With one member of the AMF Offshore Rigging shop team on board, Scott Begovich, the throttleman for the Miss GEICO racing team, put a 47-foot Apache V-bottom the outfit recently restored and repowered with twin 1,500-hp turbine engines through its first test session this morning. Renowned rigger Gary Stay and his crew at the West Palm Beach, Fla., shop have been working on the classic boat for more than a year.
Begovich tested the boat on the calm waters of Lake Worth Lagoon in Riviera Beach. As today’s run was the boat’s first time on the water since AMF completed the rigging and restoration work, he said he took a conservative approach and only ran the 47-footer to 90 mph.
“There were no issues whatsoever,” said Begovich who handled the throttling and driving duties, during a telephone interview this afternoon. “I didn’t run it all the way out, just accelerated to 90 mph. The acceleration was smooth, sort of like a subway train that just keeps on pulling. We brought it back in and checked every nut and bolt. We planned to run it again this afternoon, but the weather came in.”