I've been involved in this sport for over most of my life from crewing to racing in F-1, F-2, B Class, Super V and Performance classes. When Factory class was in it's prime most if not all the top teams were accused of cheating because they won. Some were found to be cheating due to grey areas and some for being outside the rule book completely. Two Factory backed teams were caught multiple times and very little done. This left the small teams to wonder why they even showed up if the playing field was not even. The teams with factory backing and $$$$ ruled the class. This was the death of Factory Class.

SLV was a nice step--up class from the P class racing with stock sealed power. Mercury 525's put these boats into the 90's which is perfect for a 30' foot. Then SBI decides because Mercury is getting rid of the 525 that they need a spec carb motor to ""Replace"" the 525. So now you have the ability to build a motor that is way more powerful than a 525 eliminating any 525 boat from competition with out doing $1000's of dollars in upgrades to heir current 525 or building a new engine from scratch. This new engine gave the rule benders many more options. But in the end the $$$$ rules the sport. Death of the class imminent.

As for the race course. I've watched footage from all 3 KW races from 2016. This is nothing more than a 2 way drag race. I understand that the spectators want to see the race. Well even with a longer course and proper race coordination the spectators will be seeing racing all the time just maybe no the whole course. The amount of spectators at KW has always been overwhelming, even with a 25 mile course. Spreading the racing out and giving the boats room to race would make is much safer and reduce the crashes by not having the boats trying to win the race in every turn. More strategy. Now maybe SBI cannot get Coast Guard approval for a longer course for some reason. But it sure would make for better racing for the spectators and the racers.

Providing safety response crews for those would be daunting. I was very impressed with how fast the divers were on top of Pro Floors after it's roll.

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Why is it that everyone is afraid to race on a short course. Set up ( including cornering is part of the game) if you make the course longer, you just make it a longer drag race straight away.

I don't have a dog in this fight, but I have to say I agree with this. There is a reason there is a blue flag with a yellow stripe in many motor sports. Courtesy to fellow racers who are contenders.

Never seen that flag be thrown on the first corner of the first lap in any kind of race!

No dog in any fight here either other than if your going to go there to race then I would expect anyone and everyone to race not follow the leader because he's leading in points.

At that point we better start giving out participation trophy and no one should ever be the winner because someone will feel bad they are the looser.

They played all 7 games in the world series... They didnt just hand it to the team leading the series after 4 games or 5 games.

there is plenty of boat racing done that involves out cornering and accelerating your opponent... but its typically not done in 30 to 50 foot boats designed for something completely different.

Different circumstances, same courtesy. People that are out of contention can still race hard. But, they shouldn't be racing so hard that they are taking out people in contention.

Just my opinion.

Your completely missing the point. In endurance / distance racing the safety crew is NOT right there. you have to race with that in mind, you have to race mentally, not just stick the throttle on the dash hoping you dont blow up or wreck. You had better believe that when I was racing Baja, I knew if I f'd up, help was a long long way away after somebody got around to finding me. And if I broke it, I was going to be sitting for a long time before somebody found me too. That is the mental aspect I mentioned. Thats what seperated the men from the boys....