Just saw on the local Mobile/Orange Beach T.V. 6p.m. news that there will be no Thunder on the Gulf this year do to a lack of money(support).

No!!! Say it ain't so!

Humm, seems that article and news report stirred up a bunch of local interest. The city brought in 4.5 million last year from the event. Silly to cancel it and loose the income when it costs only a fraction of that amount to bring the OSS teams to town.

Stay tuned. It ain't over yet.

The city said they had to have the money/support now to put it together for August and with the economy down and slow even at spring break time they feared it wasn't going to work this year and the people with the bread were basically afraid of slow/low turnout.

We don't need money until July, not sure why they need to have the money so early. Also I asked that they wait to see what turns out in Biloxi. They seemed to be in a rush to cancel it.

Yet, we are still working on it.

WORKING ON IT ,,, that is good news and hopefully it will be a GO !!!!!

Here's the deal.

1. Yes, Thunder on the Gulf has brought in several million dollars over the years.
2. Yes, The Gulf Coast Power Boat Association wants the race to continue. We didn't just get together and say screw it, cancel it. It was a serious, long thought out business decision. The Board of Directors of the Gulf Coast Power Boat Association are volunteers, citizens of Orange Beach, own businesses in Orange Beach, put their hearts and souls in this event and are directly effected by this race not happening.
3. Yes, We have had several Charter Sponsors who are having just as bad of an Economic time as eveybody else and are cutting spending any way they know how to survive.
4. Yes, The Perdido Beach Resort has pulled it sponsorship which amounted to about $40,000 worth of rooms, meeting space, tents for VIP parties, and assorted other important services.
5. Yes, The City of Orange Beach has laid off or eliminated 40 positions due to budget shortfalls and are not in a position to contribute hard cash just in-kind services (public safety/pubilc works).
6. Yes, The Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau has commited to in-kind marketing but not hard cash.
7. Yes, In-kind services help, but they do not pay the bills, IOU's and handshakes only go so far.
8. Yes, the low boat count last year hurt us. "If there is no show, there is no dough." Direct quote from a potential sponsor. You, the racers are the key to the show.
9. No, The Gulf Coast Power Boat Association does not have any money in our accounts to produce it after being audited by the State of Alabama Tax Division and paying back taxes that we were not aware we owed.
10. Yes, As of this morning no one is waving a check to pay for this years race.
11. Yes, If there is someone out there willing to wave a check the GCPBA will produce the event. This is not a secret, there is no need to work around us.
12. Yes, New sponsors are being contacted for 2010 that did not have funding in their budgets for this year.
13. Yes, If this race does not happen in 2009 it wil be a serious wake up call for the businesses in the area when the revenue is not there.



There you have the facts.

If you have any questions, please direct them to myself and they will be forwarded out to our Board of Directors.


For the Board of Directors,

Samuel C. Jackson
Vice President
Gulf Coast Power Boat Association
[email protected]

There is got to be a way of making it happen ,,,no funds means even less income !!!!!

We have to put something together to make it happen !!!!!!!!

I am without a job since 2 .5 years and meke it happen every time somehow to get the engine back in the boat and race ,,,,Stupid,,,MAYBE,,,but if i can do it for the passion of the sport so can orange beach !!!!

Sincerely Scott ( DAREDEVIL Racing )

how much money will it take to have thunder on the gulf. 50k? 100k? if you want something to happen, you need to know how much something costs. if the goal is resonable, perhaps it can still happen. it is almost always harder to start from scratch than to keep something running. just my thoughts. i think that there might be enough money to keep it going if the fans (myself included) want it to happen.