shifter

Spec racing stinks. Most racing has gone this dirrection and I do not consider it racing. It used to be run what you brung now it is cookie stamp boats with no excitement, no innovation, no competition. That all equals no audience. Look at IRL there was not enough cars entered to have bump day.

If you want to bring things back to the "glory days of racing" open up the rules to small business.

pat W

Mark,
I like the American Superboat Series (ASS)
Your boat is running in P isn't it? You guys are running there because you want to build your own engines. Wouldn't you rather be racing the other f1 boats?

CIG3

I believe everythingnyou guys are saying. When I was racing F-1 Tyler built our motor. We had just as much power LEGALLY as everyone else with a carb HP500. THen the 500efi came along. Now we were behind after spending $70k for a class legal package. The APBA said you carb guys can run the efi exhaust, great $2500.00 later we were competitive again, then weight rules, then "X" dimension rules, etc... This is all due to advances in technology in hull, power, drives, propellers, etc. You can't stop that you have to move forward with it. That is why "P" class is so popular now, you can race whatever you come with. If you put in a bigger motor you move up a class your choice. If factory class will ever work you have to put rules into effect and live with them for 3-5 years, at which point the newer technology can be implimented with the racers input. Rules changes kill spec. racing. If your gona make the investment you have to be able to justify that your investment will have time to mature. Also you can't let one manufacture rule over everything. How popular would NASCAR be if they only ran Ford Tuaras, not very interesting for me......


Andrew Bloom
GLSCS Chairman

n2boatn2

Gentlemen, thanks for all the replies,, here is way I posted this question, I would like to get into the sport of offshore racing,, but there is KNOW unity,, if a racing sport is to make it in the big picture their can only be ONE BIG SHOW,,I strongly do not believe that ESPN, SPEED CHANNEL ,or any tv time will ever be dedicated to the sport if there can't at least be a unified sanctioning body.If club racing is what you would rather do then that is great ,but boat racing could be the next NASCAR if it was handled as a from start to finish buisness not a weekend poker run{big plans bring BIG results}
I stated that I was willing to help in any part of this project.The name APBA is already in the publics mind to try and change now would be catastrophic
do you remember when Coke changed ? it was'nt received well,, people do not like change. I am ready to roll ,,so to speak and let's make plans not conversation.......KISS...... keep
it
simple
so everyone can can participate

Ron P

Off topic but, that whole "New Coke" thing was the greatest marketing ploy of the century. Everyone was demanding the Original Coke back. Where is New Coke today? See what I mean?

The ONE BIG SHOW better be something that the average NASCAR fan can follow with out needing to understand that 8 classes are all racing at the same time.

TYPHOON

There is some great input here. I wonder if the people at the top are reading any of this. The Great Lakes is in the house and listening,Thanks. I most likely wouldnt race F1 but have 2 boats sitting in my warehouse that you could put any motor package in. I dont care witch one it is!!!! Why does everyone think the 525 is so expensive conpared to the 496 HO?
525 with CMI headers after merc. discount= $16,000
496 ($10,000) and purchase CMI headers($3000)Race mounts($600)=$14,000

Now lets be real about which motor is much better!

Also the question on why merc.racing wont support the 496 is beacause they dont make that motor. Mother Merc manufactures the 496. If you could get Mother Merc. to sponsor the class then the 496 may be a better route.

Also running the bravo drive vs XR drive issue. Are you really saving any money after you keep blowing your standard bravo?

TYPHOON

Its cash $$$$$$$$ baby!!!!!! You needed to run in 8 races over the year in any organization. You can also buy the whole package with the drive and gimbal or ITS and get the $8,000 back. I thought it was a pretty sweet deal.
MD

TYPHOON

AC. you and Martin could have a talk show on just Factory racing some week. Its a hot subject!
MD

Andrew Corn

I feel that the current offshore structure does not lend itself to the promoter (big or small) being able to run the classes that are promotable. Some would think that means just the big classes, I don't. Some promoters or clubs would like to run just certain classes.

If the classes were able to make their own rules then they would be responsible for the viability of the class and be responsible to marketing and making the deal with the promotors.

Serveral things have always happened in fractures, promoters want promotable classes, sanctioning bodies have dictated to the racers and racers want control of their own class rules. So make it so!

The sanctioning body should do just that, sanction classes, officials, standards, and promoters. The promoters should do just that, promote and put on races. And the racers should have control of their own spending via the rules. If their class is not raced because they cannot put on a show the promoters will not have to lose money on them.

Tuesday is the night, 9:00pm is the time and www.talkoffshore.com is the place.

It is a open subject night so any subject goes, it is public. The demand files are available for people to listen to anytime. The meetings in Key West are not public or recorded so many do not get to participate.

AC

Flashwave

F1 boats that have put up points this year:

Activator - 525
Lavey - 525
Velocity - 525
other Velocity - 525
Flashwave - 525
Motion - 500 carb
DCB - 525
Covey - 500 efi
BRE - 500 EFI

I'm not looking for any F1 rule changes. With stability in the rules, we may get others to invest in the class as DCB has done. The last thing we need is to run off what we have. The F1 boats run well with the 525 and Sportmaster setup. So do the F2's, SVL's, SV's and SCL's.

My suggestion is to open a discussion of a new class based on 496's if your really interested in running that power package. Like the beginning of the SVL class, there are boats out there that can be converted.

J

BenPerfected

Andy,
I agree that constant rule changes are destructive to the sport; however, I absolutely disagree that P-Class fixes anything. The P-Class format has done little for Offshore in general and has hurt the 2004 boat count in the GLSCS. I want to race but not under the the system the GLSCS is selling. Without change and a set of rules that are enforced, my choice is to run with preformance boats in events like the LEOPA fall poker run this coming weekend.
I really hope the GLSCS works on significant class restructing for 2005. The 14-16 GLSCS boat count supports a maximium of two classes. How can you get to a consistant 20-30 boats? Change!
What could be a positive change for all of OS? Bob Bull could give the APBA rights to the OSS teams and go back to being a racer. Maybe the new management team could find a challenging job for John and this sport would at least have unified leaderhip. One man can make a difference...change is hard.
Sprague