I know that both Brad and Larry work their butts off putting this event on, it is too bad the offshore community doesn't appreciate what they have here before it is too late.

All of the reasons above are legit, economy, classes, time of year, calm water, time involved and fear. I say the main reason is the lack of the actual boat companies to enter what they consider their best products.

That is what really gave the boost to offshore back in the day. When Don Aronow and Richard Bertram squared off, they did it in the best that they both built at the time. Some races, Aronow only ran a boat one time, if it didn't work the way he wanted, he would go on to a new design, a new length, whatever it took.

Design in both engines and boats leaped giant strides with every race. Today you have manufacturers repainting designs that haven't changed in 30 years and calling it the newest and the latest in the high performance community.

Seamanship was a given back then, if you didn't know how to navigate on open ocean waters, the ocean would take care of you. Sooner or later and we would hear from you when you called from North Carolina, after heading to Bimini.

When guys like Brownie wern't racing, they were delivering 16 foot Donzi's to Nassau, on their own bottoms, just to keep their navigation skills sharp.

The other factor is the speeds that boats are capable of today. I had lunch with Sammy James and Odell Lewis last year and told them about the new speed record for a Bimini run....145MPH !!!! They couldn't believe it.

This is a once i a lifetime opportunity. This is a timed / speed / distance event. If you ever wanted to run in the open ocean, call those guys today and get on board.

PS If you don't want to tow your boat down from the North, come to our Don Aronow Memorial Around Long Island race next Sept 24th. An open ocean race that is 271 miles long. A 1987 31 foot Sonic with small blocks and Alpha drives won it last year, with one refueling stop along the way........only took 6 hours and 15 minutes.

Your take on the lack of manufacturer vs. manufacturer competition incentive is spot on, and it doesn't just apply to long-distance offshore runs. There are no factory-backed or supported teams in offshore racing, period now. That is a function of the economy for sure, but it's also a function those companies taking a hard look at what backing such campaigns actually yields in terms of marketing and sales results. The return on investment simply isn't there, and hasn't been for a long time.

Regardless, the sport should have room for two truly offshore events a year, and the Miami-Bimini and Around Long Island events are excellent opportunities. That a 31-foot Sonic won the Long Island event last year is about as cool—and inspirational—as it gets.

www.offshoreevents.net
we try to use the rules as a guide and then when the boats arrive we seperate them to the closest matched boats per class ! We generally have no problems with waiting til the registration is completed ,then decide which boats should be in which class based by boat type ,size and HP !
No complaints from the racers so far that have enjoyed the Challenge since 2008 .

As a racer and big fan of the event I agree with both sides. But what would really build the competition is the manufactures challenge. Its like factory racing in the 2000 era. The factors that couldnt produce a boat to compete at that level didnt. Its not that they didnt want to build boats that could win on race day,its that they couldnt. If you want to build on the event you have to pit manufacture against manufacture. To ask the average poker run guy to blast his boat for 100 miles for the fun of it is hard to get people. The people that own $500k plus boats all have big egos and dont want to be made the fool when someone else beats them. Poker runs and endurance racing is 2 totally different people. one is for fun and the other you can look like a fool if you dont preform with your 900HP motors against a stock merc 525 boat. Not many of those people are comfortabe risking there bar talk about how fast there boat is if the lose to a lesser boat. From my experience ,most talk about there boats speed on top end in a 1 min. run not a 100 mile run.
MD

In other words, they are scared.

Maybe the promoters could give them a poker hand at the end and say it isn't a race ( wink, wink ). That would save thier egos.
ed

Endurance racing is about quality equipment more than the guys in the boat. Finishing is everything !!! With that being said then what motor manufacture is willing to put there product where it can shine the most. Is Illmore,Merc,Sterling.Eickerd,Teague or any of the so called best builders willing to put there name on the line? This is the ultamate sales tool if you have the product to shine with. If you dont believe that it will stay together for 100 miles than dont bring it. How many Merc 500 motors were sold a year before Factory racing? I can tell you a lot less until they were proven bullet proff on the race course. If the builders step up and put there products in there best customers boats for the race I would bet you would have a much more exciting race and the hype built up would be threw the roof. If I was a motor builder and wanted to show off my product I would be all over this.
The hulls can play in this as well if you have classes that are somewhat equal. Cat,Vee twin and Vee single
Just some thoughts.
MD

PS: Im not sure who is scared. I dont think its the owners being scared of doing it . But maybeing scared of destroying there equipment. Call your motor builder and ask if they will stand behind there product. Its a team effort.

I really don't think that 100 miles should be considered an endurance event. Even at a paltry 100mph you would be running for hour. These boats really can't run for an hour? If that's the case then these guys should be having a serious conversation with the manufacturers. 100 miles should be the equivalent of a Sunday drive.

I'm going to be in Florida the week after the event. I wish I were going to be there for this event. Man am I jealous of those that are able to compete in this event.

Teague wasn't scared: :evilb:

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