Throttleman Bill Pyburn and driver Brit Lilly—offshore racing’s 2024 World Champions of Team Dirty Money in the Super Cat class—will also compete in Pro Class 1 during the 2025 season, it was announced. The pair will pilot the former 95 Victory Spirit of Qatar raceboat, previously owned by offshore racing legend Steve Curtis, for Rick Lindsey’s XINSURANCE fleet.

In addition, Lindsey has tapped driver J.J. Turk and throttleman Nicholas Buis—2024’s World Champions in Mod Vee class—to also take the helm of the Pro Class 1 competitor XINSURANCE, a 48' MTI. Both teams will be pulling double duty next season in their Mod Vee Statement Marine/XINSURANCE as they make Rick Lindsey’s ever-expanding aggregation an even more formidable threat. (This past season, Lindsey had two XINSURANCE teams competing in Mod Vee class, one in Bracket 500, two in Bracket 700, and one in 3C class.)

“I’m trying to make sure that we make this new Pro Class 1 an organization that's really open to all boats and all classes,” Lindsey told Speedboat. “One of the complaints that we kept hearing was that UIM (Union Internationale Motonautique) felt Class 1 was separate, that they wanted their own driver's meetings and were too good for the other classes. But as a group, we want to be inclusive with all the classes and hopefully provide prize money to all the classes that go with us. With Randy Scism (of MTI) coming on, we're pretty committed to making sure that we bring the show. I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. At some point you gotta take the bull by the horns when we're spending this kind of money.”

Lindsey said he hopes to have both boats ready to start testing as soon as possible as the MTI heads back to the fiberglass expert who used to work at MTI, after which it will be rigged and readied for testing.

"I know what we're doing with the boats," Lindsey continued. "We're calling them XINSURANCE North and XINSURANCE South."

Meanwhile, Pyburn expressed confidence that he and Lilly will bring their accumulated talents to Pro Class 1 and prevail in the 2025 season. “I feel like Pro Class 1 is in pretty good shape right now,” he said, “and I think the (Dirty Money) Super Cat program is going to be even stronger next year than it was this year.”

Pyburn said the Victory hull is “ready to go in the water right now—we're going to do all of the updates on the boat to make it very similar to the Super Cat boat. It’s going to get a brand-new cockpit with all new electronics and then we'll get it rigged—basically the same exact process we did with the Super Cat boat. It's going to have state-of-the-art equipment.” Racing with Brit Lilly, he says, has been a sheer pleasure, culminating in the coveted goal of Key West’s World Championship in Dirty Money. “He’s the man,” Pyburn says. “I don't think there's anybody better than Brit on the wheel.”

As for the new pilots of the XINSURANCE MTI, driver J.J. Turk said his entire TFR (Turk Family Racing) team is psyched to bring their talents to Pro Class 1. “We’re all so excited that words cannot describe it,” he told Speedboat. “The relationship we have created with the Lindseys, the XINSURANCE Offshore Racing Team, and the Buis/Statement Marine family is truly something special. The opportunity they have given Nick and I is truly unbelievable. We look forward to the challenge of racing the XINSURANCE Pro Class 1 boat, racing side-by-side with some of the most talented racers and teams in Offshore Racing. It is truly humbling.”

Turk and Buis also look forward to defending their National and World championship titles in the Mod Vee class. “It’s just unbelievable,” he says. “2024 has been so freaking cool. We are so grateful. We want to thank all our sponsors, teammates, fellow racers, fans, and our families for their continued support along this epic journey.”

‍