Yup I think i need to start looking at marina's

I posted this before on the Classic thread about the last time my club LSCORA tried to put on a Detroit River Offshore race around 2004, here is what I posted.

[ It's not just the money that is needed for prize money it's cost of insurance, site fees, & RED TAPE. Back around 2004 I was the Vp of LSCORA a Silver Cup club with GLOPRA. We meet with the local Coast Guard many times to see if we could put on a Detroit Rive race that would run in front of the GM Ren Cen building. After we doted are I's & crossed all our tee's we were given the Green light to meet with our sponsor [General Motors] @ Coast Guard Detroit. We all sat down along with a Detroit rep from the Mayor's office. The Mayor wanted 100k for the police dept overtime & for what else they felt to cover the race. No one left the table yet, but when the Coast Guard guy who wrote the permits [a volunteer] told the GM reps BLOOD WILL BE ON YOU HANDS if you sponsor this race !!! Why,, I think he was a blow boater? The GM people RAN FOR THE DOOR, I don't think many will forget that day. LSCORA put on a few more Lake St Clair race's but with out the extra red tape & $$$$. In the way back it was fun to race for beer & a trophy sadly you just can't race like that anymore And we shut the club down in 2005 ]

This is the program from the last Detroit River Race, 1982. We ran the race on a weekday, & the Hydro's raced on Sunday.

That is a real bummer Mark.

Hi Mark!

I found the biggest problem was trying to get sponsors who were willing to shell out the cash to put on a top notch race for the spectators, sponsors and the racers. There is no secret that I have always said that the Detroit River in front of Detroit and Windsor is a diamond in the rough that has never been fully taken advantage of. As previously mentioned both cities have great waterfronts to view the entire race course with great hotels, Casino's and Restaurants. If someday there is ever an Offshore Powerboat Race put on there, it will have to offer a bigger race purse to entice racers to come and race here. It has to be bigger and better then all other race courses and that will attract more racers, spectators and sponsors to this site. Spectators want to see a lot of boats racing instead of a small field, so you need a bigger race purse etc. Spectators watching along the shoreline would love to see helicopters flying above the boats around the race course, something they have never seen before. What would also set it above the top besides the great racing is to have a Jet Plane (Fighter Jet) Show on Saturday and Sunday, just like they do at the Detroit APBA Gold Cup Hydro Plane Races (Fantastic Show). If a sponsor or sponsors could come up with about 500 Grand - 1 million dollars just as a figure. I think that one of the biggest Offshore Powerboat Races would happen here on the Detroit River. The Red Bull Air Races cost around 3 million in 2010, 5 million in 2011 and was going to cost another 5 million in 2012 before Red Bull Close the Air Races down for safety reason. They had no problem closing down the Detroit River and I beleive Offshore could do the same and just as big of an event as Red Bull for far less.

Andy if you remember Red Bull only operated once out of Detroit, the rest out of Windsor. Why DETROIT politics, & now that Mayor of Detroit is on trial for corruption now!!!
I have worked with the St Clair River race group since the very first race, the red tape now is unbelievable to shut the river down up there. I hope in the future we can race again on the Detroit river but I think just working with Windsor, & racing on the Canadian side of the river would be much easier.
Mark

Hi Mark!

I do remember that Red Bull Air Races operating out of
Detroit the first year and Windsor was also a sponsor. Detroit decided not to hold the event again because of the cost. The Mayor of Windsor and the Downtown BIA were very pleased with the turnout from that event, that the Mayor of Windsor decided to seek Corporate Sponsors for this event adn do it alone, which cost $3 million. When we heard that Mayor Eddie Francis from Windsor was seeking Corporate Sponsors for this event we fired off a letter asking if he would also seek Corporate Sponsors for an Offshore Powerboat Race, which would cost a lot less then the Red Bull Air Races. He was not prepared to look for Corporate Sponsors for an Offshore Powerboat Race as he was determined to bring the Red Bull Air Races back here. We could never figure out why he would travel to England to try and get the Red Bull Organization to come and hold there event here when we had an org. that was willing to come and race here. Then we heard that the Ontario Government was giving the City of Windsor 10 million dollars to get the Red Bull Air Races back for 2010 and 2011 at a cost of 5 million dollars per year. This floored us and we still haven't been able to figure this one out. In 2010 Red Bull got 5 million dollars to race here and were going to get another 5 million dollars for 2011. The 2011 Red Bull Air Race was cancelled by Red Bull due to safety concern, so we once again sent a let to Mayor Eddie Francis of Windsor seeking a part of the 5 million dollars to hold an Offshore Powerboat Race on the Detroit River but were told that that money was given for a specific event and if not used for that event it must be returned. I had read last year that the Mayor of Windsor is still trying to get Red Bull to once again hold a race here on the Detroit River. We have nothing against the Red Bull Air Races but when everyone is looking at value for the buck, there is not question that a top notch Offshore Powerboat Race would draw just as many people as the Red Bull Air Races and for a fraction of the cost which I pointed out to the Mayor. We could hold a top notch Offshore Powerboat Races on the Detroit River for the next 10 years at $500.00 a year or one of the largest Offshore Powerboat Races around for the next 5 years at a million a year compared to the 5 million dollars for one weekend end with Red Bullllllllllllllll. What could be better and make more sense then to hold an Offshore Powerboat Race on the Detroit River in front of the "Motor City" , really what could be better as we are surrounded by water and many auto factories and supplier plants. We gave it our best shot and had a vision as to how we wanted this event to stand out from others but fell short, if there is ever going to be an Offshore Powerboat Race held here it has to be over the top or forget about it. I appreciate your comments about all the difficulties your are challenged with when trying to put on an Offshore Powerboat Race, no one has an idea as to the work involved and all the volunteers needed to put on this event. My hat goes off to all of the race sites, the racers, orgs. that gives me and so many others something to look forward to each summer, great Offshore Powerboat Racing action. BTW Mark when I was younger I remember seeing LI'L SMIDGEN and Wolverine racing between Peche Island in the 70's and then seeing one of my favorites from Michigan a little later seeing "EASTERN EXPRESS" racing on Lake St. Clair. Thanks for all you have done over the years as a racer, historian, promoter and a hell of a nice guy.

Andy

Thanks Andy for the kind words. Lets hope in the future we can see a race again on the Detroit River. :ernaehrung004:
Here a few of my favorite pic's from the last Detroit River race. I really like the pic of ironheads Motor City Magic Active cat leading the Love It cat under the Belle Isle bridge. :drink: Mark

Wow Mark! You always have great pics! Thanks. Maybe one day I can stop by and go through a few boxes with you. And have you narrate them. :)

The museum is always open. :rolleyes: