Taking a page from the success of Team Woody and their stable of offshore race boats, Win Farnsworth, owner of the Bracket Class 500 boat Team Farnsworth, has just purchased Bill Mazzoni’s former offshore competitor—the 2007 42' closed canopy Fountain race boat known as Taboo. It will compete in the ever-growing Vee Extreme class in the upcoming 2023 season, starting with Race World Offshore’s inaugural Seven-Mile Offshore Grand Prix in Marathon, FL, scheduled for April 28-30. Team Farnsworth will continue to campaign their #549 Zero Tolerance boat along with his latest Fountain acquisition.
“She’s a ripper! She’s fast!” admitted Farnsworth. “We’re going to get that thing dialed in. We’re going to be starting the engine work next week. We’re also going to leave the boat, as it sits, from an appearance perspective. I spoke to Bill’s wife, Trish and his daughter Lisa, and they said, ‘if you could leave it the same, that’d be great!’ So, we are keeping it as it is, out of respect for Bill’s passing––I’m trying to be sensitive to that, including keeping the name Taboo and the number 44, if it’s still available.”
Farnsworth, long-time girlfriend and partner Sara Christine and the team will be looking into different engine options from different builders to meet the class’s 572-horsepower specification. Fellow offshore racer and friend Billy Shipley of Team Woody has been helpful to lend advice in putting together the new-to-them Fountain, since Shipley and race partner Chad Woody have done it themselves to the results of National and World Champion titles. They are currently leaning towards K.P.E. Racing engines of Wichita Falls, TX for all the long block hardware and finishing off the engines themselves within the team.
The team has secured Hancock Claims Consultants of Atlanta, GA, as its primary sponsor of both race boats and are looking to make company owner Brad Hancock proud––and while the actual racers in either boat have not yet been determined, Farnsworth, who is no stranger to speedboat competition, is looking to occupy one of the four positions himself.
“We’ve found great success in the Shootout stuff (in the turbine-powered 50’ Mystic Low Altitude, running 200+ mph), we were serious about it… we tried to bring good visibility to the sport, which I think we did––and now it’s time for something new.” Farnsworth said. “This is definitely new and fresh, and it’s got an incredible group of competitors across multiple classes. It’s all fun! Now, figuring out who’s going to be in what boat and who’s doing what––that’s all part of the fun too.”
Win and Team Farnsworth are excited about the new project and hopeful for on-course success in 2023.
“We’ve now got the right boat; we’ve got the right ideas…now we’ve just got to execute.”