready for the Biloxi event. ※We sat in that boat for the first time Sunday morning and I had forgotten that Reggie hadn＊t even been in a V-bottom in a year,§ laughed Furshman. He said that the boat is definitely fast and that the team isn＊t even finished dialing it in. Furshman also gave his opinion as to why the Outerlimits seemed so fast at the end of 2006. ※There wasn＊t really a lot of equal comparison to the Outerlimits until Biloxi,§ Furshman said. ※There was only one boat at the national championships and the boats we ran against in Destin were old Fountains.§ The Outerlimits boat showed it could beat a new Fountain at the second OSS race of 2007 in Greers Ferry Lake, Ark. With Fiore throttling and Sgro driving, the team soundly beat the Miccosukee crew by 17 seconds, averaging 87.2 mph versus. Furshman＊s and Fountain＊s 86.8 mph. Furshman said he still considers Sgro a friend and he hopes that the competition in the sport＊s top V-bottom class gets more attention for all the manufacturers. He＊s hoping that 2006 SBI Super Vee world champion Nigel Hook brings his Skater 399 to OSS as well, making it a three-way battle for bragging rights. Marilyn DeMartini, public relations director for Outerlimits, gave her perspective on the competition. ※Rivalries are what make racing exciting,§ she said. ※Reggie is the legend of the sport being challenged by someone who＊s considered an up-and-comer even though he＊s been around 14 years. It＊s good for the fans, it＊s good for the sport and it＊s absolutely pushing both camps to the absolute limits.§ Apparently, the V-bottom clashes will become global in perspective. Both Outerlimits and Fountain are building boats to compete in the popular P-1 class in Europe. Stay tuned for more details. A NATIONAL SERIES? Competitors who have been competing in the Super Cat class in OSS, Super Boat International, the Offshore Performance Association and the Pacific Offshore Powerboat Racing Association have formed a new organization. The 2007 Pro-Series Tour was formed by team owners who say they want to race a nationwide schedule without forming a new sanctioning organization. Instead, they will pick and choose events under each sanctioning body＊s banner with the intent being to provide fans with great action. They will run nine events in six states, starting with the season opener in late March in St. Cloud, Florida. The Pro-Series world champion will be crowned at the world championships in Key West, Fla., and member teams include AMF Offshore/Miss GEICO, BTM Marine, CMS Castaway, Flying Tiger, JD Byrider, Motley Crew, Nichols Offshore, Reliable Carriers, Renegade and Warpaint.

Proposed 2007 Pro-Series Tour

St Cloud, Florida March 30 每 April 4

Ocean City, Maryland June 15 每 June17

Sarasota, Florida June 29 每 July 1

St. Clair, Michigan July 27 每 July 29

Orange Beach, Alabama August 17 每 August 19

Pittsburg, California September 7 每 September 9

Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri September 28 每 September 30

Deerfield Beach, Florida October 5 每 October 7

Key West, Florida November 4 每 November 11

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