AIR TIME

BUT THINK OF ALL THE GAS IT WOULD TAKE TO RUN 24HOURS, There would be a jump of 3 bucks at the end of the weekend tree huggers would die, that would be good.

PhantomChaos

That is part of the "glory"!!!! Making it too safe....any pu$$y could do it!

handreasen

Now you are really dreaming.

Kims

Why not contact the sanction that holds Rouen? The classes are there, the water is there, we know there is plenty of fuel... Lets do it! If there was more activity out west with OB tunnel racing, I would be first in line... I have raced endurance race on motorcycles and it is a far fetch from the 20 min sprint, I loved it! Dig in, contact people, engage manufacturers, sanctions,.... get going, it is fully doable! As for safety at night - any race track where all the idiots travel in the same direction is far safer than any lake, any given saturday afternoon - think abouut it !

burtandnancy

Remember the Parker 9 Hour Enduro? It had a Le Mans start and was a lot of fun. Some guys, like Bob Nordskog ran the whole nine hours, others changed every fuel stop. I remember for years it was dominated by outboards, factory backed, hydro's, mod V's etc, and one year was actually won by a Jag powered tunnel boat. Great course, fun for the spectators on either the CA or AZ side of the river.
Would like to see something like this again. But can't go along with the idea of running day and night, no way...

T2x

The tunnel boats run at night on a river with concrete walls in Rouen, France, and survive nicely. Obviously safety standards would have to be of the highest level and there would need to be "yellow" lights for portions of the course where a boat is being towed...rescued...etc, but if you kept the course tight and controlled (Miami Marine Stadium or an inland lake or bay...the event would be absolutely thrilling. Remember all of the boats would have Halogen headlights so visibility should be excellent.

Still thinking about this........in my obsolescence

T2x

VetteLT193

Miami Marine Stadium. It would be awesome to see that restored.

Chris Sunkin

I'd personally love to see it and I'd watch it. But that's me. To make it happen, you're going to need to fill a venue and sell it to TV- all things I know you're astutely aware of. They do that at Lemans, but the Daytona 24 is all but ignored here. So is one of the most amazing motorsports ever- Formula 1.

Americans are wonderful people but, as a whole, their (our) tastes in entertainment can be lacking. I once considered combining professional wrestling, monster trucks and bass fishing into one sport. Woulda' put NASCAR under in mere weeks.

T2x

Did I mention that Paris Hilton would be Grand Marshall and Hulk Hogan will be MC?

T2x

T2x

Talk about timing!!!!

With a nod to John Sherlock head of the OPC Vintage Organization for alerting me to the following......

Gentleman,

Apparently the “Friends of Miami Marine Stadium” committee is close to gaining a “historical designation” for marine stadium. We are planning a F1 ChampBoat race there for early 2009, we hope this significant achievement will happen so we can all enjoy returning to Miami!!



Regards,

Mike Schriefer

President

Speedway Group, Inc./ChampBoat Series, LLC.


[email protected]





Posted on Monday, Jun. 30, 2008



Miami Marine Stadium may become a landmark

By ANDRES VIGLUCCI



A campaign to save the storied Miami Marine Stadium will get its first test on Tuesday, when the city's historic preservation board will consider a proposal to designate the long-neglected but architecturally dazzling structure as a historic landmark.

The effort has received a boost from the city's preservation officer, Ellen Uguccioni, who in a report to the board called the 1964 stadium ''a tour de force of modern design'' and concluded it is eligible for designation.

But the save-the-stadium effort must still overcome a significant hurdle, Uguccioni said: Generally, buildings must be 50 years old before they are eligible for historic status. Because the stadium is only 44 years old, proponents of designation must demonstrate it is ''of exceptional importance,'' she wrote.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miam...ry/589129.html





Michael Schriefer

President

F1 CHAMPBOAT SERIES

17505 W. Catawba Ave. Suite 150 / Cornelius, NC 28031

O. 704.987.5044 ext.11 / F. 704.987.5055 / C. 704.904.4141

E. [email protected]



www.CHAMPBOAT.com




From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 6:19 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Bruce Washburn; John Tiger; Alan J. Radue; Rich Luhrs; Tom Bertolini
Subject: FW: Miami Marine Stadium



Gentlemen, the information I sent on the Miami Marine Stadium History was put together by Jeff G

http://www.********************/foru...?t=4260&page=5

-------------- Forwarded Message: --------------
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected] (Bruce Washburn), [email protected] (John Tiger),[email protected] (Alan J. Radue), [email protected] (Rich Luhrs), [email protected] (Tom Bertolini)
Subject: Miami Marine Stadium
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 22:09:31 +0000

Hi Mike,



This is some history on the Stadium and events that have led up to this date:



The Miami Marine Stadium was conceived and built for boat racing. Over the years it was also used for a number of different activities, water ski shows, classical concerts on a stage brought over from the other side, rock and roll shows, Easter Sunrise services, etc.
The stadium was built in 1962-63. Many different races were held there over the years from Stock Outboards, to GN, Inboard, OPC, Unlimiteds etc.
The stadium was built on land donated by the Matheson family. They were a very well known family that sold or donated hundreds or thousands of acres for parks, beaches etc in the Miami area. When they donated the land to the City of Miami there was a stipulation that it had to be used for "Water Sports". if it ceased to be used for that purpose then the land would revert back to the family! That is why the stadium is still there.
Originally the pit area was quite large. You could easily fit 200 boats in there. There was a first aid station, overhead crane, and a ramp that could accommodate 10+ boats at a time. The stadium had seating for 7,500 in the concrete grandstand and 20,000+ more on the beach and temporary bleachers.
In the 1970's the City leased a small portion on the far west end to a group to build a restaurant, Rusty Pelican, it did well but none of the lease money was counted in the stadium revenues. Next they leased out an area behind the paved pit area for boat storage, and closed the first aid station for use as offices. Same deal the revenues were not attributed to the stadium. Next the boat storage area took over some more land and another restaurant was born. Then in the 1980's a group somehow (wonder how) leased an area to the east of the stadium and built their own little country club which was the Miami Rowing Club. Now with both the rowing club and restaurants the unlimited days of testing and races in the stadium were numbered. All the while the City of Miami constantly complained that the st adium did not pay for itself! Yeah right!
At this same time many of the old timers and avid followers of powerboat racing were moving out of Miami. In 1982 the City raised the rental of the stadium to a point the local clubs FIRC and SFOC could not afford to pay the rental. The operator of the restaurant and boat storage also expanded into the pit area parking lot and added new dry stack storage, further cutting back the size of the pits. In addition he was able to get the city to restrict the number of days his operation would be restricted due to races, so we were in fact restricted from doing what the land was built for.
In the mean time there were a number of schemes to build water parks, ski show venues etc at the stadium, none of the flew.
BY the mid 1980's some of the historical races ceased to happen at the stadium. Homer Greene ceased putting on the Race of Champions, the Unlimiteds were on the way out and even the big GN races were near the end. There was just t o o much political pressure and date restrictions. Even more supporters of boat racing were leaving.
The South Florida Outboard Club folded in 1984 or 1985. I was the last president. We joined with the inboard club a few years earlier in joint races. We even tried to race back at Pelican Harbor, an old time venue from the 1960's, up on 79th St. due to the cost associated with the stadium.
You see not only did we have to pay a basic rent of $750.00 per day we had to pay for a minimum of 2 uniformed Police Officers, and sanitation crew, union electrician and sound man, the stadium manager etc. We also had to set the course ourselves, a service previously in the city contract, schedule 120 days ahead of time and also limit the number of days. Official testing days were just slightly less expensive.
To hold a good 2 day event in the early 1980's would cost over $6,000 not including sanction, insurance, prize money, and other costs. I put on a nationally televised race, the ESP N All American Challenge Series in 1982 and the 2 day race cost in excess of $12,000 not including any prize money!
The last major race in the stadium was the 1987 Inboard Nationals.
There have been some powerboat racing ideas to open the stadium back up, but none has taken root. It is just too expensive and complicated to put on a race. All the while the culture of Miami was changing. Offshore was the big thing and continues to this day. The overwhelming percentage of Latin population had no background in small boat racing and didn't support the racing, basically the fan base disappeared at the same time the drivers and owners left the area.
During the late 1970's and all through the 1980's I was responsible for setting the course at the stadium for all the races. I also lived a few miles away. Because of this I came to learn every inch of the stadium. I moved from Miami in 1988.
After Hurricane Andrew the next winter I was back for the Miami Boat Show. Went to visit a n umber of friends and visited the stadium. At this time the City officials had already condemed the stadium. I went inside and walked it all. I can tell you, and I am not an engineer, that the stadium had no additional damage outwardly visible. The City engineers were caught in a lie. What they wanted was to turn the land into a marina, hotel complex. Many of these same politicians were caught in different corruption probes over the years.
However when the City announced the stadium would be torn down the insurance company hired independent engineers that declared the stadium was not damaged. The city has debated it's fate and allowed it to deteriorate since.
Remember the Matheson family? Well when the City announced the hotel marina deal they went to the City and court and stated that if the land was not used as originally donated then it would revert back to them. ALL OF IT!
The city would lose tens of thousands of lease dollars, the lease holders would be evicted and the city sued!
So today it sits, a monument to a by gone era of fast boats and larger than life figures. The glory days when kids and grown men both toiled to get their boats a little faster and compete on an equal basis. And to do it in the most glorious facility in America.