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Nice article in PRA

Old 09-03-2006, 12:35 PM
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Default Nice article in PRA

Poker Runs America Magazine recently had an opportunity to ask Mike Tomlinson, Chief Referee for the Offshore Super Series Powerboat Racing Association ( OSS ) and General Manager of Eliminator Boats of Texas, about his thoughts on OSS racing and the trends he sees for the organization and the sport.

“I think the offshore community took a giant step in the right direction with the formation of OSS. This is an owner-driven organization, where every owner has an equal say and rules are voted on in a democratic forum. Once a class votes on and approves a new rule, it is sent to the OSS Board of Directors for final approval. After Board approval, usually the new rule is introduced January 1 of the following race season. However, if the rule had one hundred per cent approval from the currently registered boat owners in the affected class, it could be effective immediately. I take pride in being able to say that any rule in our book will be equally applied and will have the same enforcement, regardless of the team or owner. Our racers benefit from knowing that they are on a level playing field with everyone being treated equal, per the rules. Any equipment not meeting set specifications is disallowed. This is only one reason I feel that the success of OSS has been immediate and overwhelming. Additionally, offshore fans are provided with family entertainment that is easier to understand, with typically no more than two separate classes competing in a race.

Courses are created with safety first for our racers and fans, yet attempting to enhance the overall offshore experience. Usually, the entire course is in full sight from either on shore or afloat in the spectator fleet area and is designed to challenge even the best drivers. Some sites even feature free admission and we open our dry pits “Race Village” to the public, where you can see the boats and talk to the teams.

Safety is paramount with OSS racing. All the boats in our association are state of the art closed canopy racing machines. We are a leader in safety with one the most professional team of rescue divers (Angels) in the sport. In addition to flying more helicopters with “Angles” aboard, allowing testing and racing only with full air and water rescue resources in place also now requiring full time on-board air systems, complete with on-dash air gauges, OSS continues to seek improvements in an effort to make offshore racing a safer sport. All safety / medical personnel are certified firefighter dive and rescue paramedics. With their help, OSS has the only two-person canopied dunker in the sport. The dunker employs an actual Skater cockpit so that both members of a team can practice self-extraction in case of an accident. The dunker also has a full time air system from TNT Marine, and helmets provided by SRP. And with additional help from Reliable Carriers to manufacture the frame, thus the “OSS Super Soaker” was developed. Our teams are required to go through the dunker twice a year. In fact, as unpopular as the training is, many of the people that had to rely on their training during an incident, report that their experience in the dunker really helped them to stay calm under otherwise frightening conditions.

Actually, a lot of the improvements that boats builders use today have come from racing development. Support comes from companies like Mercury Racing, MTI, Skater, Eliminator and Lavey Craft just to name a few. Things that are now looked at as every day additions in the boating world, like step hulls, cat hulls, Mercury XR drives, Sport Master gear cases, closed canopied pleasure and poker run boats, all used the offshore environment as a research and development arena. If you need extreme conditions to prove new ideas and prototypes, look no further than my backyard.

After over 40 years in racing, 30 as an official, the whole OSS experience has been a breath of fresh air. The entire OSS staff, officials, members and board are a true team. Everyone rolls up their sleeves and works together to make each event a success. While still in its infancy, this association has surpassed all others in acceptance by the media and fans alike as a fleet of racing professionals. Now, after St. Clair and looking forward to Destin, in my opinion, the future’s so bright; you’ve got to wear shades”!
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