Wozencraft World Tour Stop No. 9: Outerlimits Factory Fun Run

It was early this season—April to be exact—during the Desert Storm Poker Run in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., when Dan Kleitz of Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats told me about the inaugural Outerlimits Factory Fun Run in Bristol, R.I., in early August.

“You should seriously consider coming to our event,” he said. “It would be a good way for you to meet a bunch of our customers.”

Wozencraft caught a ride for the fun run with Rich Szesnat (center) and his fun-loving crew in Poor Dirt Farmer, Szesnat’s Outerlimits SV 50 sportboat (click image to enlarge). Photos courtesy/copyright Devin Wozencraft/Wozencraft Insurance Agency.

I told him I would check my schedule to see if I could fit it in and that it wouldn’t conflict with any of my prior commitments. That’s because, at least in part, I try to plan my annual summer “Wozencraft World Tour” to be geographically efficient and eliminate unnecessary zig-zagging across the country.

Looking at the early August dates for the Outerlimits event I immediately realized that Skaterfest was happening in Michigan on the same weekend. I have attended Skaterfest for the past four years and hate to miss it as I like to support my friend Ron Szolack, the organizer of the annual Skater brand celebration, who has been a longtime supporter of my business. Ultimately, I called to let him know that I was going to attend the Outerlimits event and unfortunately miss Skaterfest.

Of course, I took some good, clean harassment from Szolack, but he understood. Plus, Scott Kottmann, who owns a 36-foot Skater cat and is one of Wozencraft Insurance’s newer agents, was able to attend Skaterfest in my absence.

So I flew to Rhode Island for the Outerlimits Factory Fun Run event. I found a great place to stay close to the Outerlimits factory and arrived a day early on Thursday so I had a chance to meet many of the great people who run the company.

At the lunch stop in Newport, R.I., the Outerlimits fleet was simply massive (click image to enlarge).

Almost as soon as I arrived, Kleitz had two of his customers lined up to meet me and discuss insurance. The next day (Friday), there was a short boat run that I was invited to attend. By that time, Dan had four more Outerlimits customers lined up for me to work with. I ended up turning the Outerlimits conference room into my office for the two days so I could get everybody’s coverage set.

You see, it takes time getting luxurious high-performance boats insured. We’re not insuring old Pontiacs. And it was great getting to know the Outerlimits office staff even better as well as work with great Outerlimits customers.

This brings me to an important part of my story, the Outerlimits customers. Or better yet, the Outerlimits family. It’s truly a great group of people. They’re all very friendly and you get the feeling that they truly care for each other. That was apparent during the Friday night kick-off party and unveiling of their new raceboat, all held at the Outerlimits factory.

The recurring theme of the fully catered evening? The legacy of Outerlimits founder Mike Fiore continues. It was a truly incredible night.

Check out the slideshow above for more of Devin Wozencraft’s images from the inaugural Outerlimits Factory Fun Run weekend.

On Saturday morning, we all met for a mandatory drivers meeting before the fun run at the Typsy Seagull in Borden Light Marina in nearby Fall River, Mass. After everyone was well-informed of the routes and destinations, we all departed the marina and got together for a group photo shoot from the event helicopter leaving the Braga Bridge, then headed for Providence.

Though we stayed mostly on Narraganset Bay, we did do a short, fun leg in the Atlantic before heading to Newport for our lunch stop at Gurney’s Newport Resort and Marina. The venue provided a great stop where all the Outerlimits boats were able to side-tie in four separate rows. That gave everyone—including loads of spectators—the opportunity to take pictures of the largest Outerlimits fleet in history in a beautiful setting

After lunch, we headed back to Bristol to get ready for Saturday night.

I didn’t think anything that weekend could top the welcome party at the Outerlimits factory, but the Saturday night banquet did that and more. The setting—a private covered outdoor dining area on the waterfront in Bristol—was spectacular. And the tributes to Mike Fiore, especially from his father, Paul, were deeply moving. Flanked by Outerlimits sales manager Dan Kleitz and facilities manager Jason Amaral, the senior Fiore thanked everyone who came to honor Outerlimits and its founder, his son Michael, and received a standing ovation.

And it was the most stirring moment of a simply incredible weekend.

The Outerlimits family includes veteran offshore racer Steve Curtis (facing) and Paul Fiore, the father of company founder Mike Fiore (click image to enlarge)

Editor’s note: Devin Wozencraft is the owner and founder the Southern California-based Wozencraft Insurance Agency, which specializes in high-performance powerboat coverage. This is his fifth article for speedonthewater.com and third season of checking in from his “world tour.”

Wozencraft World Tour Stop No. 9: Outerlimits Factory Fun Run

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