d-law... thats correct

They had a $25,000 purse in Atlantic City and in Cambridge Maryland thanks to CBPBR. $5,000 per class 5 classes.

And with a little luck and sponsorship it may be available in other races as well.

On the subject of P class. The llc has done a great job getting it going. However I think the LLC should put 99% of it's focus on the "professional" classes. However the LLC should have a small oversight to a P class committee that is comprised of the local clubs. The committee would then jointly develop rules that all the clubs would follow. The LLC would be the keeper of the rules. Then when the P racers come to national events everyone would be used to playing by the same rules.
The local clubs should work with the LLC to organize P class races at national events. Naturally they should be able to use all the resources of the LLC for "cost". At the event itself the pits should be divided where the "professional" classes pit together and the P classes pit together. I say this because I feel you need to hold the "pro" racers to a higher standard. The local club would then also have the option to make the pit area free to fans for P and have an entry fee for the "pro" area. The pits are usually a mess and half the time the teams aren't even with the boats. When you charge fans to enter the pits the teams must be there for the fans to see. The boats should be close and well organized.

So if the OSS guy's don't include the smaller boats , it's time for the smaller boats to get some coverage. It's some of the best racing out there and maybe it'll take the grass roots guy's to get this mess straightened out. Mack you the man! BH

Mike A.,
I agree, the biggest accomplishment that you Steve M. and the rest of the APBA LLC achieved was competitive parity in the Super Series, Factory Series AND the Outlaw Performance Series!Maybe some people have forgotten the days of only a couple boats in many of the classes running around by themselves and finshing so far apart that it was hard to actually call it a "race".

I was fortunate enough to race a few races in Super Vee and F1 this year in APBA, and while the teams' I raced with never had a podium finish, it was a huge thrill anyway even battling in the mid or back of the pack.I have the most respect for the race teams, that race after race, compete to the best of thier ability and resources and seldom finish up front.And with the pre and post race tech inspections, it was clear that we had been beaten fair and square.Have you ever heard a car racer say "thats racing".....maybe some boat racers should be listening

You can see the writing on the wall....allowing the racers to make the rules has never worked in this or any other "professional" motorsport; and it never will!


I dont think that many of the the critics really understand how difficult it is to organize and promote offshore powerboat racing.I guess many of them will find out soon enough.

Hopefully, offshore powerboat racing's New Years' resolution will be UNIFICATION....its long overdue.

I never had a problem with the LLC creating the rules. It's the changing of the rules that is a problem. Rules should be in place for 5 years with a 2 year notification of any rule change.

Mr Velocity,
Good points.I actually think the APBA LLC was headed in this direction through trying to revive divisional racing.I totally agree that there needs to be some sort of seperation of the "Professional" classes and the "P" classes in terms of organization and promotion.I also think it would be a good idea to rename the "P"classes the "Sportsman" classes.

PRO CLASSES national circut/ serious racing.. rigid tech rules...professionalism= television,fan and sponsor friendly,run by APBA
Super Cat
Super Cat Light
Super Vee
Super Vee Light
Factory 2
Factory 1

SPORTSMAN CLASSES divisional circut ...fun entry level racing "run what you brung rules"reduced cost to participate, jointly run by APBA,OPA,GLSCS,POPBRA etc..
The club or "Sportsman" event could be part of the "Pro"
event and be mutually beneficial to both groups

This format is followed in other major motosports, why not offshore?

Hey Waterboy,You are right on the money with the super series rules where the boats had equal parrity but I dont think that the parity spilled over to the P classes,ther eare still to many of the wrong boats meaning size,horse power,and number of single vs twin engine applications running in the wrong classes but I Think that OPA is on the correct direction to hopefully correct that problem this year.APBA did the best job by far to get parrity to the racers but then it went to the crapper as usual like it normally does for some reason with boat racing.Well I hope that it all works out and we will see were we will run for 2004.

i still don't get it why pay 5k to get nothing, nothing has been said positive about p classes. we race in p5 because it all we can afford. does that make us less professional less of a racer, i think not. different pits we are already put in a corner somewhere out of the way, told we have to move to make room after setting up. all i see this as doing is running me to opa. because there i still want get TV time but i know that upfront and they want to race like me.

mack

I have no problem with name sportsman classes. But I have to smile. The more things change the more they remain the same. Somebody want to give a history lesson? A B C D

I didn't think the 5K was intended for P classes.