When Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats founder Mike Fiore invited me to ride with him and Joe Sgro in the Bristol, R.I., go-fast boat builder’s kilo-record-setting SV 43 sportboat during the 2014 Buffalo Poker Run on Lake Erie in Western New York, I said yes so quickly it made Fiore laugh. Earlier that year thanks to another gracious invitation by Fiore, I’d watched—from the shores of the Pamlico River in Washington, N.C.—the 43-footer demolish the existing V-bottom kilo record by a little more than 8.5 miles per hour with an average speed of 180.464 mph. I was as honored to be there in person as I was privileged to report on it.

Last weekend’s Outerlimits Factory Fun Run was pure joy—and a celebration of unbreakable spirit. Photo copyright Speedonthewater.com.

After the Buffalo run in the late afternoon, Fiore had another invite for me—to catch a ride in the company’s brand-new 46-foot canopied catamaran with Sgro and offshore racing legend Steve Curtis. For a reporter covering the high-performance world, days on the water don’t get any better.

At least I didn’t think they did.

Flash forward five years to the day during last weekend’s inaugural Outerlimits Factory Fun Run in Bristol and I find myself riding in Jet, Burton Kirsten’s spectacular 46-foot Outerlimits cat with Kirsten and Curtis, plus Kirsten’s daughter, Megan, her friend, Sarah, and Jason Amaral, the company’s production manager.

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