CLA

These damn kids with their iPods, GPS, fuel injected motors, and vacumn bag lay ups. lol

boostbros

Geico boys i mean no disrespect I have been to key west many times from the early 90s when it was truly nuts and fun we have slowly transitioned from boat racers to pilots we all used to be standing in an open cockpit often 3 of us true we did not go 200 heck we were screaming to see 100! now your inside an enclosed office same as an airplane with F16 helmets and 02mask on trying to fly a plane without wings or aerodynamic control . maybe its just me but i did enjoy the old racing better from both inside the boat and from on shore watching you wiping your googles to get the salt film off to see the next turn while beating on the throttle man to slow down those old V bottoms thundered by! often it was very close racing. its time to look close at what racing has evolved into maybe its time for old school racing day in keywest during the worlds i would love to see some of that great old iron running put a 120 mph speed limit on it i think it would be a big hit around here vintage snowmobile shows and racing have become a big hit

MissGeicoRacing

[ATTACH=CONFIG]515955[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]515956[/ATTACH]Boost, I kind of figured you were a racer from the direction you were coming. You'd be surprised at the similarities. Instead of salt you are wiping sweat, you can't see because you just got hosed by a 300 ft roost with enough power so shudder the boat. Judging distances and water conditions while you are seated looking down a deck behind a windscreen becomes that much harder seeing how close the boat is behind or to the side require a screen or mirror (both of which will be broken when you need it most). Turning ...well we can come into a turn behind the fastest V bottom in the world ..on the outside....and exit before them. Performance, speed, technical evolution of our sport. I learned to look deeper into what the old guys had accomplished through guys like Gerry Gilbreath and Rich Luhrs...I used to dismiss but my eyes were opened after being able to spend time with these guys.... Still boat racers with lion hearts and balls of steel to this day.

At one of the OFF get togethers I spent some time with one of the more well known "Offshore Legends" we spoke for hours on this subject. He had watched us practice and race and the more he watched he realized that we are one and the same. The same racer..different body, boats and rules. I venture to say (Rich help me with this) if you took the 5 top guys from the Flat bottom race and the 5 top guys from the 80's ..90's and so on.... the personalities and guts are damn near identical. One must meet a Sirois, Odell Lewis, Sebold and a host of others...The dNA is the same...just different machines. How a hundred felt to you on the open ocean wrung out....It's the same exact feeling to us at 150-180. and yes we will still rock it when we need to. ..

It's a shame that the OFF meetings went away with Housers passing...so valuable to our sport. Stop by one of the races or come by our shop and we'll give you a deeper look at what we are doing and where we are going. Might just change your view.

Best

MG

boostbros

mark i am up on the tech the guy i raced with was the brother of rick in the aqua mania turbine mystic. my brother is head of a turbine power plant with 4 ge humongus turbines and 2 steam turbines making 1300mw. i think it comes down to with all the hp we have today and hulls that can harness it is racing better today or was it more fun to watch the older open boats? today i would pay to watch those little oriental long boats with the funky surface drive on that vid they posted here before i pay to watch offshore of today whats better for the spectator? todays tech or yesterdays ? i know its a tricky question but i think its a good question that should be asked as a way to rebuild the offshore class of racing i know you loved the blow torches but i am glad you are back to piston power! dig up one of your old open boats and bring it to the races .my favorite guy that i talked to was tom gentry he was a true gentleman and would explain what he was doing with turbos i was watching from the galion when he rolled one of our sports great losses

caseyh

They need a factory type open class. If I had the money I would be in a little B class boat

T2x

My oldest son's name is Richard "Bowman" Luhrs.... Named after Hank, who was killed in the 1966 Orange Bowl 9 hour marathon...a race I was in...

T2x

T2x

Hey Granet...you've been fishing too much....OFF is still alive and well and was held in Tavares in November.

See you there next year as it will be scheduled not to conflict with KW....

T2x

MissGeicoRacing

Rich,
I must be getting old...I missed it

Boost. The problem is that the "old" boats would disappear offshore and no fan will sit around to wait for them to come back now a days. The speeds of the new V bottoms are so fast they require canopies. Canopies require safety teams.....Safety teams have a set amount of real-estate they can effectively cover. None of us wants to die stuck in one of these boats. Recreating 80 mph offshore running can be done with todays center consoles but since watching offshore for the most part is FREE it will continue to be up to the promotors and sanctioning bodies on what will develop class and venue wise. We love the old dinosaurs too (just finished building a sick twin turbine 47 Apache (old INXS) but their day has come and gone on a modern day race course (outside of bracket classes). Still fun to drive them and to watching them run offshore is the coolest. Theres nothing like and old 73 Stingray Vette but comparing to todays C7 ??? Nostalgia is a wonderful thing

SS930

Oh no, he was in that fleet running one of his early "42" Fountains!

28 V

"As fast as Porpoises"...thanks for posting Rich...