Will OPA be discussing if they will attend the Worlds in Key West
12-23-2006, 12:23 PM
#41
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Re: Will OPA be discussing if they will attend the Worlds in Key West
In 2004, KW hosted a supposed Unified Worlds. SBI/APBA/OSS all in one location, racing together. However, due to different rules multiple World Champions where crowned - even though they raced together. Bizarre to say the least.
For a true unified World Championship, only one rulebook can be used which would lead to ONE winner in each class. Maybe it needs to be a modified rule book just for the worlds that encompasses all three rule books. Now that would be the spirit of working together.
Nothing is a done deal and the next OPA Conf call is on January 4th. We'll discuss at that time. The point is that OPA probably will call Cambridge the final race of the season. What SBI has done is open the door for anyone that wants to go to Key West. By removing the two race rule, they've saved you several thousand dollars in registration, race entry and the expense to attend two SBI races.
Is this good for the sport? Will the teams show up in KW or go somewhere else? Time will tell, at least SBI opened the door for once. In the past, it's always been slammed shut. At least we have an option this year.
Frank, in St Clair, OPA held the insurance policy, OSS and their teams were our guests. It was not an OPA only event, both flags flew and it was a joint event. In the spirit of working together, it would be nice to see some give and take in order to make everyone feel welcome in KW if that is the true intent of the press release.
For a true unified World Championship, only one rulebook can be used which would lead to ONE winner in each class. Maybe it needs to be a modified rule book just for the worlds that encompasses all three rule books. Now that would be the spirit of working together.
Nothing is a done deal and the next OPA Conf call is on January 4th. We'll discuss at that time. The point is that OPA probably will call Cambridge the final race of the season. What SBI has done is open the door for anyone that wants to go to Key West. By removing the two race rule, they've saved you several thousand dollars in registration, race entry and the expense to attend two SBI races.
Is this good for the sport? Will the teams show up in KW or go somewhere else? Time will tell, at least SBI opened the door for once. In the past, it's always been slammed shut. At least we have an option this year.
Frank, in St Clair, OPA held the insurance policy, OSS and their teams were our guests. It was not an OPA only event, both flags flew and it was a joint event. In the spirit of working together, it would be nice to see some give and take in order to make everyone feel welcome in KW if that is the true intent of the press release.
12-23-2006, 12:28 PM
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Re: Will OPA be discussing if they will attend the Worlds in Key West
Lets learn from the past. Here's my article from EBM - 11/04 after the last unified worlds in KW.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
When is a World Champion not a World Champion?
On November 23rd, just a few days after the completion of the Unified World Championship Races in Key West, APBA put out a press release to congratulate the new World Champions. The only problem was that some of the World Champions listed in their press release were different than the ones crowned in Key West just a week earlier. The press release starts out by stating that Lightning Strikes won the APBA – UIM World Championship in Super Vee. The press release went on to congratulate several other teams for their UIM, APBA accomplishment irrespective of the fact that they didn’t win in Key West. Lightning Strikes may have run hard all week but the fact is that Rodriguez Group received the Super Vee trophy and the title of World Champion at the awards ceremony in Key West.
So how do you get two World Champions in one class during a unified World Championship race? APBA officials explain it like this. “Only teams that registered with APBA for the 2005 season in Key West were eligible for the UIM World Title. Because APBA is the only racing organization recognized by the UIM, only boats registered with APBA and inspected by APBA tech inspectors could be awarded this title.”
The Key West races were run under SBI rules and all racers, regardless of who they paid their registration fees to, are shown on the SBI site. I just don’t see where this move serves to better APBA or the sport in general. As one race team member said, “we all know who the real winners are, now lets move on.”
I have a few problems with this on several levels. First, I just don’t see where the UIM does anything for boat racing in the United States. The UIM web site, www.uimpowerboating.com makes no mention of APBA or it’s World Champions in this or any other year. APBA does a good job of promoting its affiliation with UIM, yet the UIM doesn’t even acknowledge APBA on its “Useful links” page. Why belittle our racers in the USA in favor of some unknown entity from another country that doesn’t seem to care that APBA or racing in the USA even exists. On the flip side, the Superboat web site shows all boats that raced in Key West with their final standings, regardless of their club affiliation. The real results from Key West can be found at www.superboat.com.
Bill Spotswood is President of the Conch Republic Powerboat Association and is partly responsible for bringing all the racers to Key West to race in a unified World Championship. I asked Bill Spotswood about the UIM winners, his reply pretty well sums it up. “People can say anything they want, but we all know that if you didn’t win in Key West, you just plain didn’t win.”
Here’s a list of all the World Champions for 2004. Look at the bright side, in 2003, there were three World Champions in each class, so at least we are going in the right direction.
Unified Champion APBA/UIM Champion
Superboat Unlimited......... Bacardi Silver............................Bacardi Silver
Superboat Cat ................... Pro Marine.............................. ..Pro Marine
Superboat Vee Unlimited...Rio Roses.................................. Rio Roses
Superboat Vee................... Rodriguez Group Fountain........Lightning Strikes
Superboat Vee Limited...... Wild Ride................................ ..Extreme Vortec
Superboat Limited Cat....... In Mocean .............................. ..Team CRC
Superboat Stock ................ Mapei No APBA registered boats
Factory 2 .......................... .JBS Racing............................... JBS Racing
Factory 1 ........................... SB Ballard Construction.. SB Ballard Construction
Manufacturer Prod. 1.........Lightning Jacks No APBA registered boats
Manufacturer Prod. 2.........Sony.................................... . .... TKO/Obsession
Manufacturer Prod. 3........ Wazzup...................................... Fortress
Manufacturer Prod. 4......... Herbott Swipes Racing ..............Herbott Swipes Racing
Manufacturer Prod .5..........Kean University ……….............High Priority
To avoid this conflict in the future, I offer the following two suggestions.
1. APBA could offer winning teams the chance to pay the APBA registration fees after the race in order to offer the UIM/APBA title to the real Champions.
2. APBA could simply not award a World Championship/UIM/APBA title to any boat that didn’t actually win in Key West. Just leave those classes blank just like the Superboat Stock and P1 classes.
It’s a shame that this detracted from what happened in Key West in mid November. Hopefully, next year we’ll see everyone can race in Key West again and issues of this sort should be worked out ahead of time.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
When is a World Champion not a World Champion?
On November 23rd, just a few days after the completion of the Unified World Championship Races in Key West, APBA put out a press release to congratulate the new World Champions. The only problem was that some of the World Champions listed in their press release were different than the ones crowned in Key West just a week earlier. The press release starts out by stating that Lightning Strikes won the APBA – UIM World Championship in Super Vee. The press release went on to congratulate several other teams for their UIM, APBA accomplishment irrespective of the fact that they didn’t win in Key West. Lightning Strikes may have run hard all week but the fact is that Rodriguez Group received the Super Vee trophy and the title of World Champion at the awards ceremony in Key West.
So how do you get two World Champions in one class during a unified World Championship race? APBA officials explain it like this. “Only teams that registered with APBA for the 2005 season in Key West were eligible for the UIM World Title. Because APBA is the only racing organization recognized by the UIM, only boats registered with APBA and inspected by APBA tech inspectors could be awarded this title.”
The Key West races were run under SBI rules and all racers, regardless of who they paid their registration fees to, are shown on the SBI site. I just don’t see where this move serves to better APBA or the sport in general. As one race team member said, “we all know who the real winners are, now lets move on.”
I have a few problems with this on several levels. First, I just don’t see where the UIM does anything for boat racing in the United States. The UIM web site, www.uimpowerboating.com makes no mention of APBA or it’s World Champions in this or any other year. APBA does a good job of promoting its affiliation with UIM, yet the UIM doesn’t even acknowledge APBA on its “Useful links” page. Why belittle our racers in the USA in favor of some unknown entity from another country that doesn’t seem to care that APBA or racing in the USA even exists. On the flip side, the Superboat web site shows all boats that raced in Key West with their final standings, regardless of their club affiliation. The real results from Key West can be found at www.superboat.com.
Bill Spotswood is President of the Conch Republic Powerboat Association and is partly responsible for bringing all the racers to Key West to race in a unified World Championship. I asked Bill Spotswood about the UIM winners, his reply pretty well sums it up. “People can say anything they want, but we all know that if you didn’t win in Key West, you just plain didn’t win.”
Here’s a list of all the World Champions for 2004. Look at the bright side, in 2003, there were three World Champions in each class, so at least we are going in the right direction.
Unified Champion APBA/UIM Champion
Superboat Unlimited......... Bacardi Silver............................Bacardi Silver
Superboat Cat ................... Pro Marine.............................. ..Pro Marine
Superboat Vee Unlimited...Rio Roses.................................. Rio Roses
Superboat Vee................... Rodriguez Group Fountain........Lightning Strikes
Superboat Vee Limited...... Wild Ride................................ ..Extreme Vortec
Superboat Limited Cat....... In Mocean .............................. ..Team CRC
Superboat Stock ................ Mapei No APBA registered boats
Factory 2 .......................... .JBS Racing............................... JBS Racing
Factory 1 ........................... SB Ballard Construction.. SB Ballard Construction
Manufacturer Prod. 1.........Lightning Jacks No APBA registered boats
Manufacturer Prod. 2.........Sony.................................... . .... TKO/Obsession
Manufacturer Prod. 3........ Wazzup...................................... Fortress
Manufacturer Prod. 4......... Herbott Swipes Racing ..............Herbott Swipes Racing
Manufacturer Prod .5..........Kean University ……….............High Priority
To avoid this conflict in the future, I offer the following two suggestions.
1. APBA could offer winning teams the chance to pay the APBA registration fees after the race in order to offer the UIM/APBA title to the real Champions.
2. APBA could simply not award a World Championship/UIM/APBA title to any boat that didn’t actually win in Key West. Just leave those classes blank just like the Superboat Stock and P1 classes.
It’s a shame that this detracted from what happened in Key West in mid November. Hopefully, next year we’ll see everyone can race in Key West again and issues of this sort should be worked out ahead of time.
12-23-2006, 05:37 PM
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Re: Will OPA be discussing if they will attend the Worlds in Key West
Originally Posted by Xtremeracing
Does anyone Know where OSS is scheduled to have their Worlds this year ?
just kidding
12-24-2006, 10:34 AM
#46
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Re: Will OPA be discussing if they will attend the Worlds in Key West
Frank try being part of the solution and NOT the problem. Do you not want to see everybody race together in KW? It seems most racers and fans would like to see this. Just keep on pissing on OSS and asking leading questions and making racers mad from other organizations and you will continue to be part of the problem.
Let me give you an example.
How can you except a title of hall of champions when you raced 2 boats all year. I thought it was for outstanding achievements on the race course and dominance in a class with many competitors at the top of there game. Have you seen the names on that list? Don't you find it bazaar to put your name on it with your racing history of never racing anyone. And World Champ title against who? Give us all a break and be safe where ever you race.
Now that is just an example of course and pure fiction but how would you feel if people constantly questioned you with comments like that? Do you think you would want to race with those people?
Have a Merry Christmas
MD
Let me give you an example.
How can you except a title of hall of champions when you raced 2 boats all year. I thought it was for outstanding achievements on the race course and dominance in a class with many competitors at the top of there game. Have you seen the names on that list? Don't you find it bazaar to put your name on it with your racing history of never racing anyone. And World Champ title against who? Give us all a break and be safe where ever you race.
Now that is just an example of course and pure fiction but how would you feel if people constantly questioned you with comments like that? Do you think you would want to race with those people?
Have a Merry Christmas
MD
12-24-2006, 11:04 AM
#47
Re: Will OPA be discussing if they will attend the Worlds in Key West
Randy,
It wasn't a leading question ..The reason I ask was that if it was a different date that possible teams could race both SBI/APBA or the OSS Worlds.
It wasn't a leading question ..The reason I ask was that if it was a different date that possible teams could race both SBI/APBA or the OSS Worlds.
12-24-2006, 11:28 AM
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Re: Will OPA be discussing if they will attend the Worlds in Key West
Originally Posted by Xtremeracing
Randy,
It wasn't a leading question ..The reason I ask was that if it was a different date that possible teams could race both SBI/APBA or the OSS Worlds.
It wasn't a leading question ..The reason I ask was that if it was a different date that possible teams could race both SBI/APBA or the OSS Worlds.
12-24-2006, 01:02 PM
#49
Re: Will OPA be discussing if they will attend the Worlds in Key West
SBI/APBA has opened it up to all racers this year that have raced any 2 races , so I guess it up to the racers if that's what they want. If so i guess we will see a united Worlds everyone is welcome. The stage is set with the Place, Date , and Time the rest is up to us.
SBI/APBA has worked very hard to make this happen , and is putting together a hell of a program . They are speaking to other organizations , and all is well only time will tell.
Merry Christmas to all , and a very Happy and Health New Year.
SBI/APBA has worked very hard to make this happen , and is putting together a hell of a program . They are speaking to other organizations , and all is well only time will tell.
Merry Christmas to all , and a very Happy and Health New Year.
12-24-2006, 01:30 PM
#50
Easily Distracted
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Re: Will OPA be discussing if they will attend the Worlds in Key West
Originally Posted by 1waterboy1
Why is anyone willing to except anything other than a true World Championship?All the boats from all the organizations(SBI,OSS,OPA & WPPA) should be in Key West in November 2007.This is really what the racers and fans want.
Maybe what we need is for someone besides one of the race organizations to put the show on.... so there is NO flag flyin ... just racers racin ....
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