Story and select photos by DinaRella / Additional photos from Steve Seaton & Allen Bellinghausen
Part One
Remember the yellow and orange 2004 GTX Outerlimits Full House planted in the minds of many painted with barely dressed girls on a winning hand of playing cards? The 47-footer was a poker run favorite until the original owner sold it. North Carolina buyer number two then turned to Stephen Miles Design (SMD) to tone down the graphics into a magnetic blue and silver masterpiece. That all changed in late 2021.
The V-bottom’s laidback Lake Norman life would end the moment throttleman Steve Seaton spotted it online. Patriotic Duty Offshore Racing team owner and driver Tony Adams sent him to the East Coast to check it out. Liking what they saw, a platinum black Ford was the next purchase and soon the GTX 47 was headed home to Cali to undergo a complete re-rig in preparation for its upcoming endurance racing ventures.
Passionforpowerboats.com is where the Patriotic Duty story starts. The idea for the team and the particular hull however, date back decades. The year was 1997 and Tony had pulled into Union Point in his new 382 Formula where Steve, the owner of Seaton’s Marine, Inc. in Discovery Bay, was working on a boat. That day Tony gained both a new marine mechanic and boating buddy, and for the next 15 years, they would captain the Catalina Water Ski Race boats together. Though conversations between the two always revolved around a different race – breaking the 1988 San Francisco to Los Angeles endurance speed record (5:57) set by the legendary Bob Nordskog (founder of Powerboat magazine) and Bob and Norm Teague.
Once it was confirmed they would attempt the long-standing record, narrowing down the make and model for the mission was easy. Tony says, “Ultimately, the choice was based on the word of the late Mike Fiore. I had never been in a 47, but the Outerlimits Powerboats founder always said, ‘The GTX 47 is the strongest and heaviest hull out there.’” Steve seconds that saying, “In 2007, I met Mike at the Big Cat Poker Run. In the middle of wiping down his black canopied catamaran, I’ll never forget him telling me how the GTX 47 was built like a tank. Going 140 mph was not important. In rough seas, the goal was a 100-mph tanker. That’s why we picked a 20-year-old boat with 11 stringers and 3-inches around the rub rail. There wasn’t a stress crack in it.”
Under the hatch, the original engines believed to be 572-cubic-inch 14-71 blowers were swapped for Mercury Racing 1350s. And with the fresh power came a must-have 2007 Sport Chassis found in Lake Havasu for Todd Pickett to tow the boat with. The duo of racers also grew to a trio when Allen Bellinghausen climbed onboard as navigator and team manager. Allen, a foundering member of the Big Cat Poker Run along with Tony, was tasked with overseeing all operations from communications to fuel consumption.
Not wanting to stop for gas during the 400-plus-mile run presented the team with its biggest dilemma-turned-design-project: the need to construct a spare fuel tank. Steve tells us, “The boat holds 255 gallons in the main tank and has two 31-gallon saddles. We had about 310 usable gallons, but in doing the math, needed another 450. IMCO Marine made us this crazy bolt-down, fuel cell system to transfer to the main tank. It holds 4,000 pounds of gasoline right up against the navigator’s seat, and we put switches on the dash to keep filling up the tank while running.”
Designated to control the transfer pumps, Allen adds, “It was easy to overfill the main tank and pump it over board, so we ran a stop watch and did timed calculations to be exact with the transfers.” And the final touch… as a nod to Allen’s nickname, on top of the tank was a picture of Wile E. Coyote lighting a bomb on fire.
Full graphics from Wile E. to the front deck fighter jet were done by Vinyl Ink in Fremont, California. Discussing its motivation for the patriotic theme, the team explained that it stems from the summer of love when seeing the destruction to our cities, devotion to Saint fentanyl George, and disrespect to those who fight for and protect the USA. When the #F-18 Outerlimits lays down the throttles… it’s in support of all veterans, military, policemen, firemen and first responders who serve and honor this country!
Rigging was finished last fall. Since being on the “endurance” run, Patriotic Duty has been on quite a record-setting spree. Part two looks at their recent series of offshore accomplishments!
Part One
Remember the yellow and orange 2004 GTX Outerlimits Full House planted in the minds of many painted with barely dressed girls on a winning hand of playing cards? The 47-footer was a poker run favorite until the original owner sold it. North Carolina buyer number two then turned to Stephen Miles Design (SMD) to tone down the graphics into a magnetic blue and silver masterpiece. That all changed in late 2021.
The V-bottom’s laidback Lake Norman life would end the moment throttleman Steve Seaton spotted it online. Patriotic Duty Offshore Racing team owner and driver Tony Adams sent him to the East Coast to check it out. Liking what they saw, a platinum black Ford was the next purchase and soon the GTX 47 was headed home to Cali to undergo a complete re-rig in preparation for its upcoming endurance racing ventures.
From Union Point to Patriotic Duty
Passionforpowerboats.com is where the Patriotic Duty story starts. The idea for the team and the particular hull however, date back decades. The year was 1997 and Tony had pulled into Union Point in his new 382 Formula where Steve, the owner of Seaton’s Marine, Inc. in Discovery Bay, was working on a boat. That day Tony gained both a new marine mechanic and boating buddy, and for the next 15 years, they would captain the Catalina Water Ski Race boats together. Though conversations between the two always revolved around a different race – breaking the 1988 San Francisco to Los Angeles endurance speed record (5:57) set by the legendary Bob Nordskog (founder of Powerboat magazine) and Bob and Norm Teague.
Once it was confirmed they would attempt the long-standing record, narrowing down the make and model for the mission was easy. Tony says, “Ultimately, the choice was based on the word of the late Mike Fiore. I had never been in a 47, but the Outerlimits Powerboats founder always said, ‘The GTX 47 is the strongest and heaviest hull out there.’” Steve seconds that saying, “In 2007, I met Mike at the Big Cat Poker Run. In the middle of wiping down his black canopied catamaran, I’ll never forget him telling me how the GTX 47 was built like a tank. Going 140 mph was not important. In rough seas, the goal was a 100-mph tanker. That’s why we picked a 20-year-old boat with 11 stringers and 3-inches around the rub rail. There wasn’t a stress crack in it.”
The Rebuild
“Starting with a clean slate, we filled in about 150 holes and re-glassed the whole boat. To make the interior bigger, two feet was cut off the top deck and the back seat was moved further to the rear. Probably the best thing we did was building a block mount giving the seat beam four and a half inches of travel so you don’t get that jolt. The Shockwave marine mitigation seating has an adjustable shock built into the base,” continuing he explained, “You can modify the dampening and air pressure for each person, so I connected the two seat bases together on a long plate. Whenever we hit a wave, we go up and down at the same time.”
Under the hatch, the original engines believed to be 572-cubic-inch 14-71 blowers were swapped for Mercury Racing 1350s. And with the fresh power came a must-have 2007 Sport Chassis found in Lake Havasu for Todd Pickett to tow the boat with. The duo of racers also grew to a trio when Allen Bellinghausen climbed onboard as navigator and team manager. Allen, a foundering member of the Big Cat Poker Run along with Tony, was tasked with overseeing all operations from communications to fuel consumption.
Not wanting to stop for gas during the 400-plus-mile run presented the team with its biggest dilemma-turned-design-project: the need to construct a spare fuel tank. Steve tells us, “The boat holds 255 gallons in the main tank and has two 31-gallon saddles. We had about 310 usable gallons, but in doing the math, needed another 450. IMCO Marine made us this crazy bolt-down, fuel cell system to transfer to the main tank. It holds 4,000 pounds of gasoline right up against the navigator’s seat, and we put switches on the dash to keep filling up the tank while running.”
Designated to control the transfer pumps, Allen adds, “It was easy to overfill the main tank and pump it over board, so we ran a stop watch and did timed calculations to be exact with the transfers.” And the final touch… as a nod to Allen’s nickname, on top of the tank was a picture of Wile E. Coyote lighting a bomb on fire.
Full graphics from Wile E. to the front deck fighter jet were done by Vinyl Ink in Fremont, California. Discussing its motivation for the patriotic theme, the team explained that it stems from the summer of love when seeing the destruction to our cities, devotion to Saint fentanyl George, and disrespect to those who fight for and protect the USA. When the #F-18 Outerlimits lays down the throttles… it’s in support of all veterans, military, policemen, firemen and first responders who serve and honor this country!
Rigging was finished last fall. Since being on the “endurance” run, Patriotic Duty has been on quite a record-setting spree. Part two looks at their recent series of offshore accomplishments!
