bubbatee

For the record Gene Whipp founded the Sarasota Race. He was a staunch APBA man and a legendary figure of that area, even after his death in 2000 due to a battle with cancer.

http://www.thunderboats.org/history/history0411.html

The race was an APBA event up until the APBA Offshore LLC debacle around 2002-2003. At that time SBI came in as the sanctioning body.

Kevin Brown, another iconic figure for the race and area, continued the legacy of Gene Whipp and was another pillar of the community. KB solidified his legendary status there as well and his life ended much too early as well.

I can't imagine either would be please with what has happened here in their sport and in their beloved community.

Cash Bar

Jesus.

If anyone, and I mean ANYONE, that was curious about racing read these posts they would think(correctly) that all of you bad-mouthing any new ideas(and each other) are the MAIN reasons it's less than a club sport. For all of the positive work that has been done by teams and cities that try, it comes crashing down as soon as anyone does a google search and reads this gibberish.

Good luck getting sponsors when you can't even be objective. Thinking outside of the box is what keeps things moving.

compedgemarine

actually, for the record, the race was founded by Gene Whipp, my father, Ernest Schmidt, then vice-president of Chris Craft, Dick Genth, then president of Chris Craft and Bob Long, then president of Wellcraft. my dad and Dick were sitting around talking racing and wondered why there was no race in Sarasota when Chris Craft, Wellcraft and Excalibur as well as a couple others were all located there. they called Gene who owned Gulf Wind Marine and Bob who ran Wellcraft and they all sat down and put the race together. the first year of the race we held a chili cookoff in our back yard for all the race teams. there was far less *****ing and politics back then.

bubbatee

Certainly meant no slight to any of those gentlemen. Shows how things got done even among competitors then.

compedgemarine

no offense taken, just pointing out how the race came about. Gene was a good friend and a heck of a guy who didnt take crap from anyone. the reason that the founders handed everything over to Gene was they knew he would get the job done and would not play politics. He laid out the rules and everyone played by them, rich, poor, seasoned or amature, he didnt care, you all played by the rules laid out. I had a lot of respect for him because of that. we had a great time racing back then and you didnt have to worry about favoritism or egos. when I was involved in racing I always said "I dont care if the rules say we have to run a briggs&stratton so long as everyone runs a briggs&stratton". everyone playing by the same rulebook is what made the challange fun. yes, Gene ruled with an iron fist of sorts but that is what the sport needs and what has been lacking for a long time. If you want the sport to be professional then you have to lead like a professional, the teams have to be treated like professionals and the teams have to act like professionals. if you want racing to be a hobby then it will remain as it has been for all too long. just my opinion so no offense to those that disagree.

RELIABLE ONE

Well said Greg,..Bob

brian walls

I go to at least 3 sbi races a year the up side might be to actually have some boats show up every year I hear about how good next year will be only to be disappointed come race season .now sbi wants to get 50k up front to race now that's crazy kill the turbin class why don't they let them run t53s with the extreem class ?? 1650 turbos racing 1450 to 1800 turbine at least gieico might have someone to race sometime . sbi seems to be all about the money pay to race ,pay to be in parade, pay for crew ,pay for boat reg .no wonder the boat count is so low and will get worse if they don't change I'm ready for a change

Xtremeracing

Just for the record the unlimited class came up with the model for the $50,000 not SBI, ppl really need to post facts not BS. I know it sounds better and more drama but ppl really rather read the truth. The turbine class killed itself again what r you basing that on, if they dont show how do you run a 1 boat class REALLY. Give a class a World Championship for running themselves REALLY. You might think its a good idea running the turbines with the unlimited whats so good about that? I'm sure you have asked an Unlimited team right NOT. What makes you think 4 or 5 unlimited racers want to be racing to get whipped by a turbine. Ask the fans on the beach and they will tell you the turbine won the race dont think the unlimited camp would be to happy. Here is a novel idea how about all of the 1 and 2 boat classes build a boat for an active class and build that class wow you might actually 8 to 10 boats in a class. Build a boat for a class NOT a class for a boat , basic 101 boat racing.

klaatutooyou

The last statement on the bottom page of that web page tells it all .

The ( caboose is loose ).

T2x

Great points...... when any new idea comes up all you hear is "kill it before it spreads".....

Bottom line is Offshore racing is no where near what it was or could be, and the current model(s) are not solving the true problem.... lack of unification. Until one organization emerges as the clear leader and eliminates the rest nothing will change. While a third group seems to go against that grain, it may serve to break the stalemate between the two current groups. This stalemate and related rancor has scared off any hopes of major sponsorships and media coverage. Maybe a clean sheet of paper is, in fact, the answer. I have no idea who this group is, nor do I really care. For all I know they may dissolve like an Alka Seltzer tablet. But if they fail because a bunch of boo birds, trying to protect their current sacred status quo, drive them out of town on a rail....then we all lose.......again...ad nauseum.