National Champion ...legit?
#71
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If you want to engender fan interest, and a broad base of sponsor opportunities, you need competition and winners and losers, and in most motorsports even the back markers get more sponsor dollars than Offshore's alleged "winners".
#72
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Don't get me started. When the OPBRA became APBA Offshore, I was the US Delegate to the UIM. My job was keeping the APBA rules aligned with the UIM rules, and vice versa. We were able to do that for many years. We had furriners by the gobs in those days, and lots of our guys raced all over Europe. Then the ego crisis hit, and it all went to (rhymes with it). I think the closest thing to parity is P1. I guess if you boil it down, we are 'club racing', like the SCCA.
#73
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My point is he is going to get nothing more out of it than fun right now
Nothing wrong with having fun as long as you have all the safety requirements met and can be proffesional on how you approach it
Nothing wrong with having fun as long as you have all the safety requirements met and can be proffesional on how you approach it
#75
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According to his PR machine John Haggin is "revolutionizing" the sport.
Certainly he can fund it.
There are a bunch of guys who can run it:
Linder
Steve David
Brownie
Tom D'eath
and others
Bottom line
One feature class where you put your stars, plus a handful ( read 2 or 3) of "farm" classes for development of future champions.
This has worked in every other motorsports venue (including Offshore back in the day).....and it ain't brain surgery.
T2x
#76
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Basically in the 60's the boats ran 45-65 mph
in the 70's the boats ran 70-80
in the 80's the speeds went from 80-140 ( and to some of us that was the "golden age")
by the 90's speeds over 150 were commonplace
T2x
#77
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On another note, would the Miami Water Stadium support an offshore venue? At St. Clair, I enjoyed the short course more than the long course, and in Key West, I enjoyed the shorrt course, (due to roughness in about 99?), more than the old long course. I know it's fun to race way offshore, but it is not fan friendly.
#78
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On another note, would the Miami Water Stadium support an offshore venue? At St. Clair, I enjoyed the short course more than the long course, and in Key West, I enjoyed the shorrt course, (due to roughness in about 99?), more than the old long course. I know it's fun to race way offshore, but it is not fan friendly.
T2x
#79
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The Marine Stadium is interesting in that during the old 6 and 9 hour marathon days, only one turn was actually in the stadium. The west end has entrance and exit channels so the race boats would spend most of the race on a boomerang shaped course out in Biscayne Bay and come into the stadium and make a u turn on the short course buoys at the east end after running past the stands. They would then run down the back straight and continue out the northernmost exit channel to the rest of the race course. I suppose Offshore boats could do the same. After all they are now running on the 2 1/2 mile Gold Cup course in Detroit. I think the challenge would be getting the permission to race on the main part of Biscayne Bay.
T2x
T2x
Get John Haggin and his new association in touch with the city, the family that donated it, and see what can happen. The city must notice the $ brought into KW at the world's and potentially the Stadium would be packed. The skiffs in St Clair were fun to watch for between heats.
Could you see most of the course in the Bay from the stands?
I know it's not easy, but the group saving the stadium, you guys, Haggin and his group, and maybe Steve David with his Unlimited contacts could get it going. NASCAR is popular because they limit the cars on the run-away tracks to make it close for excitement and you can see the entire track friom the stands. Somehow offshore needs a Daytona type venue which can be observed with side by side racing after the first lap or two. Once again, my opinion.