Final Test Session Looms For XINSURANCE South

For the second consecutive week, the Pro Class XINSURANCE South team logged test-time in its 45-foot Victory raceboat. But unlike last week’s test session on the smooth water of Lake X in St. Cloud, Fla., this week throttleman Bill Pyburn, Jr., and driver Brit Lilly ran the catamaran in rough conditions near the team’s headquarters in Stuart, Fla.

Testing is the watchword for the XINSURANCE South team. Photos courtesy Beau Renfroe.

“We’ve had four solid days of testing so far,” Pyburn said. “It’s gone really well.”

Both sessions were handled under the close scrutiny of T.J. Rand, who manages the team’s Pro Class 1 program and formerly worked with the Class 1 Huski team.

“Brit told me it is the fastest acceleration he has felt in a boat,” Rand said. “That’s saying something, because when we worked together on Huski he would always say, ‘This thing is a rocket-ship.’ So it’s a good feeling to know we are at that level of speed again and headed in the right direction.”

Lilly confirmed Rand’s account. “She bad ass,” he said. “I can’t wait for the season-opener.”

According to Rand, the Atlantic Ocean dished up four- to-five footers for Pyburn and Lilly during the past two days.

“Bill wanted to run the boat in the big water with a setup we were thinking about,” he revealed. “Everyone was really happy with it.”

The offshore racing season kicks of May 15-18 in Cocoa Beach, Fla. But the team plans to test next week before starting its final prep for the event.

XINSURANCE recently signed on as a presenting sponsor for the Thunder On Cocoa Beach races produced by Powerboat P1 in concert with the event’s local organizing group.

“Testing has been going really well,” Rand said. “When we tested at Lake X last week, we had a small water-pump issue that we got sorted pretty quickly. The Mercury Racing guys were awesome letting us use the shop and fix what we needed to.

“We were able to get some really good test numbers out there,” he continued. “We set up a buoy course and they did lap after lap. Brit seemed to be very happy with the attitude of the boat, and they barely lifted. That shows they are very comfortable in the cockpit together.”