Moving2Miami

Do you know how they got their start as a grassroots sport and just grew, and grew, and grew? That is what I am referring to....I agree with you that it is a HUGE sport - NOW....

organizedchaos

Steve hit it right on. We are also currently in an era where we may never see as many new offshore boats ever sold again as what we have seen over the last 5 years.

smiklos@sunprint

iTrader: (1)

You got that right.
If you look back the last time the repo yards were filled with hi perf boats was the early 90's. The hi perf boat sales were slim until about 95-96. It appeared there were enough boats for the people who wanted to play with them so few were made.

Once the step bottom boats came along and guys saw them reliably going 90 MPH on warranty power that was financed it started an upgrade path. You could justify the new boat purchase with warranty fuel and insurance savings. Remember what it took to power the 90 MPH cigarette and what it cost to purchase and operate. Suddenly a pair of 575's and bravos had a Top Gun TS right there on half or less of the operational cost and resale was great.

The dot com deal pushed this with synthetic wealth. Shortly after that fall came the real estate boom and more synthetic wealth. High performance boat builders were making boats at levels never seen before. Now there is a flood of boats with few qualified owners. Tougher bank regulations and insurance could make the current inventory of used boats so inexpensive that only a select few will pay up for new.
Steve

Jason Johnson

Great post everyone, lots of solid feedback and thoughts on the sport.

As you all have seen coming, Powerboat got confirmation from an executive at CBS Sports that the SBI racing series won't be aired as part off its Saturday lineup.

Check out the story ...

http://www.powerboatmag.com/offshore...ir-on-cbs.html

Moving2Miami

Right from someone that I know in the executive offices at CBS - THe deal with Carbonnell is dead because of no $$$, but CBS is in talks with another group....

Hmmm...I Wonder who THAT could be?

Jason Johnson

You are correct, although CBS isn't commenting on that so nothing to report ... for now

AB From Windsor

That's to bad that CBS and SBI couldn't seal the deal. I think that it would not only be great for CBS, SBI, Offshore Powerboat Racing but any other TV Network that would televise Offshore Powerboat Racing to North America. It will come one day and I am waiting for that day and then we will see Offshore Powerboat Racing, getting the recognition that it deserves.

F1-00 Racing

iTrader: (1)

Maybe I am wrong in thinking this, but I think there are way bigger issues than TV with this sport. Yes TV makes our sport marketable to an extent, but why dont we fix the existing cobwebs instead of jumping to step 100 before completing step 1. I have been watching both this forum and the other and the biggest news so far coming out of KW is the fact that a boat actually finished a race. During his national championship campaign of 2008 he finished a total of 17 laps out of 136. And this is your so called national champion??????????? And yes he deserves credit as he did finish the Weds race, but in finishing he averaged 10 mph below the 3rd place finisher in the class below him. You go to his website and he has a dog listed as his crew chief.

My point is not to bash, as he does show up and attempt to race, I guess my logic is that I have too much pride to show up and make a fool out of myself. If I break, I'll take as much time off as possible to make sure its as right as it can be to go out and make a competitive showing. If that means missing a couple of races, so be it.

We need to make this a professional sport. And yes I realize that professional means getting paid which would be fantastic, but I guess I mean we need to bring professionalism into the sport, in order to take the next step. Someone told me one time,"You hang with chit, you smell like chit" Its a shame that someone that his only claim to fame is that he shows, brings down the rest of the sport. Yes he is an easy target, as he blatantly brings attention upon himself, but we all know there are plenty more racers out there just like him.(Just a little more discrete about it though)

FIX WHATS WRONG NOW and THEN GO FORWARD

As far as TV is concerned, I ask this sincere question, wouldnt it make more sense to broadcast on a Speed, FSN, etc and generate some interest and build it from there? I mean it has been posted that it costs 200,000 per episode for CBS, if memory serves me correctly, the approximate cost for the various sports channels is 60,000 per episode. I aint the brightest bulb in the room but isnt it easier to come up with 60 vs. 200? Establish a program, attract media partners and when you have documented Nielsen or however they judge those programs, then step it up to the big leagues.

T2x

Okay......... take a chill.

The truth is that the product SBI would have given to CBS had no true racing competition for the viewer, a confusing mess of classes, and very limited helicopter and ground camera POV's.

The racer stories are meager and the commentator is an ex pro wrestler with no true racing or technical experience. ( a nice guy who has the skills to do the "table setting' but can't carve the meat.)

Bottom line:...... You should thank God that the shows didn't air, because the end product did not have the production values required to make a proper TV show and attract viewer interest. Simply sticking a handful of boats on the tube does NOT create a good paradigm for the sport.

Rule One of good TV:...Whenever possible try not to poop in public.

T2x

T2x

The current model(s) are beyond fixing.......

It's time to take a fresh sheet of paper and put together a new APBA/UIM model. with elements of P-1 and the new dual outboard class overseas.

Anything else is a waste of time.

T2x