How can this sport grow?
 

Since it’s time for the World Championship Races, I’d like to expand on something that Shane mentioned last week. So get your popcorn popping and lets solve all the problems that plague the sport that we all love.

Is there any hope for Offshore racing to get beyond the point of where it is today? If so, how can it happen? Here is what I see.

Currently, racers (read customers) are paying the sanctioning bodies to supply them with a racecourse (read product) that has Coast Guard approval and safety equipment to assist any racer that has a problem. With a time, place, CG approval and a few divers in choppers we now have an established time and place for a guy to race against other guys with fast boats and some cash in their pockets. These sanctioning bodies (read businesses) are making their livelihood from the income derived from the racers pockets by means of registration fees. Why not? Should they do it for free as a volunteer? Since the sanctioning body is a business in search of revenues, it needs as many customers as possible. This means they must allow anyone with a boat and a wallet to race, hence a class to fit any boat. This is clearly the tail wagging the dog.

The reason that the sport will never grow into a mainstream motor sport is because it is impossible to make spectators pay to watch the race, which could shift the revenue burden from the racers to the fans and ultimately to sponsors. Collecting money from fans would require some type of stadium that just doesn’t exist. Since a paid gait attendance can’t be included in promotional materials, gaining sponsorship of any real substance is next to impossible. Because there are no stadiums to race in, we are constantly looking for new locations to hold the races. Because no companies can directly see a profit from sponsoring a boat race, it is difficult to come up with a race sponsor to cover the purse.

Even though racing is free to watch, only a few thousand people make the trip to the race sites. So where is the demand for the sport? In New Orleans there was a good crowd but I doubt it was more than 3000 people. And some of those people did pay $10 a head to watch the race from the pit area while other watched for free at the park next door. Still others watched for free from their boats.

By no means am I saying anything is wrong with offshore racing nor am I saying it can be made better. What I am saying is that, offshore racing is what it is, and it ain’t going to be any bigger as far as media attention. Yes we may get more boats at a race but that won’t equate to more media attention.

Until an uninformed spectator can understand who won, it will be the same as it’s always been. A rich mans hobby with a small but devoted following of fans like you and me.

I hope I’m wrong, what are some of your thoughts?

Any number of Ideas
1. Sure have an OSO Race organization meaning exactly that.And looking at #”2”
2. Bring Back Sea Racing
3. Reduce the Number of Classes Too something Reasonable/Understandable
4. Try to make Betting on the Boats Legal, like for real money. Thru Vegas or Atlantic City
5. Put up live feedback to an Auditorium! Hell I would pay a lot of Money to have a good seat and watch the WHOLE race.
6. Pay for view races on Line.
7. Make a Class with the rules are as follows 1000 cubic inches NA and a 50’ limit the rest free style Period LOL Then maybe Guy’s like me will feel like building one off Creative Race Boats once again.
I mean you spend heavy Bucks to have the next guy have a boat exactly yours How about a break!!!
Then we can get Sponsors back

Ron please give me a call sometime and we can chat about the biz...i do think it is going somewhere or we would not be doing it! will you be in KW? i leave in 10 hours dragggging the poker run boat down too....i'll dump that in miami and head over to donzi to get that...after 9pm my cell if free anywhere so i got all the time in the world to talk while driving....besides we share a common thing or two!LOL

the "FACTORY" classes are the ONLY way it's going to happen.

Just a question: "How many Boat Manufacturers are sponsoring anything in the sport?" Can we see a list?:confused:

RonP, When was the last time we saw Point Pleasant like this?

I was able to make NO a business trip as I have a customer there. No customers in Key West so I'll be home, hopefully listening on the web radio. Make sure you say hello to Eddie and Junior in Wazzup.

Steve, those are some neat ideas but probable not the first steps.
One thing I strongly agree with is that all races should be run in the ocean. The races in NO sucked because the water was so flat. The small classes are boring if they aren't flying off waves.

Joe, you bring up a good point. Why is Nascar more popular than CART? Is it becuase people can relate better? I also think your saying to have fewer classes. This would involve the company having less customers, or do they have seperate races for the none factory boats? Don't they do that now by racing on Sat and Sun? After all, it's not easy to set up a race course, so when you have it, use it as much as possible.

What about SuperCats? Damn those things are exciting to watch and four or five boats can make for a decent race. I agree that Super Vs are no different than F2 boats to the spectator.

It seems like any type of real change is going to take some hard choices and possible loss of revenue in the short term for the long term goal.

Sharkey, is that you on the other side of the inlet?

Who else could that be......;) :D :D :D

The biggerst thing... MAKE A SCHEDUAL WELL AHEAD OF TIME AND STICK TO IT!!!!!

Jon

Jon, That was one of the reasons I think Point Pleasant was so successful. Everyone knew that it was always the same Wednesday in July every year. There used to be a time where people planned their vacations around that week just to be in Point. The picture above was only a partial view of the crowds that race used to draw. You wouldn't be able to see the rocks on the jetties that was how many people would show... But after the race was moved to AC that one year......it was down hill on the attendance from there...:( :(

I think the reason the schedule changes is because the sponsor was talked into spending the money in the first place and then had a change of heart at the last minute. Hence the race site changes.

If the sponsors made money from hosting the race, they would be jumping up and down to bring the event to town.

allow teh spectators to get closer to eth action. the first 2 NYC races I was at i watched from shore. Thsi year i was in eth middle of the coure on DJD post. We are talkign a whole new ballgame. When 20 boats come hauling ass towards you you can feel the pounding of the exhaust in your chest its quite a rush.

Shorter courses. Perhaps slower boat but run them in a tighta rea so the fleet doesn;t get so spread out. towards the end of the race when there are 4 boats left its can get kind of dull to watch.

Announcers liek at car racers. Hell i know abotu offshore and i can barely tell who's winnign overall let alone by class.

Kill the bull****. All racing is politics BUT offshore has more drama than politics. Set a schedule and stick to it. NO MATTER WHAT. Delaying a race 2 hours for no apparent reason otehr than disorganization just doesn't look pro.

More hottie in tiny bikinis. Why is havasu abnd loto so popular? Fast boats hot ladies lots of booze its a party and a spectacle. Racing has teh fast boats and the booze now it needs soem more eye candy pehaps combine a bikini contest with the race and have the contestants be trophy girls.

Also boating has a limited appeal in the general market. Everyone drievs cars. SO it natural that the genneral public can relate to car racing (who hasn't once dreamed of being a car racer?) BUT not everyone likes boat, let alone go fast boats. I think it need somehitg other than monster engein to get the public to relate. I know my favorite thign abotu boat races in the engiens. WHen you hear 10 boats fire with big blocks and open exhausts it get my heart pumping. Unfortunatly not all peopel are HP junkies like us.

Ron I agree however if the Sanctioning bodies want to make it a popular sport then they should look at other ways to hold the event. I understand that it costs A HUGE amount of money to run these races with all the sapport and what not, HOWEVER if the sanctioning body wants to keep its fan base (without whom there is no racing) then a set scedual with NO changes under ANY situation is the ONLY way that this will happen. Look at all the people that had tickets to this years Nationals that god moved. I mean if I was a fan I would be PISSED. As a guy that raced in the past it was SO frustrating to have spent TONS of money getting the boat ready to race, registration and all that, just to find out that the race is cancelled, and there is no getting your money back. So I am now taking a stand of NOT racing any more. Sure I am just one guy but I know a lot of other guys that have the same feelings as me as far as racing and watching. When I drove my boat down to the SBI races this year it was more for the fun of the run into the city and hooking up with the OSO crew then to watch the races.

Jon

CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT BACK IN THE DAYS OF PT.PLEASANT(BIG CROWDS) APBA HAD PEOPLE THAT RAN IT THAT KNEW IT WAS, GUYS JUST WANTING TO HAVE A FUN WEEKEND AND SHOW OFF THEIR EXPERTIZE. THEY KNEW IT WAS NEVER GOING TO BE THE NEXT NASCAR. IF YOU LOOK AT THE BEST YEARS OF OFFSHORE THAT'S WHEN WE HAD HEAD GUYS LOOKING OUT FOR YOU THE RACER, NOT THEIR OWN AGENDA. RACERS COME AND GO BECAUSE THE COST HAS GOTTEN TO BE WAY OUT OF LINE. SOME TEAM CAN'T MAKE IT A FULL YEAR, I MEANT A SEASON, WE DON'T RACE EVERY WEEK. I AM NOT SURE WHAT 1ST PLACE GETS IN F-2 OR SUPER-V BUT IT'S PROBABLY NOT MUCH MORE THAN RACERS GOT TWENTY YEARS AGO. WE'VE COME A LONG WAY BABY? AND WHEATHER IT'S APBA OR SUPERBOAT THEY EACH HAVE THEIR OWN AGENDA AND IT'S NOT THE RACER OR THE FAN, BOTTOM LINE IT'S THEIR BACKERS. PONDER THAT AND YES IT'S TRUE TWENTY YEARS AGO WE RACED IN THE OCEAN WHERE NO ONE COULD SEE YOU EXECEPT FOR THE BEGINNING AND END BUT WE HAD FUN AND WE RACED HARD AND WE FELT GOOD AFTER IT WAS OVER. SORE AND HURT BUT ENJOYED OURSELVES AND THERE WAS NO BACK STABBING NOT LIKE TODAY.

my .02

1. Don't overemphazie booze and bikinis. If the sport is to grow it has to appeal to a variety of people.

2. Don't ever expect the casual fan to understand the classes.
I don't think they ever will.

3. Don't charge admission to the race. Charge admission to the
wet and dry pits. It works. Of course the racers and boats have to be accessible to the public.

4. Do develope regional racing. If we had a couple more regions such as the Great Lakes, POPRA, etc. racing would be better off.
These regions usually offer fewer classes and good racing.

5. Do have professionals produce the races. It is very time consuming.

6. Do stick to the schedule.

The sanctioning bodies need to be under one roof (not going to happen:( ) to get more boats at a race site. Try and put on a Poker run the same weekend. I am sure alot of these guys would love to REALLY race each other after spending a day having fun with their freinds and family in the poker run. Move the races OFFSHORE where the action is, maybe you can charter a day cruise ship, or some of the larger party fishing boats for front row viewing with closed circuit coverage of the race. Maybe bring back some kind of open class (big wallet) boats this might bring back some bigger sponsers for bragging rights. Just look what Budweiser did at LOTO to still be the top dog. Having the same hardware on some classes makes for good tight racing, but I think alot of us motorheads love to see someone try to build a better mouse trap. Remember when it use to be "Win on Sunday sell on Monday". What better way to get parts manufactures to show off their new ideas than under race conditions. If you can get more boats at a race site there will be a better oppertunity to get more action for the TV coverage, this is a area where they could use some improvement. I have alot of motorsport freinds that just don't understand the boating thing, maybe a little less small talk and a little more of the ROAR of the engines might get their attention. Long live OFFSHORE racing. It is a good family sport and the only one I can get my wife to go to. :)

Offshore racing will never attain the status of automibile racing because, drum roll please, it's boring as hell to watch and John Q Public doesn't relate to it and TV will not do it justice.

We're into it because we're into boats and have experienced a chine walk, catching air, and the on the edge feeling of a well trimmed boat at speed. As said earlier in the thread, everybody at one time or another has dreamt of or imagined himself racing their car. They flip on the TV and see Bubba drifting a Monte Carlo through turn 4 at Daytona right next to Cledus in a Taurus with the image of the fans and the colors and they've got surround sound turned up and it's just like that last minute pass before the exit ramp and they're hooked.

Now watch an offshore race on TV. Snooze. Where's the image of speed? Nowhere since the only contrast in the background is a vast expense of water. "Look Dad, those guys are going 130!" "Coulda fooled me Son, it don't look any faster than the old Century with the 327 I had back in the '70s. Man oh man now THAT was a fast boat!" And where's the sound of those open exhausts? All I hear on Speedvision is some announcer and helicopter blades.

Face it, you want commercial success in offshore racing? It ain't gonna happen. Be glad that there's folks out there with huge bank accounts and an ego big enough to go spend enough to be the fastest until someone else comes in with a bigger bank account and a bigger ego.

If it weren't for those guys, there would be no offshore racing.

This is a good thread. Thoughts and suggestions instead of bashing. 'Bout time.
My .02:

In my opinion, any sport can be sold to the general public. In a big way. Example: wrestling. If you can sell THAT, you can sell anything!
Be honset with yourself as to the product you are selling. We think the boats and the competition is what sells. Wrong! Yes, the boats are cool, but what you are really selling is TV exposure. NASCAR enjoys a great sponsor base because the cars are on TV for a long period of time. Drag racing is tougher because each car spends so little time in front of the camera.
Gimmicks: lets face facts, sex sells. Pit crew girls and dock girls would go a long way to sell boat racing.
Rivalries: Essential. Everyone wants to see two guys bash each other and take their aggressions out on each other on a race course.
crashes: Very essential. The sad fact is that people love carnage and destruction. They will pay dearly to see it as well.
Youhave to understand and accept, even cater to the demographics of the people you are trying to reach. Face the facts and realize that the average Joe Schmoe is not very intelligent, and really just wants to see some T&A with maybe a crash or two thrown in.
As far as the sanctioning body is concerned, their primary function is to line up venues, promote the events, and PUT TOGETHER A GREAT TV PACKAGE!! Easier said than done.
I think it is safe to say that without TV coverage, this sport will never be more than it is today.
It should also be noted that when you enter a poker run, you pay a large (relatively) entry fee, expecting most of that entry to be paid back. Realize that very little promotion or sanctioning goes into a poker run. It is different with organized racing.
Sanctioning bodies must make and STRICTLY enforce the rules. From what I can tell of offshore racing, some of the guys who spend big money EXPECT the rules to bend for them. This will never work.
In short, if you really want offshore to become a big sport, call Bruton Smith and get ready for the circus.

Is unlimited hydros any more popular? Ask SteveDavid. Big boats, closed course, big sponsors. I don't know but hook up with them somehow. The course and safety and TV is there just add 3 classes--batboat, F1, and F2. Run heats and transfer? Their model seems to work. I would love to see O'Berta sponsor or at least 'boatwrap' boats isn all three classes and follow the sponson and not necessarily the boat or driver and they win all classes that day. And of course the girls--Puder you are good for something.

Yeah! What you guys said! I am enjoying the dialogue here. Very interesting. I am glad to see people are starting to recognize some of the things that RonP, T2x, Philip and I have been saying for quite some time. We have been around the sport for many years. I have been around as a racer/participant for about 10 years, but my father was into it heavily for many years as I was growing up. So I have been around the sport for 20+ years. As much as things change they remain the same.

Jonjan, you hit it on the head. People want to see the exotic big hardware, not a 28ft whatever racing against basically off the showroom other boats with lettering all over it, it is boring to people that are not totally into the powerboat scene. It is, just ask joe public. Bring back the ocean races at least it would be fun for the racers and the spectators. If this means the little boats can't compete, buy a bigger boat or you really couldn't afford it anyway. It was said," It is a sport of kings." Look back over the last 20 years, it is what it is. I've been an equipment owner since 86, I know I have pissed away a few bucks, but it was fun nothing more.

Steve1 , JohnJan,
I completley agree with what you guys are saying.

Also Factory classes?!?!? It should be called Manufactures class.
Let's be realistic, I stroll down to the local Bajafountaincigarette dealership and buy a 35-38ft BFC with the weeks latest APBA approved motors off the showroom floor and hit the next race. I would be lapped probably several times by the race , oops I mean Factory boats.

What are the UIM Class 1 guys doing differently than we are doing here. I here they have spectator crowds of over 100,000 people?

Scarab26, UIM makes a carnival out of a lot of their races. July 4 in Travamunde Germany was a bash. First off, one class all bad to the bone million dollar boats. Time trials that were cool to watch. They had a huge midway with rides and portable bars under tents if you wanted a cocktail. Restaraunts everywhere (booths). A huge stage where the Scorpions and KK Downing Band(Judas Preist guitarist) played after the time trials. It did not end till 4 am. Then the race was on time at 2 pm Sunday. It was the shazzit. And most of those Germans had no clue, but were buying thousands of t-shirts and hats and had a great time. Oh and it was rough as hell lots of air and the biggest flotilla I have ever seen.

Lawn mower races on TV put on a better 'show'. Boating is the #1 money sport (most money spent by enthuests) yet we are so far behind the others.

Here's an interesting point. When I was young and watched the Bennihanna back in the 70s, race boats were incredible peices of machinery that people came to gawk at. At that time, a 20' Searay with a 188hp outdrive was a big boat on the bay. Now some pleasure boats can piss on thier race boat siblings.

The WOW factor is the same at a Poker Run or a Race.

In car racing, the race cars are not the same as your daily driver. You can't have a car that runs 200mph in your driveway and be street legal. At least not an American car.

UIM Class One. Is a large class of Open Class boats. I don't believe there are any smaller boats racing at the same time.

A field of 12 to 15 Supercats or superboats would be quite a show. Nothing else needs to be on the water at the same time. This single class could make the big show, not the little boats.

Years ago, raced inboard limited hydro, and then promoted the same for a few years. We had 100,000 spectators at a couple of major events. Went well because of the venue, free admission and closed couse with a lot of action due to the number of heats and being run on sat. and sun.
We then incorporated an offshore race on the river with that event. It went well because there was a captive audience.
More to come....................
Got business to handle!

More..........
 

The next move was to have Divisional racing in Buffalo on lake Erie. This also went well for a few years, including kilo runs.
Next was a National Event in Buffalo. The venue was great for the racers and spectators. There were 10,000 people there, but we were blown out on Sunday.

The single biggest problem, is raising funds! Even though APBA sanctions the event, the local organization must raise large numbers and sponsors are very diffcult to come by. That is part of the reason there were no follow-up events here.

As I see it Cleveland has done one of the best jobs of late.

Now we are planing a Champ Boat event on the river. This is the same as Formula-1 (different sanctioning body). It will be closed course racing, have a great spectator area with a festival atmosphier. It will be gated and allow us income via admissions and parking. There will be rides for the kids food and beer tents and other consessions who will contribute a portion of their income as well, and concert both nights.

I think the bottom line for the future is venue, spectator freindly, racer freindly, site income, creat excitement through a festival type event, media coverage and SPONSORS (that's the hardest).

Oh and yes one real important ingreedient, people will to sacrifice there time and energy to put the whole damn thing together!

And that's my .02! (Too much to swallow?)

You know it kind of bothers me that all the local people that put a race together do it for free as a volunteer and yet the santioning body is making a profit. How is that right? I must be stupid.

I wonder, how important is a purse to the racers? A divisional race usually has a 25K purse which means about $1000 to the winners. If we don't get a purse sponsor, will the racers still come to run for a trophy and no money?

How Can the Sport Grow?

If one looks at IHRA, there are dozens of classes, (like offshore racing) but only the top three classes are televised. Boat racers unlike car racers are generally whimps and dont want to "race" anyone. (I know I'll catch crap for that) Look at your local race track and they are filled with guys trying to "qualify" for the feature event. In boat racing we have guys with a boat that is legel in F1, A, or P5, and the owners choose a class they stand the best chance of winning. We also have guys racing in a World Championship against no one! The race organizations need to force a racer's hand and tell him which class his boat falls into. The best quote was from the Savannah Newspaper "APBA has more classes then the University of Georgia", You cant even fool the people seeing a race for the first time.
Offshore needs to designate "premere" classes, say F-1 and Supercat. F1 boats would be like "Nascar", Supercats like "Cart".
People like watching the specialized open wheel Cart cars just like they like the Supercats. F1, is like Nascar-something they can relate to-that might be on thier trailer. I found one of the best "races" of the year to be the F1 boats in Cape Cod. There were 5 different leaders in this race-thats what racing should be!
Another way to make it better is to have either one sanctioning body, or two that have the same rules-that way racers could race with both groups. There are at least 10-15 APBA boats in the northeast that passed up all 3 SBI New Jersey races.

I agree Ron 100%
 

That is why I contend that Divisional Racing is so important. It is not that hard to put on, less money and fewer volunteers. But it brings out and enlightens the public on our beloved sport. We have had a great history of boat racing in our area over the years. But you have to keep it in front of the public, or it will fall to the wayside and sponsors will not see the benefit.

1. There are too many classes, our Sponsor couldn't figure out if we were racing against Drambui, Flowmaster or Zipp. They were very confused and they were on a yacht in the middle of the action with people that complete understood racing. The public can't follow it.

Corporate sponsors that don't know much about boat racing, will go completely crazy at a race. They will yell and cheer everytime your boat passes, even when they don't know what's going on. If it's done right you won't have a problem signing them up year after year. Corporate hospitality is the way to sell sponsorships, not "well you might get some tv coverage on speedvision." I alway said, "company X can take your clients out golfing, but we will take you to some of the most beautiful places in the US, put you on the nicest yachts for you and your clients to experience the most extreme motorsport on the planet."

As for factory, there should be professional classes and amature (hobby) classes. By current APBA classes, there should be F2, Super V, Supercat Light and Supercat. F2 will get you the experience to step up to Super V and the same for the cats. All other boats should run P class. With less classes on the course the spectator will be able to follow what's going on. Also people that really want to step up the plate and race on a professional level, the things that sponsors look for, will have less choice so in time the classes will grow. When I say sponsors I'm talking about major corporate 6 figure sponsorship, not you're local body shop. Also, since you represent that corporate sponsor, the party atmosphere will need to stop since it does not do anything to help that corporate image. It's just another reason real corporate sponsorship is hard to come by in this sport. Professionalism in this sport is definately lacking. Any idea what I disliked about racing? One of the biggest problems I see is that most of the racers treat this sport as a hobby. Just look at how many of the teams are out drinking every night before the race, staying out all night.

2. Ron mentioned gated attendance, in the APBA, St Pete, Corpus Christi, and Missiagua were all gated to the fans. It can be done with a little research in course placement and a lot of effort on the part of the local promotor. I think promotion of the event is definately a problem. The locals in Canada didn't even know there was a racing going on "Why are there so many boats here, eh?" Also they need to keep the gate fees down.

Winners Circle, some events like texas were ok, but mostly there was no place that was central that was packed with fans for a winners circle. From my experience, go here and get the checkerd flag, go there for inspection, the go over there to crane the boat out, then go someplace else for after race interview. The winning boat should come to one place for inspection and interviews where the engine hatch can be sealed. This needs to be a place with the highest concentration of FANS. With fans you'll not going to get corporate sponsorship, ie $$$$$.

3. The sanctioning bodies keep changing the rules to accomendate the biggest whiners. Set the rules and don't change them for a mininum of 5 years. This just pisses off the other racers who play by the rules. One of the reasons people don't stay in it for long periods.

Parity, sure it's good but should a team that doesn't test be given special rule changes in the name of parity? What message does this send to the teams that spend time and money testing? Again the whine factor plays a role here.

4. Prize money. Some of this will be solved with less classes and with the money from the gate.

As the season progresses the amount of prize money should increase. That way teams that don't have a shot at the national championship will still run since the prize money may help cover the cost of going racing.

There should be a large prize purse for the national champion. Also there should be more recognition to those champions, something that will get the fans involved in the sport. With less classes this will become possible.

People like to talk about the awe factor. We need big bad boats so people will want to see them. If you think that then put go to a boat show. People should want to see RACING. Look at the success of nascar, nothing big and bad about those cars, however they do a awsome job putting on a race. Most poeple don't even get into the pits to see the cars up close like they can in our sport.

The only way this sport will ever grow is to get the fans involved. FANS == $$$$ There needs to be some consistency in the classes and the teams that run those classes. The fans need to be able to have a favorite team year after year. Go to a race and listen and you'll hear fans talk about teams like Drambui, Tommy Bahama, Virgin. They put on a professional show, have excellent merchandising and are not there on an ego trip to show off all their toys.

mr_velocity:

Excellent points.
I am not a boat racer and, in fact, have never been to a boat race..yet. (going to Key West!!)
My viewpoints come strictly from my experiences and views of racing on both the sportsman and professional level in NHRA drag racing.
One thing that needs to be mentioned is prize money. I doubt that there is any motorsport where prize money alone will pay the bills. In the Utlra competitive world of NHRA Pro Stock racing, we only received $4000 to qualify for an event, and maybe 20,000 to win!
If we would have won EVERY race that season, we could have made a small profit.
The point is that sponsors are the only ticket to making it work financially.
Again, I do not have experience with offshore racing, so these are just general observations, but my opinion is that there can be many classes of racing (NHRA has 8 sprotsman classes and probably over a hundred categories within those classes) but the format is what is important.
Draw up the rules so that the "professional" classes (supercat superV, etc.) can compete on the day that can potentially draw the biggest crowd. All other classes can run other days, with possibly finals in the category on the big race day.
It needs to be fan friendly as you stated!
In my experience, fans pay the sanctioning bodies bills (and salaries) but the corporate sponsors pay the racers.
Professionalism is very important, and will come to all the teams when sponsorship dollars are on the line.
If you don't want a carnival, thousands of drunken idiot fans, TV in your face, and big purses, then enjoy it as it is now!
My .10

Wow Mr V, excellent observations. And you were the first one to use the ego word.

In Nascar or Cart, the drivers are hired guns and play by the rules set forth by the sponsors. Bad image and your toast.

Did you ever watch an offshore racer interviewed on TV? Could they be more boring? "So how was it out there?" " Well, Jimmy Bob held down the sticks and we just went for it."

Someone needs to take a lesson at the John Force school of race interviews. These guys try to make it sound like it's no big deal because their ego is putting words in thier mouths. How about some enthusiasm when the TV camera is in your face?????

I THINK YOU HAVE MISSED ONE THING, AFTER A WEEKEND OF RACING YOU ALL GO BACK TO JOBS. PROFESSIONAL RACERS CONTINUE WORKING ON THEIR RACE SETUP FOR NEXT RACE WITH IS USUALLY THE FOLLOWING WEEK. THEY ARE PAID TO WORK, MON,TUES. ETC. WHERE IS YOU ALL HAVE TO BE BACK AT YOUR JOBS MONDAY MORNING UNTIL THE NEXT EVENT WHICH MIGHT NOT BE FOR WEEKS. OFFSHORE RACING MIGHT NOT EVER BE ANYTHING MORE THAN JUST A WEEKEND A MONTH, BUT WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT, MAYBE SOMEONE SHOULD TELL SOME PEOPLE AT THE TOP TO ASK THE RACERS. IT SEEMS THAT WHAT EVER $$$$HAS BEEN AQUIRED LATELY GOES INTO SOMEONE'S POCKET.

I think it is more in the professionalism in which you approach the sport. That was my point. A lot of teams like to race but they like to party at the event. You should be working at the event, isn't that what sponsors PAY you for? They are not paying you to put on a uniform with THEIR NAME on it so you can pass out drunk on Duval St. They are paying you to represent the company.

Drivers and Throttlemen don't need to be working on thier boats between races. You can have hired crew that do that for you. There are several teams that have crew chiefs that are in the boat business, as well as teams that just hire the best between races and some even have crew that are full time employees.
Look at how many boats TNT maintains. The point is the boat is not sitting in someone back yard untouched until the next race.

THAT'S MY POINT TNT MAINTAINS HOW MANY? 5?6? THEY DO THAT FOR A LIVING. RACE TEAMS DON'T HAVE A PAID CREW (8-10PEOPLE) WEEK IN AND WEEK OUT MAINTAINING THEIR OWN BOATS. AND IF YOU THINK RACERS GO TO A TOWN TO PARTY YOUR PROBABLY RIGHT, BECAUSE A MAJORITY OF THEM DON'T HAVE A SPONSOR SO THEY ARE ONLY OUT FOR THE PARTY. LIKE I SAID MOST ONLY LAST FIVE OR SIX RACES (1 SEASON). AND THAT'S FINE BECAUSE WHEN THEY FALL BY THE WAYSIDE THERE'S ANOTHER GUY TO PUT DOWN HIS SMALL FORTUNE AND ON AND ON , NO ONE ASKS WHY THE LEADERS DON'T SEE PATTERN. THEY ARE GETTING THEIR $$$$

Right now offshore racing is a way for people get away several times a year and go have fun, blow off some steam, inflate thier egos and go racing. That is all very health. That's where we are now.

Maybe the sanctioning bodies see this, understand it and cater to it as thier means to keep thier customers happy.

It just seems like we (the fans) expect the sport to mature and gain a larger following that would draw more media attention and sponsors.

One thing I strongly agree with is a rule about changing rules. Any rule change should have a two or three year waiting period before it goes into effect.

Just curious because I remember that no one ever let out what they really got for sponser money and realize those race shirt (uniforms) people wear every day all day were around $250 a piece. Is there anyone out there getting 6 figures for sponsership $$$$$$. This is what it really takes. I'm not talking about when I raced my parents company name was on the boat and dad bought me 2 very expensive motors at that time (once) And he new it was not helping in any way his company that has been in business for 30 years and does business world wide. Tell the truth,are racers with a real sponsor getting say even $60,000 (not 6 figures) thats what 2 of my (B class) motors cost. That won't buy 2 winning (racing) motors today.It definately won't pay for a season. Some one step and let us know is it paying the bills.

Thankyou MSGANGWAY!
 

I have been involved in boat racing since the sixties. The majority of the racers and or owners sponsor their own rig. Some have partial sponsors for free merchandise or expence help. The owners try to help as they can with the crew expences as well. But more over it's out of pocket.

The only full time racers may be in Super Boat classes or such. While APBA brings in the officials, the local club has to provide the majority of the help. I just think these people don't get enough credit. When we have had races, we always found the funds to have a workers appreciation party. Without them, there will be no race! We are not NASCAR, nor ever will be!

Now I am up to .05!

I'm a lazy man....good thing i have Mr.V around to speak for me...LOL...man we're always on the same page....too bad your not coming down!

anyone down in KW,,,,stop on by and say hi!