Lake Hopatcong races-Food for thought?
 

Went to the Inboard races at Lake Hopatcong, NJ over the weekend. The good news is the sport is still alive and well and a modest breeding ground for future Unlimited drivers. The bad news is the boat counts are declining and their is very little media coverage. Which begs the question what can be done to coordinate, simplify, and support boat racing in the US over the long term? Now that the "offshore" division races on lakes and rivers, and Champ boats do as well, along with Stock outboard, mod, pro and inboard hydros, perhaps we should rethink the concept of a "race boat", and start looking at a combined design that covers all of the bases. Perhaps single seat cat and monuhull designs starting at 13' or so for kids and graduating up to 28-30 single I/B and/or O/B hulls might make sense. Keep the concept simple and affordable and develop from there. There is no doubt that the current models are not catching on with the public as they did in the past in all divisions of boat racing. If we combined all of the sponsor dollars, talent, race sites, and enthusiasm of the many divergent race boat groups, perhaps we might rewrite the future. Or maybe, we should just hang on to our current paradigm(s) and try increasing the volume of our cheerleaders..........again:p :p :p

T2x

I could see myself agreeing with rethinking the concept of a "boat race." Imagine days-long or even week-long festivals allowing all manner of race boats an opportunity in the spotlight...all in one place at one time...with different classes on different days or even simultaneously on different courses. It also provides all manner of race fans the ability to see the wares and practices of the different categories of boat racing.

However, rethinking the concept of a "race boat..." I don't think that's such a good idea. Let's face it, folks like what they like, and most folks only have a passing interest in areas outside of their likes. I'd watch little 13' inboards if I was already there, but no way in hell would I go out of my way to watch them. I'd go for the offshores, and merely stick around for the others.
The advantage is that the sponsors - in all divisions - have a larger crowd peering down on their logos and ads for longer times. It would make for good tv, too.

thats kind of what the OneDesign (batboat) program is.

Can be raced pretty much any water
simple concept yet high tech at the same time
stock power (spec class racing)
fast and very stable (handles like crazy)
easy on support needed to compete (afordable)
people absotutly love seeing them
24 and 28 footers avaliable

we had a local champboat racer (Dave White) sponsor a race here in Toledo a few years ago, it was a huge draw (30 thousand plus). it had been years since we had that kind of crowd down town for anything like that. Dave proved it was viable but the following year the city did not want to back it. To this day there hasnt been anything like that since. We have a new administration and the are very pro waterfront and hope they will bring it back.

The one-design was a great idea, but where are they now?...
(I'm not making fun, I'm truly curious)

Did you enjoy the Champ Boat races?

actually yea i did. i really hadnt seen them before and it was all new to me. i anchored my boat off one of the turns and watched the races. good racing with great action. I'm not sure how people on land took it but there was a huge crowd that looked to be enjoying it. Our river front seemed to lend itself well to that race as we have restraunts down one side and a festival type park on the other, the course fit perfect in that area and you couldnt get a bad seat. The downfall of the race the following year i believe was the administration at that time. we have since replaced that and i am hopeful to see something like that again. .

by the way Rich did you get my PM a few weeks ago? would really like to get a copy of those guidlines if possible, thanks

Dave

Yes I did and I left it to good ol' Linder to send you a copy of the guidelines.... I'll remind him.... again. They really are the most complete cockpit safety specs available and represent countless hours (and dollars) of research and engineering.....of course that's of little help to you if you don't have them.;)

lol . . yes thats true. looking forward to seeing them. . . .

Thanks
Dave

Dave:

I spoke to George yesterday and he said the guidelines would go out to you today. Let me know if you don't receive them within the week.

Rich

Great to see you and your son at the race


Mike