Mike,

Remember we talked about this. Just wish/hope they adopt more than just the speed brackets part. I would like to see them use the rest of the safety rules too. Things like Parade lap should be manditory, yellow flag rules, and so on.

My thinking is, if a standard is set for this class, then the teams don't have to think about what they should be doing. It should be instinct when they are out there. You don't have time to think about is this a rule book A race or a rule book B race.

Dave

From my understanding this rule change came about becuase a bunch of P class racers in Sarasota want to race with SBI and asked that these rules be adopted.

I see this as the sanctioning body listening to what the racers wanted and if it makes sense, giving it to them.

I think we will see more rule changes to the SBI book in order to accomidate racers coming over from other sanctioning bodies. And like Puder said (I can't believe I am about to agree with Puder) wouldn't it be great if the rule books were more closely aligned so that teams could go back and forth between groups.

The pond is frozen, let's skate.

I downloaded the SBI rules and did not see anything about P classes. Have these classes been officially adopted by SBI and if so, where are they on www.superboat.com?

Fever Mike, Ron P.,

There are a few discrepencies that should be worked out prior to the rules becoming official.
According to the APBA rule book:
"P5- Boats with a top speed below 70 mph", This would make P5 up to and including 69 mph.
"P4-Boats with a top speed of 70-80mph"
"P3-Boats with a top speed of 80-90 mph"
"P2-Boats with a top speed of 90-100 mph"
"P1-Boats with a top speed of 100+mph"

My concern is if a boat runs 80 mph it could run in P4 or P3. I would like to see the rules changed to make it clear cut as to which class it belongs.

I would like to see the P class listed as follows:
P5 up to and including 69 mph
P4 70 mph up to and including 79mph
P3 80 mph up to and including 89 mph
P2 90 mph up to and including 99 mph
P1 100mph +

This would eliminate the vaugness of the rules as to which class one fits into when one is on the cusp of two classes. My point is to clearify these classes before the season starts.
My information stems from the 2000 APBA rulebook,(I never
received my 2001 APBA rule book), so this may have been
corrected.

OK, lets back the horse up. I disagree on making all the classes the same across the board.

As Fever Mike said and I agree, I don't want to get into a APBA vs SBI deal. Each body has created its on market, and their own respecitve products and should remain so rightfully. Don't be confused.

The only class that should have parity across the board is the Performance Class. Performance Class it the stepping stone, test bed for racing. The other classes are for specific rules and guidelines, and should rightfully remain so.

This common ground would give teams the flexability to race at any race site they choose, because a team could always run Performance. Imagin if your an APBA team and SBI has a race in your own town and APBA doesn't. With a standardizes Performance class, your team regardless of it's original class can compete in the event. It also, could lead to some great grudge match racing between other classes of boats that normally would have no parity to compeate with each other. OB vs I/O and so on.

KiloKat,

I got this information right from the horses mouth. I think it may take a week or three for it to show up in the rule book and be posted on the web.

I was asked to post this on OSO to get the word out as quickly as possible. I am sure that the powers to be are reading this thread with interest so please use this space to state your thoughts.

RonP,

Thank you for the information. As far as my thoughts are concerned, I think it is an excellent idea for SBI to copy APBA's "P" class rules to the letter. It offers racers more choices/opportunities and therefore should increase participation in offshore racing.