Pro Class 1 Defalco Team On Key West Worlds—‘Win It Or Swim It’
Though they finished second in the 2024 Union Internationale Motonautique Class 1 World Championship series behind Monster Energy/M CON, the Defalco team arrived in Key West, Fla., this week for the American Power Boat Association World Championships with the hot hand. Team owner/driver Mike Falco and throttleman Billy Moore claimed first place in what would be—thanks to Hurricanes Helene and Milton—the final three races of the season.
Mike Falco and Billy Moore head into today’s final Key West contest with plenty of confidence following their second-place finish on Friday. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
They carried that momentum right into Key West this week for the Race World Offshore-produced event. Wednesday’s weather-forced cancelation didn’t faze them, but it did give them time to sit down for lunch at the Pier House Resort.
Falco and Moore were relaxed, just a couple of friends having lunch on blustery day in Key West.
“Win it or swim it, that’s our attitude,” Falco said, then laughed. “You’ll either see two fat guys in the water—”
“Or on the podium,” said Moore, finishing his sentence with a chuckle.
It was that attitude, plus steady-at-last performance from the cat’s Mercury Racing 1100 Comp engines, that two days later propelled them to a second-place finish in Pro Class 1, the relatively new handle for the category under the APBA. But their confidence actually began climbing when they acquired a 45-foot Victory catamaran before the season began.
The team has previously run a 48-foot Outerlimits cat.
“Nothing bad to say about it, but neither of us had any experience in that boat,” Falco explained. “Billy had run the Victory before and Rolf, our crew chief, had been around the boat for a long time as the crew chief for the Qatar team.”
Team Defalco’s Mike Falco and Billy Moore were the picture of calm heading into this week’s competition. Photo by Matt Trulio.
Still, there was a learning curve with the new cat.
“We had a few issues,” Moore said. “The boat was fast immediately, but we worked our butts off to get it right. Once we did, Mike’s confidence went to the next level.”
Falco nodded and smiled.
“The boat handles amazing, it boosted my confidence level 100 percent,” he said. “You chuck it around a buoy and it goes where you want it to go. It’s like an all-wheel-drive Porsche on the water.”
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