i think this is the best bet. no offense to the turbine guys and extreme cats and vees but as you can see the the P1 and Class 1 guys have alot better racing and show since the only have the one class.

cat lite should be just that. the 368 skaters are really close to what the 388 are and the mti's are that the same size boat in some cases. just 850 or 525 power. look at what the aussies and NZ guys are doing. Class 1 type big cats, 30 to 35 cat lite and than a cat O/B. this way there is a noticable difference between them and people can tell them apart.

if the OSS wants to move foward your going to have to hurt someone's feeling. if they want to race than they will find away. if not than they weren't really there to support offshore racing. we all understand that sbi is going nowhere, if it wasn't for sarasota and KW sbi would shut down. the opa is strong with the production classes and good open water races. this leaves the ball in your court??

I don't care how many boats show up to a race, if it's not on TV (on tape) the masses won't care. You have to have a Major TV. contract.

You do need 2 Premier Classes that race on Sunday. Everyone is trying to move up to those 2 classes and race on Saturday. The Sunday race should have TV, sponsors and professional teams. Real Professionals, where the owner isn't the sponsor/driver etc. Hired guns. Build it and hopefully they will come. That is how every successfull motorsport does it.

That has been one of the major problems and why there hasn't been major sponsors to the sport, no major T.V. Stations covering the races.

Also need excellent internet coverage with play by play, web cam and instant results. It was very hard trying to figure out what was going on in KW without being there. (I know that is not OSS but it is an example)

Is it really better?? I am willing to bet it has its issues as well,
if you are attending these races, and all is great, I will stand corrected, but travel expenses alone are astronomical.
I have been to a Class 3 and Class 1 race, and some serious coin is dropped on the show. At the race I attended, Class 1 was on one side of the harbor, while Class 3 the other. the Class 3 boats had 20 some boats. It was really great racing, while Class 1 was the premier event, it ended up being a high speed boat parade. One of the problems here in the states is teams can choose what ever they care to run. In a professional setting the organization says here are the rules comply with them or dont race.

Alright, I'm going to take a stab at this.

The most enjoyable and exciting moments of my career as a racer have been running side-by-side with someone(and either in front or behind) to the finish.

The most enjoyable and exciting moments of my years as a fan of all forms of competition, are when there is a battle to the finish.

Why do you think ESPN airs poker...8 guys last table(turn), head to head battle to the finish.

And quite frankly 98% of all offshore races are basically done after the first lap. Oh, I know, everyone can talk about this great battle or that one. But the average fan for 98% of the time, he doesn't see it. And for a lot of races, all you need to know after the first lap is did anyone break. And that simple thing is not even communicated to the average fan on the beach. Atleast every poker battle goes head to head to the finish 100% of the time.

Then add in 54 boars (i mean boats)in 12 classes, almost no one ,not even the racers, know what's going on.

So if we can admit the problems, how do we fix it?

Spec classes...heavily ruled and heavily teched and heavily enforced. Me, I would like to see 1 cat class...use the UIM rules. If you have all the money and want to run with the beast in the world...here's your place. 1 twin vee class....again I would use the P1 rules seems to be working for the rest of the world. 1 single engine class....figure out how to bring the open boats back with the SVL...weights, power something.

So, Pro classes spec...1 cat ... 1 twin vee...1 single

And now for the rest of the boats.

A couple of years ago I suggested something and just about got laughed off the board. Since, I left offshore and have a pretty good thing going with the ULHRA.org, and I really didn't care what offshore did.

But, what is newest most popular racing show on TV....PINKS.
and what do they do? To even the field, they stagger the starting line positions to even up the racers. When I suggested that to offshore, I was told I was nuts. Funny, Pinks doesn't even send me a check, but the idea works for them.
Where could Offshore be, if we would have used my idea first?

You made everyone buy a GPS, let's use it to get everyones starting position on the course, and let everyone get to the finish line at the same time, not minutes apart.

I'll go see if I can find my old posts and repost.

Mike Sadlon
UL 89

Mike, the Vee Lite class has used a staggered starting grid this year. The winner of the last race goes to the back of the grid. 8 boats equals 4 lines 2x2. It keeps things real interesting as the faster boats work their way through the field.

Our races were shown on FSN this year, and the Orange Beach race will air on Dec 19th. In a week or two, I hope to announce our new TV show for 09. Just waiting to sign the contract.

Randy - Scotty loved the picture you sent him...he put it on his bedroom wall! I'm going to try and bring him to LOTO next summer! Thanks again..you made his year!

Doug