I'm just going to jump in here and try to clarify why you will not see open ocean offshore racing. There are numerous reasons I'll try to touch on a few and I'm sure you'll get the point.
1st being for safety, open ocean races sound great actually good enough that It could probably make the big screen for a movie. But in all reality it's unsafe and that is the number one reason why I don't think you'll see open offshore racing again. Its hard enough now for the divers and medical to do rescue and try to save lives. And believe me we have some of the best medical in the world speaking as an SBI racer the team that we have is like family they know each and everyone of our boats better than we do ourselves. They are never given as much credit is due without divers and medical there would be no offshore racing. They've literally saved my life twice and my partner's once. So I know it sounds great and wonderful and really cool like you guys say to watch the boats fly through the air but it's not a reality. Until you're in one and put your life on the line every single time you strap in and know that it's probably your last run then you'll have a better understanding for why it's not practical. It wouldn't even be fair to the divers or Medics to try to attempt to rescue and for 5 foot Seas and jeopardize their own lives to try to save someone else's and they will that's the type of people that they are they would sacrifice to try to help someone else.

Then you have sponsors and cities that are paying the money for these races, they don't want fans on the beach to see 10 minutes of a 1 hour race it's very boring. One of the main reasons the races are getting shorter and shorter courses is because the cities and spectators want to see more action and be able to watch the boats pretty much for an entire lap.

Unless something major changes I'm not certain it will survive even as it currently sits. Clearwater this year was my first time attending a live "offshore" event by my boat, and I have to say....what an incredibly underwhelming experience. Hours and hours of watching one boat drive by....then another......eventually another...hey those next 2 are almost close enough to see each other...then minutes of nothing.....and then they eventually come by again. Or not, maybe they broke? Who knows? The single thing that would have changed that experience for so much positive would have been an audio broadcast. Give me an app or website that I can get an announcer so we know what's going on and it changes everything about the experience. Some of the day we didn't even know who was leading, certainly didn't know what lap they were on, or any other useful info.

I only raced offshore and never inshore and I can say that inshore racing looks much more dangerous to me. The speed factor alone makes it more dangerous. In the open ocean you will never see these speeds. The ocean has a way of regulating speed and the longer distances allow racers use better judgment over the course. Not every corner needs to be fought for as if it were the finish line.

As far as offshore/inshore racing being a spectator sport - it isn't. Never was and never will be. Even back in the day with huge crowds, it was never about watching the racing. It's the spectacle of the event and watching cool boats, and occasionally see someone famous. There should be 1 national race organization and then have the local clubs. Local clubs are a great way to start racing and it gives you something to shoot for in the national organization. This current dilution started way back when the big boys wanted their own class. Well, they got it and nothing has ever been the same.

Just my 2 cents

what do you suggest this major change should be?

We would personally run "endurance" style racing IF there were fuel stops allowed. Most boats pleasure or race don't hold enough fuel for a longer run. Would be cool if your time stopped as you pulled in and started after leaving the marina. Some type of rule where you can't wrench on you boat off the clock only wait in line for fuel and fill type of thing. I'm not spending another katrillion dollars on a second set of bladders to race a few times then have to replace 4 when they leak again ;-)

I don't know much else about offshore powerboat racing besides that something needs to be done to improve the sport... drastically and soon!

I really miss the Bimini Run. Real shame it was canceled.

Very cool to see the variety of boats that ran, too.

Hey, can I get a free Speed On The Water T-shirt?

no !

Yes send $35 for shipping to :Speed on the water

In true "old school" offshore powerboat racing in today's era, providing adequate safety assets remains the biggest challenge. Here's a hypothetical:

Starting and finishing in Key West Harbor, an offshore course goes 50 miles straight offshore to a point marked by a turn boat and buoy. In relatively calm conditions, a fleet of canopied catamarans running 100 mph can get there in about 30 minutes. Same goes for the return as long as the conditions hold up.

One of the teams rolls in the turn offshore. The driver is critically injured and is retrieved from the boat by the divers in a rescue helicopter following the fleet. Now, how do you get that person back to dry land and a trauma center within the "Golden Hour" paramedics and emergency physicians say is so essential? Pontoons on the helicopter skids for water landing and victim and retrieval? Not likely. Coast Guard helicopters flying support with rescue baskets? Again, not likely. No, the likely solution is stabilizing the victim and then transporting him to shore by rescue boat—one positioned near the turn boat.

Now, a canopied raceboat can make the 50-mile run in 30 minutes—still not great. A center console properly equipped with medical supplies and such running at 60 mph is going to take close to an hour get back, and that's after getting the victim stabilized and on board. By the time victim is transferred to the waiting ambulance at the designated pickup point and then transported to a trauma center, you've definitely lost that Golden Hour. And that's a best case scenario, where the rescue boat isn't far from the accident scene. Even with, let's say, 25 rescue boats, 50 miles (100 miles roundtrip) is a lot of course to cover.

So what did they do in the old days of distant offshore racing? Quite simply, they took their chances.