Shane, Yes,yes and yes to all those sanctioning bodys.
MD

I still here bla bla bla not quite what i was expecting,, so I'll take my sponsorship money and go look elsewhere,, by the by it was a major sponsor worth five million for five years not to bad for a super cat team
BYE BYE!

Mark I have worked with this sponsor for over one year, and had planned to start next season. But mention OSS or any other faction and they look at you with a blank face.. they barley knew of APBA but hell call it what you want dog$hit Inc. Anyone willing to put up one mill a year will want and rightfully so expect there product ON NATIONAL TV not some club racing circuit. So look at what APBA did for the sport,, it got TV time Speed Channel had a once a week show on Offshore Racing.
And racers think of this with the performance boat market in the $hitter they [ the manufactures of all powerboats] should jump at any opportunity to put a powerboat in the minds of a potential buyer,, if you don't think that a certain car lines sales don't pickup on Monday when that car wins on Sunday then keep banking the same way and call me from your bankruptcy attorneys office next year.
If it did not work ,,TV,, then FORD , CHEVY and DODGE wouldn't pour millions upon millions in the stockcar racing game.
Where are all the F1, F2, P class boats today now where are the super cat lites and super cats ??????????????
Mark I personally have spent over nine hundred thousand dollars into my program this year alone so I feel like the old saying {all dressed up and no where to go}

Get one set of rules , appoint a competent governing body and let's go racing you can't tell me that all the big cats ,F1 ,F2, are all poker run boats now,, I'll run in what ever you want to call it BUT it needs to be a CLASS ACT or remain dog$hit, pay your damn bills as you leave town don't lie to everyone, put on a show to the buying public after all make yourself accessible to the common folk so that they can relate to the sport,unlike other sports where they herd you around like sheep and keep you at a standoffish distance.

Guy's I really like boating,, and I feel that boat racing is a great way to get others interested in boating.
Here's a little test for you why do so many people like Cigarette boats? could it be there impeccable reputation for winning races? it sure is'nt that they are so affordable, people buy winners and winning products sell first and foremost.
I welcome any advise on this matter.
Marty

In my previous post I did not imply that OSS or any other racing organization was dog$hit .I simply was re furring to a name ; call it what ever even ,dog$hit ..
that the name is'nt the most important thing ,,but a unified body would, in my opinion help the sport.

I thought the whole idea of factory racing is to see what boats are the best,which boats are the fastest,and which boats can endure the punishment of racing.If speeds are decreased so slower boats can compete then that seems to defeat the whole purpose.Maybe the thing to do is have some better perks like more prise money,better advertising,and better TV coverage.Something like that may attract more racers.Limiting speeds and changing rules every year only cost racers alot of time and money.

I went to 3 different races this year.

Port Huron - APBA
St Pete - OSS
Orange Beach - SBI\APBA

All three had excellent sites good fan turn out and what I saw good racing.
Getting them to all get together is going to be a big job. None of them want to concede power. There is a huge amount of ego out there.

For my business SBI is the only one allowing my products to race.

OSS and APBA are determined to keep my drives and transmissions from being allowed to compete head to head with my competition.

I have had several potential customers try to use my products and were turned down and persuaded to run stuff that is in the "spirit of the rules"

If the rules were opened up the Europeans (UIM) and several other boat racers would come over with money and TV. The races would be enormous and worth watching. 1996 was the last time that happened.

pat W

Again, what I'm advancing is that any class be accepted that the entitiy is formed by the racers in that class and it is their responsiblity to keep it viable.

It would be their responsiblity to deal with the approved promoters with regards to pull money, prize money or entry fees. The promoters and the racers control their own racing and class rules.

The sanctioning body would only be responsible for sactioning of promoters, class entities, vendors, officials, series sponsors.

Tonight you can all talk it out........www.talkoffshore.com 9:00pm

Let's think progression not regression, Take Nascar for example seems to work real well,, big sponsors ,lots of TV time,,,lots of interest, the things that I hope we are after for the sport of OFFSHORE Racing..

Now look at the IRL or Champ car or what ever it is called this week you change you loose public interest.. It takes more money and more R&D to Field an IRL car than it does a Nextel Cup Car team with half the results. I'll put my best interest first when it comes to my boat. I am not going to haul it all over the nation just for $hits and giggles .

Everyone has great ideas, lets step forward .

ps Mark I pmed earlier this mourning

The sport needs a national circuit with less classes to improve the sport, we need to be forced into certain classes or we all will keep running what ever we feel is the perfect boat for the perfect class. I cannot run my corvette in a nascar race, but I could race it at the local track! I don't know the magic number of classes but two organizations with 21 classes and 53 boats is a train wreck in the eyes of the public.....it might be a show but its not racing in there eyes.I think there needs to be progression to race in the national circuit(ONE). Start racing in a organization with what ever class they are running fits your boat and budget. Then if you are dedicated and have any money left build a boat and race in a national class, right now there is not enough incentive for alot of x racers to get the boat out of the barn and to many racers running what ever they happen to own where ever and when ever they want...makes it hard on the promoters and impossible for the sport to truly grow. Without a national curcuit with limited classes there will not be national tv, big sponsors, shaving cream commercials or money for the racers. Apba did provide tv for awhile, but only televised certain classes as it should be, I did not like it at the time, but it is how it should be(similar size boats with equal power), it gave us incentive to build a boat to race in a class that would pay back some money and tv had coverage.....unfortunately 2004 left us back were we started. However on a positive note I hear of boats now getting dusted off and new ones being built that 2005 should be a better year. If you could get 50-60 boats in 5 classes that would be racing that everyone could follow on a national level and there is still plenty of regional racing for young, old and tired of traveling racers. John Kostelac

BRAVO!!!!!!!!!! John you are on the right page of this book ..sometimes you can't beat common sense ,,Thank you for your post. What is the purpose of a national racing body ? not for the racer , he already knows what is going on , I was hoping to get more interest from a national fan base, thus the future of powerboat racing has a chance. Just my .02