Offshore Racers Falco And Moore Eyeing XCAT—From The Palermo Grand Prix

When throttleman Billy Moore of North Carolina returned my call earlier today, he was grilling steaks at a rental home in Palermo, Italy, He’s sharing the place with Union Internationale Motonautique Class 1 teammate Mike Falco, the New York-based owner and driver of the Defalco team. The duo arrived last Friday for this weekend’s XCAT World Championship Grand Prix of Palermo and have been kicking around the city for the past few days.

Mike Falco and Billy Moore are hoping the 222 Australia XCAT raceboat will arrive tomorrow.

But Falco and Moore are in the coastal city in Southern Italy to do more than sightsee and eat. Falco was invited by his friend Darren Nicholson of the former Class 1 222 Offshore Australia and current 222 Offshore XCAT team to pilot its Victory catamaran with famed Italian throttleman Giovanni Carpitella. Nicholson, the team’s regular driver, had a schedule conflict and could not make it to this weekend’s event. Knowing that Falco is interested in joining the series next season, according to Moore, he extended the invitation.

“So Mike called me and said, ‘Hey, let’s go do this and check it out, it’ll be a lot of fun’” Moore said. “He still plans to continue racing in Class 1, of course, but he just loves boat racing. He’s into it.

“It’s important for Mike, and pretty much every team owner, to keep the fun-meter pegged,” he added, then laughed. “We’re having a great time here.”

Offshore racers Mike Falco and Billy Moore are enjoying their current view.

Moore and Falco had hoped to run the 222 Offshore boat in practice tomorrow and Friday, but there’s one not-so-small issue. The container ship carrying the entire XCAT fleet has reportedly made it to Italy but is not yet arrived in Palermo. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East forced the ship to travel around the tip of Africa rather than take the more-direct Suez Canal route.

The boats were supposed to arrive today but did not.

“We’re hoping they’ll be here tomorrow,” Moore said. “All we really have to do once they get here is hang on the outboards, which get removed before they get put in the individual containers and shipped. It’s pretty easy to put them on the boat.”

A veteran throttleman, Billy Moore knows how to “keep the fun-meter pegged.”

The current plan is for Falco to run the catamaran in testing either tomorrow, Friday or both with Moore. Carpitella will be back in the throttleman’s seat for Saturday’s qualifying round and Sunday’s main event.

“That’s the plan for now, at least,” said Moore, who throttled overseas in the Class 1 ranks for a British team in 2008. “But if for any reason Giovanni can’t make it, I’m here.

“If we do end up running a full XCAT season next year, the boat will be painted with American flags,” he added. “Mike is a very patriotic guy, and so am I. And as I said, we still plan on staying in Class 1.”

Editor’s note: This is a developing story—look for more updates on speedonthewater.com.

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