Wyatt And Pratt ‘Gelling’ In dfYoung/Good Boy Vodka Class 1 Raceboat

Neither the dfYoung/Good Boy Vodka cockpit crew of owner/throttleman Rich Wyatt and driver Alex Pratt nor crew chief/engine-man Herb Stotler are strangers to Class 1 offshore powerboat racing. All three will enter their third year in the category when the Union Internationale Motonautique Class 1 World Championship Series produced by Powerboat P1 begins May 17-19 in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

(From left) The dynamic trio of dfYoung/Good Boy Vodka Class 1 team, Rich Wyatt, Alex Pratt and Herb Stotler enjoyed a successful test sesson on Sarasota Bay yesterday.

But although Stotler has been the team owner’s engine-man for much of his 14 years in the sport, Pratt—as previously reported on speedonthewater.com—is new to Wyatt’s program. That changed yesterday in Sarasota, Fla., where they shared cockpit of his 50-foot Mystic catamaran equipped with Class 1 spec Mercury Racing 1100 Comp engines for the first time.

The team’s practice and testing session last three hours. True to form, they exited the cockpit ribbing each other, but confident that they were on the fast track to gelling.

“As long as Rich keeps them throttles down, we will be up front,” Pratt, then laughed. “The boat ran great. We had no issues.”

Wyatt agreed.

“Herb and the whole crew have done an amazing job with the entire boat and all the changes that were made in the off season,” he said, though understandably declined to offer specifics. “The boat feels faster than ever.”

Wyatt couldn’t resist a light jab at his new teammate, who is substantially taller than his former driver. “Alex will be very comfortable once we get his seat adjusted,” he said.