Lockyer Tests New Doug Wright Factory Stock Raceboat

Success in any form of endurance sport requires sustained performance despite whatever discomfort comes your way. Simpler version? Being able to out-suffer your competitors is a big deal.

It also demands patience. An endurance race is not a sprint.

If current plans hold, this Factory Stock-class 38-foot Doug Wright catamaran will debut next month at the Midwest Challenge, the second of three races in the Monster Energy Triple Crown offshore racing series produced by Powerboat P1.

Rob Lockyer of the United Kingdom—and sometimes Florida—is loaded with both qualities and more, which explains his success in offshore endurance racing. Lockyer didn’t just claim the 2024 Class 1 United Kingdom Offshore Powerboat Racing Association Championship series title in his Team 25/Good Boy Vodka Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats raceboat. He dominated. Throttling the 52-footer, he took first place in the four series races he entered.

But that doesn’t mean Lockyer doesn’t like to sprint, at least by his standards. That’s why yesterday he and Troy Hannon of Supreme Marine in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., tested a new canopied 38-foot catamaran bound for offshore racing’s Factory Stock class.

“The test was fantastic,” he said.

Hannon and Lockyer equipped the 38-footer with 450-hp engines for testing.

To say Lockyer’s stamina and patience have been tested during the project is polite. He ordered the 38-footer, which for testing purposes was rigged with Mercury Racing 450R outboard engines, from former company ownership three-and-a-half years ago. He is partnered in the boat with his friend Simon Williams of Shore Thing Storage, which will wrap the cat when it is complete.

Now back in England with his family, Lockyer admitted he had “lost complete faith” in the project. But that’s changed.

“I’m actually quite excited again to be working on it,” he said. “We will finish the rigging next week put and put on new 500s before we take it to Sheboygan. Hopefully, we’ll get it to Simon Williams’ place for wrapping the following week.”

His goal is to have the cat ready in the time for the Midwest Challenge next month in Sheboygan, Wis.

Like all racers worth discussing, Lockyer loves to race. Beyond time with family, he’s happiest on an offshore racecourse. So he views unused raceboats as squandered resources.

“We had decided we weren’t going to race it and just sell it,” he said, then chuckled. “But it was just sitting there.”