by Matt Trulio

Mike Fiore has it all—a beautiful family, a fine home and a thriving business. But what the 38-year-old owner and founder of Outerlimits Powerboats in Bristol, R.I., needs most at this moment is a 26-hour day, because the standard 24-hour day isn't cutting it. Fiore has never been busier.

In addition to staying closely involved with his clients and every boat he builds, and helping dial in his company's first catamaran, Fiore is racing the Powerboat P1 circuit in Europe. That means every few weeks he leaves more work behind than most folks can imagine and heads to places like Malta, Portugal and Germany to compete with the P1 crowd.

Not that Fiore is complaining—far from it—but his pace is relentless. (After two years, for example, he still has not had time to set up the voicemail on his mobile phone.) We caught up with him between deep breaths at his office.—Matt Trulio

You have a lot on the table right now.

(Laughs) Yeah. We're busy, and that's good. But it's time consuming. Very time consuming.

How often are you on the road these days?

It seems like more than ever between poker runs, racing and new-boat delivery. There's definitely a lot of travel going on.

Why did you decide to race in Europe?

Well, we saw it as an opportunity for Outerlimits to expand throughout Europe and the rest of the world, and we thought that the P1 fan base and television coverage offered a lot of good avenues for us to break into the market.

Has that proven true?

Yeah, I'd say the amount of interest our participation in P1 has sparked is just tremendous. It has definitely given us some name recognition. It's definitely helped us achieve our goals of notoriety, and that will eventually translate into retail sales.

How do you like racing in Europe so far?

It's challenging, for sure. It takes a lot of people to make it happen. And the rapid changes in weather and water conditions dictate very rapid changes for us as racers. We've been in the position where 10 minutes before a race there was a course change. That means things like reprogramming the GPS and coming up with a different race strategy. It's a lot different than racing here.

In what other ways is Powerboat P1 different than offshore racing here?

Well, they live and die by the U.I.M. (Union Internationale Motonautique) rule book, which leaves a lot for interpretation. We've witnessed heated debates over what the rule book actually says. And it can be over any subject matter. It's a very emotional environment. These guys are serious about their racing, and they're very passionate.

At the season opener in Malta, you raced in seas reportedly up to 20 feet high. Had you ever seen conditions like that before?

(Laughs) No, not at all. It was unbelievable. The rough stuff, the 4- to 6-footers, that was fun. But the insane stuff, the 18- to 20-footers? That wasn't any fun at all.

You were disqualified for straying off-course at the race in Travemunde, Germany. You've filed a protest.

Yeah. Our engines quit. While I was getting them restarted, we drifted into a swimming area. Maybe 3 feet of the boat was in the swimming area before we restarted. So we're protesting that decision.

Are you concerned about creating a perception that you protest when things don't go your way?

No. We have not protested anything other than that—we have never officially logged any protest, except the one we have in U.I.M. for P1 now.

So you filed no protest after the Miccosukee Indian Gaming Fountain dominated the Offshore Super Series season opener in Biloxi, Miss.? Yet Fountain's engines, which were found to be legal, were still sent back to Mercury Racing for inspection.

We filed no protest. That was just OSS trying to uphold the rules and make sure the playing field was level. They (Fountain) beat us in the first race of the season. We did our homework and came back and beat them in the second race of the season.

Between us and Fountain, we destroyed the Super Vee class. Our boats were on a level playing field, but no other boats were on the same field. Now you have a case where (in the United States) the Super Vee class is nonexistent.

Is the rivalry between Fountain and Outerlimits overblown?

Is it overblown? I'd say it is, yes, but we're not the ones making a big deal of it. For us, they're just another competitor in the market and now in P1. The victory goes to whoever does their homework the best.

Overblown or not, the rivalry has to be good for the sport.

Definitely, I think it is. It's something people talk about. We're in a climate where the sport needs as much publicity and positive feedback as it can get.

With Outerlimits, Fountain and Skater now competing in the P1 Evolution class, the influx of American-made boats in the series has never been stronger.

That class is changing fast. If you want to compete in Powerboat P1, as of today—if you're not in an American-built boat you're probably going to have a tough time. There's probably one European boat, Wettpunkt, that's very competitive in the (Evolution) class.

Are the Europeans gunning for the Americans?

Yeah, I'd say they are. There's a lot of "like" for us over there. There's a lot of animosity, as well. I'd say it's 50-50.

You unveiled the Golddigger catamaran in February at the Miami International Boat Show. Though there's plenty of gossip, there hasn't been an official word on it, at least from anyone at Outerlimits, since.

We've been doing sea trails and testing with some stock Mercury Racing power (twin HP1200SCi engines), so we have a known entity. We're putting some time on the boat, understanding it and learning it.

Has it taken longer than you thought it would?

Well, it's behind the schedule where I'd like it to be. But as with all of our products, we will not sacrifice the end result just to push a timetable. Bill (Pyburn, owner of Golddigger) is used to development projects. He understands what it takes. That's why we got involved with him.

Are there new projects coming from Outerlimits in the near future?

We're getting into the habit of not announcing things until they're done (laughs). But yeah, we're working on a few things.

Any interest in going after a kilo record?

Maybe eventually. It's something I'd like to do just for the fun of it. But we're not going to risk any of our normal resources just to chase an ego trip.

Are you still having fun?

Yeah, yeah, of course. This is still a dream job. I get to build really great boats and take care of a lot of really nice people—my customers—in a circle I wouldn't normally travel. We get to travel around the country. We get to travel around the world. It's a lot of work, but these are experiences you wouldn't get to have if you didn't do it.