thoughts on 2014 sbi unlimited class
 

so 2013 was the year of miss geico and the kw finals were essentially a two horse race between them and cms both running merc 1650. the competition though, is not about to have a repeat routing like last year.

some examples: gasse is returning with their 1650s, qatar 613 is also re powering with 1650's, alex and ani is re powering with close to the same hp via stotler, marine concepts upgrading with 1550 boos, cintron rumored to also be re powering north of 1550, and finally the biggest news of all, the brand new mystic entry from team envy, again with north of 1500 hp. there may even be others upgrading, that i'm forgetting to mention.

what do you guys think the chances are for a geico championship repeat? will we have a new king this year, or will marc, scott, gary, and team pull it off again?

They should all join super cat so that there is like 15 boats in ONE CLASS!! Lol

well, had it not been for addition this year of gasse, cintron, and envy, i would have agreed with you. 2013 was not terribly exciting in ul class with so many drop outs. i think with everyone in supercat it would be a bit unfair visually, with all these new 1600/1700 hp ul's the super cats would not look very competitive. now what i really believe is that sbi should roll up the turbines into ul class. they are getting close in power to the t53 now, and there is really only one turbine that we can expect to see at most races and that's hassan's new 96. not too confident mary mac will be back. one frikkin boat is not a class!!

Well ya, I of course meant, that the teams should just get boats and run super cat. 15 boats in a class is better than 7-8 in two classes

Yes, there are a lot of unlimited boats out there but I really doubt you'll see any of them run a full season. Other than Key West, I would think you'll never have 4-5 at a race all season long if you are lucky.

good point ryan. but i think this yr, you'll see at least a few more per race than last rear. kw for sure, i know everyone tends to preserve equipment for the wc, so we'll have a pretty good showing there. big question remains: will the more powerful than last yr competition be ale to take the crown from geico.

The unlimited Class will be the same as the Turbine Class was and is. You will not see most UL boats racing together at most of the races, much like the Turbine Class, when there was only one boat racing. That being said I still loved to watch them and wish they would make it down to St. Clair River Classic but always loved to watch Miss Geico Team U.S.A. no matter if she was the only boat, it is what Unlimited is all about.

The big question is: Given the number of Unlimited-class boats out there, why could the race-to-race turnout still be so low? The answer is simple: cost. Even for the very wealthy, fielding an Unlimited-class team is frightfully expensive. Those of you with longer memories will recall Open class, which not only became so prohibitively expensive that it reduced itself to two boats (Alcone and Drambuie) but also gave rise to the less economically absurd Super Cat class under APBA Offshore, which is now called Superboat in SBI.

As a fan and a reporter, I am pulling for the success of the Unlimited class. In a perfect world, everyone would agree to run in one giant class, but the offshore racing world has never been perfect. That people are interested in fielding boats in whatever class they choose in a sport that has fallen on hard times and appears to be making a rebound is a good thing. But to elaborate on what Ryan Beckley wrote above, it comes down to cost.

absolutely correct matt and ryan on the prohibitive cost of things. based on purely unscientific assumptions, i think we have a wee bit more action coming into ul class this year, than last yr for sure. not only with the teams all upping power to match/close the gap on the merc 1650's, but for instance: gasse who hardly ran last year, i have seen confirmations that they are running 4 races this year one of which is clearwater. i've never seen them in cw before. several of the other boats are also spending $$ on big power, whereas in years past it seemed other than the geico turbine mystic, most everyone was south of 1500+/- hp. seems to be a change in resource allocation this year. team envy is also an example of new big hp dollars coming into the class. hassan as well, but he has a slightly different financial model than most racers, but still, his influence is beneficial to increase the competition in multiple classes.

Who gives a flying F...!!! You guys are proving why- great UL is stupid expensive, inconsistent and not many teams all show up at same race!! Just proves my point more that they should just get more efficient and do super cat for less money and more points!! My point again!! Just a bunch of rich *****s that want to race with their money and not be competitive!! Ditch UL and save that **** for PR show boats!! And yes Geico, go race in a series and not some people in SOME races!! UL class is the perfect example of WORTHLESS CLASS!!