Is the sport of offshore racing dying?
09-21-2019, 09:15 PM
#61
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Just to clear things up. I dont mean offshore racing should go back to racing where they are miles away from shore like the Miami-Nassau, but they should race on longer courses with fewer turns and in rough seas. I have followed offshore since the 80`s and the sport was in my opinion at it`s peak in the 90`s but offshore racing has only gone downhill ever since the Supercat regs came in the year of 2000. It`s shame seing 40 ft boats racing on short and tight inshore circuits or on conditions where the sea is flat like glass.
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09-22-2019, 08:54 AM
#63
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I remember in the early days of racing, when the boats were out of sight......... Everyone waited in anticipation..... After 30 minutes or so, you saw the boats returning back to shore..... ( Too far away to make out who was leading as they headed toward you )...... Then, who survived and who WAS leading?? The excitement when they get closer and your boat was ahead!!
09-22-2019, 01:25 PM
#64
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I think the regulations made to bring offshore racing closer to shore by having more "spectator friendly" courses and the fact that the boats of the modern era are much lighter and shorter than what they used to be has ultimately killed the sport of offshore racing. The Supercat rules that were made ahead of the 2000 season are one of the dumbest decisions ever made in the history of powerboating, sure offshore racing has never been the best organized or a particularly professional sport but that decision has more or less killed offshore racing in my opinion. UIM Class 1 soon followed APBA and made their premier class a inshore racing series from 2003, both Supercat and Class 1 are now gone because nobody wants to see big cats running inshore races. "Offshore" racing needs to back to its roots in order to survive but i doubt the boats these days would last in rough seas. Anyway, i think offshore racing was way more spectacular back in the day when they actually raced offshore.
09-22-2019, 01:52 PM
#65
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Who are you?? Do you live in Norway? Have you been to or seen any OPA races this year? You are entitled to your opinion but I think you are way off the mark IMO. The racing is great from what I have heard from other racers and the crowds are up as well. I'm confused with the title of your thread because it you don't think it growing then you must not be following it very closely. You and some others may not like the style it is today but permits, "safety", and staffing the way of the old days would be all but impossible to do in the USA. IMO
Last edited by Joestlaachmkr; 09-22-2019 at 01:54 PM.
09-22-2019, 04:05 PM
#66
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I’ve never heard anyone say that the introduction of Super Cat in 2000 ruined the sport. A bit of a history lesson may be in order here. Just prior to the start of the 1997 season, APBA Offshore was bankrupt and on the verge of being sold off to SBI and USO. The ORC brought Gene Whipp in as category chairman and he saved the day, however he had to invest over $100,000 of his own money to get APBA Offshore out of debt.
In APBA’s final national race in South Padre Island in 1998, 12 boats showed up, and Gene had enough. He retired after the Worlds in Biloxi with only 68 boats in attendance.
Two open class boats showed up for the 1999 season opener in Fort Myers. By then, the courses had already moved inshore and were under 10 miles. At the second race in NH, the two open boats ran around on broken engines, battling each other at less than 50mph and barely on plane. The Super Cat concept was born right then and there as it was clear Open Class in America was dead.
Fast forward to the Worlds in 2000 and there were 17 Super Cats and 147 boats total. For the next three years, APBA averaged 85 boats at every race with several exceeding 100. Courses were shortened to 5-6 miles and extra turns, lefts and rights were added. Anyone who raced in Daytona and Savannah knows we raced in big water too.
APBA Offshore had secured a five year title sponsorship deal with GM, and was producing 2 hours of national television for each race. The sport was entering another renaissance.
The sport was crushed prior to the 2003 Worlds when several Super Cat teams lead a boycott of APBA Offshore to form their own sanctioning body, which quickly failed. It’s been all downhill since, until this year when OPA and P-1 joined forces. With respect, 20 years after it was conceptualized, the Super Cat class remains strong and largely unchanged.
In APBA’s final national race in South Padre Island in 1998, 12 boats showed up, and Gene had enough. He retired after the Worlds in Biloxi with only 68 boats in attendance.
Two open class boats showed up for the 1999 season opener in Fort Myers. By then, the courses had already moved inshore and were under 10 miles. At the second race in NH, the two open boats ran around on broken engines, battling each other at less than 50mph and barely on plane. The Super Cat concept was born right then and there as it was clear Open Class in America was dead.
Fast forward to the Worlds in 2000 and there were 17 Super Cats and 147 boats total. For the next three years, APBA averaged 85 boats at every race with several exceeding 100. Courses were shortened to 5-6 miles and extra turns, lefts and rights were added. Anyone who raced in Daytona and Savannah knows we raced in big water too.
APBA Offshore had secured a five year title sponsorship deal with GM, and was producing 2 hours of national television for each race. The sport was entering another renaissance.
The sport was crushed prior to the 2003 Worlds when several Super Cat teams lead a boycott of APBA Offshore to form their own sanctioning body, which quickly failed. It’s been all downhill since, until this year when OPA and P-1 joined forces. With respect, 20 years after it was conceptualized, the Super Cat class remains strong and largely unchanged.
Last edited by Mike A.; 09-22-2019 at 04:08 PM.
09-22-2019, 05:28 PM
#67
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Fast forward to the Worlds in 2000 and there were 17 Super Cats and 147 boats total. For the next three years, APBA averaged 85 boats at every race with several exceeding 100. Courses were shortened to 5-6 miles and extra turns, lefts and rights were added. Anyone who raced in Daytona and Savannah knows we raced in big water too.
APBA Offshore had secured a five year title sponsorship deal with GM, and was producing 2 hours of national television for each race. The sport was entering another renaissance.
The sport was crushed prior to the 2003 Worlds when several Super Cat teams lead a boycott of APBA Offshore to form their own sanctioning body, which quickly failed. It’s been all downhill since, until this year when OPA and P-1 joined forces. With respect, 20 years after it was conceptualized, the Super Cat class remains strong and largely unchanged.
APBA Offshore had secured a five year title sponsorship deal with GM, and was producing 2 hours of national television for each race. The sport was entering another renaissance.
The sport was crushed prior to the 2003 Worlds when several Super Cat teams lead a boycott of APBA Offshore to form their own sanctioning body, which quickly failed. It’s been all downhill since, until this year when OPA and P-1 joined forces. With respect, 20 years after it was conceptualized, the Super Cat class remains strong and largely unchanged.
09-22-2019, 06:31 PM
#69
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09-22-2019, 08:16 PM
#70
Chevy-Harley fan
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<div style="text-align:left;">I’ve never heard anyone say that the introduction of Super Cat in 2000 ruined the sport. A bit of a history lesson may be in order here. Just prior to the start of the 1997 season, APBA Offshore was bankrupt and on the verge of being sold off to SBI and USO. The ORC brought Gene Whipp in as category chairman and he saved the day, however he had to invest over $100,000 of his own money to get APBA Offshore out of debt.<br /><br />In APBA’s final national race in South Padre Island in 1998, 12 boats showed up, and Gene had enough. He retired after the Worlds in Biloxi with only 68 boats in attendance.<br /><br />Two open class boats showed up for the 1999 season opener in Fort Myers. By then, the courses had already moved inshore and were under 10 miles. At the second race in NH, the two open boats ran around on broken engines, battling each other at less than 50mph and barely on plane. The Super Cat concept was born right then and there as it was clear Open Class in America was dead.<br /><br />Fast forward to the Worlds in 2000 and there were 17 Super Cats and 147 boats total. For the next three years, APBA averaged 85 boats at every race with several exceeding 100. Courses were shortened to 5-6 miles and extra turns, lefts and rights were added. Anyone who raced in Daytona and Savannah knows we raced in big water too.<br /><br />APBA Offshore had secured a five year title sponsorship deal with GM, and was producing 2 hours of national television for each race. The sport was entering another renaissance.<br /><br />The sport was crushed prior to the 2003 Worlds when several Super Cat teams lead a boycott of APBA Offshore to form their own sanctioning body, which quickly failed. It’s been all downhill since, until this year when OPA and P-1 joined forces. With respect, 20 years after it was conceptualized, the Super Cat class remains strong and largely unchanged.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
Thanks for what was probably the best all around package of offshore races. With the Speedvision productions on TV, the one design and Chris's bat boat rentals, F1, F2, and all the other regular classes with big boat counts, good venues, kilo speed runs, good tech inspections, (lucky their was SBI for the ones that didn't like that) something for everyone. And OSS people still leave me with the same feeling as a snitch does when around them. Every era had it's high points from the 80's with everyone trying to build a better mouse trap. Never knew what to expect for engines when looking in different bilges. The crews were a side show by themselves. OPT had its Glamour and Glitz, big boat counts with incredible different boat manufacturers and sponsors normal people recognized. Look what the Jersey Boyz have accomplished with OPA. The EFI packages have taken away the eye candy part of it but that was what made Key West great, still had the poker run boats for that. I'm still a firm believer in "A bad day at the races is still better than a good day at work"
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