From his office near the Yankee Stadium in New York Falco explained.

For some time, I’ve wanted to get involved with offshore racing and be part of an international series, and I regard Class 1 as the pinnacle of the sport. This is an exciting and challenging opportunity to compete against the best boats with the best equipment and best crews in the world.

I’ve been running high performance V-bottom boats, mostly Outerlimits powerboats, for more than fifteen years and a 48-foot MTI with Mercury 1650 engines for a few years. Now I’ll be racing a 48-foot Outerlimits Cat with Mercury Racing 1100 Competition engines.

The fact that the Mercury Racing 1100 turbos have brought a modern, reliable package to the class and Powerboat P1’s international TV broadcast deals and live streaming take the racing into fans’ homes worldwide were both critical in Falco’s decision-making process. The new team will be based in Riviera Beach on Florida’s Atlantic Coast and makes its first appearance at Cocoa Beach next month. Falco will be the throttleman in the newly created team and expects to confirm who will be driving within the next week.

P1 CEO Azam Rangoonwala said.

Team Defalco is an exciting addition to our international fleet, and we are delighted that Mike will be flying the flag for New York City. Our principal goal is to grow the Class 1 championship commercially and promote the series both nationally and globally to deliver enhanced value for race teams, venues, sponsors, and partners. We want to return Class 1 to the summit of offshore racing by attracting more teams and building the worldwide television audience.

The 2022 UIM Class 1 Offshore World Championship season gets underway at the four-day Thunder On Cocoa Beach event on Florida’s Atlantic Coast from 19 – 22 May.

It will see the international, advanced communications company become the official marine radio communications of P1 Offshore powerboat racing and P1 AquaX personal watercraft racing for another season.

P1 USA Championship Manager, Michelle Petro said

Partnerships are at the heart of our business and reliable, clear communications are vital to our P1 event operations on land and on the water, so we are delighted to join forces with a world-class supplier. On a race weekend nothing is more important for a high-speed marine motorsport than safety for everyone involved, and we are acutely aware that safety and excellent communications go hand in hand.

P1 race marshals have a dual role at events, monitoring safety and ensuring there are no rules infringements, and with communication and reaction times being vital elements they rely on the range and quality of their Icom M94D radios.

Ray Novak, Icom America Senior Sales Manager commented

We always aim to provide products and solutions that meet customers’ needs and expectations, and as a fan of anything fast, I am excited that Icom is again the chosen official partner for the P1 Safety and officiating crews.

Icom have won many awards for its marine communications equipment and their radios are highly valued for their legendary durability and ease of use. They were the first manufacturer to produce highly advanced and very compact hand-held VHF marine transceivers that are not only submersible, have built-in GPS and DSC, but also float.

P1 Global Operations Director, Martin Raby explained

The P1 team of race marshals are the first people on the water and the last off it. We need long battery life on our radios and the M94D certainly delivers in this respect. Sometimes we operate racecourses up to four miles offshore and having a hand-held VHF radio which transmits at a higher wattage is essential.

One of P1’s key duties is setting up the racecourse with GPS pinpoint accuracy and the fact that the M94D has built-in GPS means that all our marshals can check the position of any of our marks with total confidence.

The P1 season gets underway at the end of next month with the opening round of the five-venue AquaX National Championship at Kissimmee/St. Cloud in Central Florida, and the following month P1 Offshore Powerboat Racing will kick off at the Thunder On Cocoa Beach event on Florida’s Space Coast.

The team will be based in Florida and make its first appearance in the six-venue series at Cocoa Beach in May.

Twenty-seven-year-old Alex Pratt joins the crew of the newly created 345 Racing team’s 42-foot Victory hull boat with its twin Mercury Racing 1100 Competition engines.

The principal team sponsor will be Xinsurance, a business established some 40 years ago that provides customised specialty insurance.

Pratt explained

Xinsurance President, CEO and Chairman Rick J. Lindsey and his team provide solutions for almost every industry across the board. They genuinely think outside the box for their customers. One of the best products they offer is true umbrella coverage. Rick is an exceptional individual, and I am very excited to continue working with them.

Speaking from Salt Lake City, Lindsey said

The company was initially built by providing coverage to high-risk classes such as white water rafting and helicopter skiing, and we continue to provide solutions to those classes and many others, putting our support where it matters the most. All the events we are involved in are with good people and those are the kind of relationships we will support and insure – it’s a good rule for life and business.

In 2020 Pratt founded Good Boy, a premium, lifestyle vodka brand, which is positioned to support animal charities and veterans. It’s slogan of ‘Every Pour Helps a Pup’ means a portion of every bottle purchased is donated to foundations supporting its mission. He has been involved with motorsports for many years, initially racing motorcycles in Unlimited Supersport Road Racing Events before moving into performance boating.

Five-times World Champion and former ‘Naughty Boy’ Miles Jennings said

Class 1 is the summit of the sport with the best boats, best drivers, and the best equipment in the world. The Mercury Racing 1100 turbos have brought a modern, reliable package to the class and P1’s international TV broadcast deals and live streaming take the racing into fans’ homes worldwide.

Earlier this month, Powerboat P1 announced the race calendar for the 2022 Class 1 World Championship that will see eight races at six venues in the United States from May to November. In October 2020 the UIM assigned to P1 the international rights to Class 1 offshore racing in a ten-year agreement and P1 CEO Azam Rangoonwala has confirmed that five teams from three continents have already committed to racing this season.

Rangoonwala said

The pairing of Alex and Miles in the new 345 Racing team, with backing from XINSURANCE, is an exciting addition to our international fleet and we are delighted that Alex will become the youngest racer in the championship.

The Good Boy Vodka 50” Mystic photo by Pete Boden.