gdfatha

General info--I just received this,,,====>

Dear APBA Offshore Members, Racers, Fans and Sponsors:

I have been involved as a racer in APBA since 1990. APBA has endured many changes since it’s inception over 100 years ago and as a racer I feel overall APBA is better than ever. Unfortunately, though, 2003 was a year of turmoil for the sport of offshore powerboat racing. We saw a great sport torn apart and damaged just when we started to make progress in the right direction.

I think it is time to put that behind us and pull together to work towards the future.

In order to help ensure that we all continue to experience the benefits of the positive changes like better, closer competition, television and the General Motors sponsorship, without any more controversy, I have acquired all of KHAMAN Holdings, Inc. This is the company that secured the Offshore License with APBA following the termination of its relationship with the Offshore LLC.

This transaction allows us (The Racing Community) the rights to the entire APBA Offshore Category, including the rules, series and class names, sales and marketing rights, and infrastructure. My plan for the future of the organization is for all of us - the Racers, Sponsors, Promoters and Fans - to pull together our efforts in continuing the success and the improvements the sport and we deserve.

To help us with our mission, Jim “Pop” Poplin has accepted the position of President. Jim and his STARS Rescue Team have performed over 490 rescues and saved a number of our lives, thus becoming known to all of us as our “Angels in the sky”. They have dedicated their lives to protecting ours for the past 20 years. They are trained to look adversity in the face and perform under the most extreme of circumstances, but there is no way they could do what they do without Pop’s extraordinary leadership. So I believe he is the best candidate to guide all of us into the future and would ask that all of you embrace and support him in his new position.

As an owner and board member of many other businesses I plan to bring the same simple and successful philosophies to the APBA Offshore organization. Our organizations are successful because our team members are successful. We will always do what is right for the customers and employees first. All of our dealings will be fair and above board and when we err it will be to the side of our customers both internal and external.

I am not doing this for any personal gain other than to ensure we have a great place to race for another 100 years. APBA has always been the biggest and the best and I have gotten involved now, in this way, to return something to the sport that I love, and has given me a tremendous amount of personal satisfaction over the years.

Neither Pop nor I will be able to do this alone. We will need the support of the entire racing community. If you truly want to do what is best for the sport let’s join forces and put all of our efforts in the same direction – making the sport of APBA Offshore Racing the best in the world.

No hidden agendas. No more pointing fingers, laying blame, or passing the buck. To continue to do the same thing over and over and expect different results is the definition of insanity.

We need unification. We all need to be part of APBA and work together to achieve our common goals and objectives. So I would ask that we all take a personal and positive interest in moving the APBA organization forward for the benefit of everyone. Please join Pop, me, our national staff, loyal racers, fans, families and all of our long time sponsors in becoming part of the solution so we can continue the success of APBA Offshore Powerboat Racing.

I would like to announce my commitments to the Racers, Race Site Promoters, Sponsors, Staff Members, and Fans: Every penny of income into the organization will be re-invested to improve the sport and fund the organization. No moneys will ever be spent or used for my personal gain. I will also be held accountable by the President of APBA to all of the same rules and regulations as the other Racing Members.

I realize a schedule was expected at this time, however, due to the acquisition I will not be able to announce that here. What I can tell you is that substantial progress has been made already and our first order of business will be to finalize the schedule as soon as possible. We will only announce a schedule that is solid and dependable so that you can be 100% certain of where you will be racing this year and then concentrate on having fun and winning races.

I feel all of my predecessors have done an outstanding job over the years in moving the sport forward and I would like to thank them, every staff member and volunteer, promoter, and APBA Detroit for everything they have done for the betterment of our beloved sport. Sure there have been times when each of us has not been completely happy with their decisions but at the end of the day there has always been that one-hour boat ride with my friends trying to win that checkered flag that made it all worth the price of admission, right? The sport has given us our adrenaline rushes, our heroes, and most of all some deep friendships that will last a lifetime.

Let’s focus on these positives, together. We cannot change the past and we certainly will not make things better by dwelling on it so let’s not.

For my part I will remain a racer first and foremost with a racer’s point of view. I do not believe in dictatorships. Our decisions, both on the racing and business level will be arrived at through consensus. We will strive for unanimity but there will be a time when that is not possible. That is when our resolve to work together, to stay together, will be tested the most. But we must pass that test otherwise we will never win and the sport will never move forward.
To start the process I now ask all current, future and former APBA Offshore Equipment Owners to send an email to [email protected] pledging your commitment to assist us in continuing the success of APBA Offshore. Feel free to include your thoughts and ideas for improving the sport in that email as well. We need your input. We want your input.

I would also like to take this opportunity to invite our members to a meeting in Orlando, FL on January the 31st 2004. At that time we will present our secured schedule, the initial business plan for 2004 including our budgets and financial forecasts, and representation for the equipment owners and promoters to provide positive input for the future. I will be posting more of the details regarding this meeting in the next few days.

We have a lot of work to do so let’s get going, together.

Sincerely,

Bob Bull
Boat # 3
APBA Racer

CAP071

We have a lot of work to do so let’s get going, together

Don99

Is this for real or is somebody trying to be funny

gdfatha

Here is the header that I received...===>

Subject: APBA OFFSHORE ANNOUNCES A NEW BEGINNING FOR 2004
Date: 1/4/2004 2:15:16 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: [email protected]
Reply To:
To: [email protected]
CC:
BCC:
Sent on:


Sent from the Internet (Details)

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I have no idea if factual, but thought I'd post to see if anyother member of APBA member Offshore received it..

Gordo

And yes it is factual. Anyone who knows Bob Bull knows how he does business. Straight forward.
And charging Jim "Pops" Poplin as President of APBA Offshore was a great first move.
Now we can get back to racing !!!

gdfatha

Thanks for the confirmation Gordo..

Both APBA and APBA Offshore will have my support..

Reindl Powerboats

Congrats Bob!

Love Machine

It's posted on the APBA site. Cool beans. Looking forward to a great 2004 season.