the only two teams that show up consistently with the big boats and can count on each other to show up in the future consistently. USA vs Qatar ...pretty cool rivalry If you ask me.

KW will bring out the one race wonders and next year we will be back to racing the Qatar turbine boat heads up which will be exciting.. the 96- 1350 boat will be very quick as well. Under SBI rules Gasse, Qatar and GEICO are the only teams that fulfilled the commitments to race for the Championship in 2013. We have to work on getting boats to make more races....thats the key to our success.


fast D...both teams have full-time carbon layup specialists on staff. repairs are part of the equation and anyone who knows Steve... knows his capabilities.

KW will be fun

of course, the rivalry is fantastic and a great source of buzz for the sport. it is indeed unfortunate that more competitors do not show up at more races. but hopefully that is changing, as i do see more people getting interested in the races. for our part, the fans are always working the shores to bring in friends and new blood to the offshore battles. best of luck to all the teams, and especially geico/qatar for the friendly fire. now, both you guys need to open up merchandise shops online so the fans can inject some cash flow, and wear their team!! marc and scotty ftw :boat:

I was Google ing Qatar offshore race team but got this instead on Wikipedia:

According to the US State Department, expatriate workers from nations throughout Asia and parts of Africa are routinely subjected to forced labor and, in some instances, prostitution.[4] Most of these people voluntarily migrate to Qatar as low-skilled laborers or domestic servants, but are subsequently subjected to conditions indicative of involuntary servitude. Some of the more common labor rights violations include beatings, withholding of payment, charging workers for benefits which are nominally the responsibility of the amir, severe restrictions on freedom of movement (such as the confiscation passports, travel documents, or exit permits), arbitrary detention, threats of legal action, and sexual assault.[4] Many migrant workers arriving for work in Qatar have paid exorbitant fees to recruiters in their home countries – a practice that makes workers highly vulnerable to forced labor once in Qatar.[4]

Not one of the values that any red blooded American or American insurance company should be endorsing:

Wow, I can't believe that you actually wrote this. The only two teams with big boats to show up! Really? Stihl and WHM were at every SBI race and if the record stands correct they are big boats! I'm just saying!!!

The "one race wonders" as you have so elegantly descried them typically don't have multimillion dollar sponsors or aren't funded by their country, I know the concept of digging into your own poket must be difficult for you to understand or just simply forgotten but most teams earn their money to go racing, build their boats, fix their broken equipment, pay for their fuel, etc.etc.etc Hell, for most of these "one race wonders" KW costs around a 100k! So maybe we should stop with the labels! Especially a rude one!

And as far as the rules, doesn't it state that SBI can decide to allow a team to compete without having run the required races? Ultimately SBI has the final say, correct?

Anyway, it's P4 for me and I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!! Plus it ain't going to cost a 100k! (Maybe my bar tab but not the race)

Sent from my iPad

Chris.... Where in the conversation are we talking about Supercats??? They have their own thing going on and we are keeping clear of their momentum on building their class. Don't try and twists the conversation towards us down talking the efforts of that class they have our total support. By "big" Boats I CLEARLY mean unlimited and turbine...which is CLEARLY what this thread is about.

Chris we sit in budget meetings weekly and for you to infer that "our pockets" are not our own is hypocritical coming from a self made businessman. We earn everything we put into this and its not easy. 12-14 national Race events 30+ test days, 20 + National Boat Show 3 Airshows and endless marketing and charity events... Your inference that we are some pampered race team that just hangs out and spends sponsor $$ is BS. This is our company just like your A/C company is yours. You want a race company plan on working very hard to keep it running..... same... as you do now with your own co now.

Racing the Unlimited piston/turbine...... It's ridiculously expensive. If one has picked it to race and they are concerned about making the events due to cost...They picked the wrong class....at this point it (unlimited) is unsustainable unless you have a vey big sponsor,personal budget and and or a company dedicated to racing. Cherry picking the top events (Sarasota ,KW ) is hardly fair to the teams that make the efforts to attend the events throughout the year. Can you imagine if Miss GEICO just showed up for KW and let you parade around all year next year by yourself? That is the reasoning behind the 3 race min ..so during the year the boat count is higher than the 9-14 boats like at some of the races this year. No matter to us were here to race anyone that wants to lay it down. JC clearly makes the rules for his business, it's his prerogative.

AS a team...we help any and every team we possibly can whether its pulling a flipped boat, parts, tools, a crane at night to lift an engine ...you name it we go out of the way to invest in our sport and help all racers. We have put our $$ where our mouth is many times over.

Your KW BarTab...you may want to save some of that bar tab for next year.... :) Seriously...your the only guy I know that when you buy someone a drink means handing you 4 DRINKS...lol

See you in KW.

Wow, that was a long drawn out response. But we can finish this conversation in KW. For the record, I know how much you help every team in this sport ( even my team) and it wasn't a bashing post but rather a point about all of the other teams out there that try and make the races! You know as do I, how much $$ it costs to make a race, hell fuel alone cost almost 10k a race.

I can't wait to be racing against you guys next year, that being said we still need to acknowledge every team that makes any race (even if it is just one) that's how we continue to grow not only our class but the entire sport!

I will see you guys in KW, probably to borrow some tools! Lol

Cheers! Chris

LOL ...agreed.

Is there anybody else in here that doesn’t miss the negative (if not derogatory) comments about the status of racing competition from the “other white Mystic” of years past????

Comments were just made, clarified and a bar date set… spirit of competition at its best - well until the flag drops in KW.

Run them hard and bring them home safe guys!

Good luck to everyone competing!

good points by both MGR and SHeat.....i can see both sides. as a fan 'in the middle' of these debates, it is certainly disappointing to see a paucity of boats at certain 'non premium' events. yes, i can understand the cost limitations that most likely are the preventative component. but, at the end of the day, the guys that show up to the races are the guys that have a chance to win, and thus, generate more of a fan base and potential marketing and sponsor support. you can't win or generate a fan base if you don't play. not saying one way is wrong or right, just saying walking the talk is what gets the results. win, lose, or draw, i have seen the MGR team at almost every race - big and small and they get my respect (along with the smaller teams as well who show up on race day).

as for the qatar wikipedia post about improprieties in labor conditions, i don't think it's fair to judge the sheikh and his entire country based on a wikipeda article. every country in the world has skeletons in their closet, some more than others. if we look at what we know, sheikh hassan has injected much needed exposure and a fleet of great boats to bring up the quality, competition, and exposure of the sport. the guy even offered to pay for getting boats to the qatar races, but not enough interest was there. let's be objective and give credit to the individuals who deserve it, and those who don't deserve credit, or are mistreating unskilled laborers, well, yes, they can go jump in a !#@%^#^ing lake with an anchor tied to their ankles.

Just curious, but what are SBI's requirements to be able to run for the world championship? How many races do you have to attend throughout the year?