Pantera1

Its not a big enough spectator sport .. you can only see what the helicopter sees.. We all would love to see it ..but it wont put 60,000 people in the grandstands. Its become a rich mans hobby and thats probably all it will ever be.

allfiredup

The piont is cuda. Untill the sancationing body works on a real tv contract you'll never attract a sponsor that'll get off the hip with enough money. Also on my sat. The Water Channel is 216. Also the 60,000 people in the stands are important but the millions in front of the tv's are what you sell sponsors on. The Cannonball is a good idea it's actaully called the Gumball Run. As for the insurance that again has to do with sponsorship & tv packages. Not one Nextel cup team has insurance on the cars they aren't as much as a race boat but there still about 100-125k. I'm not sure anything will ever happen (more than likely won't) but I think if offshore racing keeps trying to be like Nascar with shorter courses & slowing the boats down it'll lose fans that way. I think that is the reason for the poker runs becoming more & more popular. More than half of the poker run boats are faster than the race boats in the same water conditions. I know that my Ferrari will never out run the Cup cars at Charlotte. Maybe someone should just do a poker run to Bimini & get Poker Runs America to work on a tv package. People are doing poker runs all year with no sponsors & more times than not with not without there insurance company knowing. Jack Roush told me a real racer will race anything anytime anywhere. If you never start you'll never finish.

satisfactionII

bjlesl I like our idea and enthusiam. You make a lot of good points. Stay on it and maybe it can happen. Crazier thing ideas have come into reality.

allfiredup

Thanks for the support. Don't get me wrong I for sure don't know everything about everything. But I have made a living in profesional motorsports for 15 years. I just think that offshore racing should be itself. I started getting intrested when my brother bought a Scarab 3 in 84 or 85. I think that offshore racing had a lot of charactor of it's own then & through the 90's. Now I think poker runs have started taking an that charactor.

375stinger

i think the idea is awesome, but dont tihnk you cant start out wit people puttin up 500gs ....you could run it like a poker run, except instead of people gettin cards and the ebst hand winning, its the frist person there and back it would taek a few years, but eventualy if stuck to it, it could get more noticed, maybe televized, etc. you can;t just overnite expect to have some great race with al the fastest boats in the world although it would be cool

BamBam

I don't get it, why couldn't you run it like a poker run? Race all the way out, get one card & race back? Every Poker run I have been in the pace boats never make it to the first stop in first place. Isn't the NYC Poker run first leg basically a race, just not called a race?

Ron P

If you really want to do it.....then do it right.

Collect 20K from sponsors or entrants to cover expenses, use the SBI or OPA rule book and run it as a divisional race. Otherwise, the liability is off the chart if something goes wrong and someone gets hurt.

Its a cool idea, all it needs is someone to take the ball and run with it.

BamBam

So how can a Poker Run cover over 120 Miles in one day & have many boats run over 150 MPH & that be OK? Basically the term "Race" causes the issues from what I understand reading here. I have been in several large Poker Runs & had only one or two safety boats to cover the entire course. Someone explain to me how this is different.

I don't think you need a big prize purse, rather you would attract more people due to bragging rights!

rouxsterre

Like Cuda said ( except it's actually like twice a year ), someone proposes this "fantasy race". . . . I may be guilty myself, except I thought that Miami-Bimini and back would be fine ( only like 120 miles ).

No one has done it - no one WILL do it. . . pipe dream. It's a nice thought, but basically just jerkin off. Won't happen.
I personally would love to see it. Cig vs Fountain vs Skater vs Outerlimits vs MTI vs Nortech, et al, in an open sea race across the Gulf Stream and back. But just think of the consequences, should Team BAJA put together a boat that is fast and durable enough to win in the 'v-hull' class ? ? ? . . . yikes.
With good production values, and enough heli's, it could possibly find an audience. There could be "onshore revenue" ( t-shirts, beer, hot dogs ) at the pits - and maybe at the turn, but good luck finding a producer, sponsor. . .

26scarab

Don't call it a race , call it an "Offshore Challenge"