XINSURANCE Head Calls For Thunder On Cocoa Beach Offshore Race Boycott

In a Thanksgiving morning message on social media, XINSURANCE founder and chief executive officer Rick J. Lindsey called on offshore racing teams, especially those sponsored by the Sandy, Utah-based insurer, to opt out of next year’s Thunder On Cocoa Beach. The weekend-long, Cocoa Beach, Fla. event is first race of the 2025 American Power Boat Association Offshore National Championship Series, produced under an existing contract with Powerboat P1.

What’s more, the XINSURANCE leader has called for a new racer-based organization spearheaded by the Pro Class 1 category to steer the sport into the future. Powerboat P1 began its solo revival of Class 1 under the Union International Motonautique organization in 2018. Pro Class 1 is the relatively new name for the category under APBA governance, which was voted into place by the then-Class 1 team owners in August.

“It is time for the racers to stand together and show who truly has the power, to vote in favor of growing this sport that we love and to put a stop to the bleeding in which certain entities just take and take but give nothing in return,” Lindsey wrote.

At the forefront of several issues is livestream coverage from the Florida-based event. Since entering the sport as a team backer three years ago, Lindsey has flown his A-Star helicopter at no charge as the video-airship for the Powerboat P1 and Race World Offshore livestream broadcasts. His son, Parker, has handled the aerial videography.

Most recently, the father-and-son duo had a high-tech camera-gimbal system mounted to the belly of the helicopter at their own cost. The new rig dramatically improved the quality of the aerial video segments.

With permission from Race World Offshore, XINSURANCE produced its own free livestream broadcast during the Key West Offshore World Championships in early November. Race World Offshore also produced its own free livestream with broadcasters Todd Swofford and Eric Colby using multiple camera angles from the water, as well as those captured from the XINSURANCE helicopter.

In one of several Facebook posts, Lindsey announced his intention for XINSURANCE to produce its own free livestream broadcast in 2025.

“If we are able to monetize our livestream at some point in the future, we intend to be 100-percent transparent and all funds will go into Pro Class 1 for distribution to help cover some of the cost of production and provide a portion of that revenue to the racers for prize money,” Lindsey wrote.

Yet Powerboat P1’s existing broadcast contract with MAVTV prohibits any other broadcasts of races other than Powerboat P1’s own free livestream on its Facebook page and YouTube channel. Per contract, no other broadcasts from Powerboat P1 events with MAVTV coverage are allowed. XINSURANCE could not produce a livestream broadcast of its own from Cocoa Beach or any other event produced by Powerboat P1, as such a broadcast would breach that contract.

Further exacerbating the issue is a new exclusive sponsorship deal between Powerboat P1 and a competing insurance company. In his Facebook post, Lindsey maintained that Powerboat P1 was leveraging the potential deal against his company. If XINSURANCE did not match or “pay more” than the amount laid out in the potential sponsorship, he wrote, its helicopter “would not be welcome” at Powerboat P1-produced races.

The head of Powerboat P1/P1 Offshore operations, Thomas Covington sharply disputed Lindsey’s version of what transpired around the deal in a letter to the APBA Offshore Racing Commission.

“When this new sponsorship opportunity was presented to us several months ago, out of respect we immediately discussed this with Rick,” Covington wrote. “The new sponsorship terms are that they be an exclusive insurance partner with us. We tried to negotiate that term with but were unsuccessful. Prior to signing the contract, we met with Rick in Key West and discussed the potential new contract. We offered the first right of refusal to XINSURANCE and even offered a majorly discounted option for him.

“In no way have we demanded XINSURANCE pay us,” he continued. “Rick had the option, and he refused. We had no obligation to go to Rick with the option in the first place but chose to out of respect. The sponsorship is a significant amount and not one we can afford to ignore. Without sponsorship we cannot produce events.”

Since Lindsey’s Thanksgiving Day Facebook post, Thunder On Cocoa Beach lead organizer Kerry Bartlett has been inundated with phone calls, emails and text messages from offshore racers “almost nonstop.” Some have been supportive and others have urged him to break his contract with Powerboat P1 and go with another APBA-member organization such as Race World Offshore.

Others still, he said, have been threatening.

Bartlett said he is sticking with Powerboat P1, per the existing contract between Thunder On Cocoa Beach and the producer. But he admitted to being worn down, exasperated and deeply saddened by the calls for a Cocoa Beach boycott.

“I am seriously considering canceling Cocoa Beach this year,” he explained. “I’ve never made a dime off this event, but we did donate $7,500 to charity last year and the races had a positive economic impact of more than $14 million on the Cocoa Beach area. If the races don’t happen, all of that goes away.”