Are we making any headway on unification or are we just pissing in the wind,APBA,OSS,SBI,OPA,GLOPBRA,and everyone else including all of the Pacific racers,from the westcoast.If we can not race together lets waste our money on something else .

Each group has its own schedule this year,but I think you will see some of the teams cross over and race some races together. SBI and APBA will be in Sarasota together and I'm sure a few others.

Frank
"koolhand"

I'm with Klaatu! We couldn't get any closer than Ricks

Having SOME joint events is not the answer....there are still going to be TOO MANY RACES WITH TOO FEW BOATS in 2005 if things dont change.Races with 20-30 boats, and only a few boats per class in some classes, are not exciting for the fans or the racers....and the event organizers and sponsors will be disapointed.

Well its either that or we have to race 29 races this summer. Better tune up the Hauler!

The towns know what they are getting when each group goes to them,so i think they know what they are getting and happy with it the contracts usually have a boat commitment in it. Some cities are not looking for huge boat counts they just can't handle it. Bigger isn't always better its how u put the show on. SBI has 40-48 boats this year and APBA 30-38 that should be a good show. Thought might be if the OPA and Great lake piggy back on one or all of the other 3 group and that would bring up boat count some instead of adding another schedule.They have enough races to pick from,they can pick 6-8 races and make that their schedule.

Frank
"koolhand"

Frank,
I respectfully disagree.A 20-40 boat fleet spread out among 10 or more classes is not a good race.....as a participant or a spectator.In my opinion, the sanctioning bodies should be working together to attract race sites that are looking for support BIG EVENTS, have the facilities to accomodate them, and most importantly, have the desire to promote them to make it a win-win situation for everyone involved.A 80-100 boat event has alot more value than a 20-40 boat race.Again, every event could be as great as KW,someone just needs to make it happen.

I agree with Mark, until we, the racers stand tall and make demands, not requests, things will never change. P class makes up for half the racing fleet. Maybe its time to sit out for a season and see how long they live.

Frank....You are counting two fingers at a time again. I doubt you'll see 40 - 48 at any single body event. With all the hype this year, you only saw 28 - 30 boats at any single event.

Well we'll have to see what falls out. I guess the 3 groups don't see it that way or they would be racing together,they seem happy with thier schedules, and think it will work for them or they wouldn't be doing it.The other factor will be to see who really has a schedule and signed contracts and who doesn't again time will tell.

Frank
"koolhand"

I guess someone needs to be the bad guy. May as well be me. Some people dont want to speak up because they dont want to ruffle any feathers. You know who you are.

30 boats at a national event just plain sucks. as stated in a previous thread, of the 30 boats registered, maybe 27 or 28 actually make the start. Of those, maybe 20 actually finish. Its boring to watch and its certainly not worth pulling the equipment 1200 miles to race against 2 or 3 boats. I doubt the associations are happy with that count, but they dont want to make any significant concessions in an effort to make it better. No one wants to give up control.

I've raced 4 years now and have raced with both organizations. Both have great people at the helm. I have no clue what goes on behind closed doors and I don't know who's to blame. As a racer, Im disgusted. I want to race against 10 boats or more in my class and Im sure the fans want to see that too. I remember my first national event in Daytona 2003. WOW!!!, was I impressed. 88 boats. I said to myself this is great. This is what I want to do. Unfortunatley, it was short lived, and the bottom fell out at the end of the season. OH well.

Frank, Im sorry, but We all know you have an adjenda too. Your loyal to one association and your campaigning a new class for that association. So, its only prudent for you to promote it. But, lets be real. Factory 1 is dead. Unless you keep the rules and specs the same in both associations, changing only motors, you will never have a boat count. No one is going to spend 75k on a race boat without some indication that the class will be around for some time and be successful.

We've been through this topic time and time again. The racers arent happy.

So stop *****ing and do something about it. Sit out next season

I apologize to anyone that I may have offended, but the truth is the truth and all the sugar in the world will not make this any sweeter.

THIS SUCKS.