I have to say it depends on what boat you have.

My old 32 foot single engine weighs 5700 # with 70 Gallons fuel, has 800 HP on a box and a #5.

I turn on a dime at 75-80 in any water ?!

And then the reliability thing ,,,,,,,,,,,well i dont know,,,,,,,,,,, i blew up almost every race this year.

What i think though is that every twin has advantage in the exhelaration part,,,and thats the most important in speed bracket racing.

Therefor if there would be a class for max 32 single engine ,no speed limit ,,,,,that would be the $hit !!!!!!

OK, Ive got some time before the wife gets home from yoga.

First...get rid of the EGOS...the "if I don't win I'll go start my own group or quit", has ruined offshore.

Second...change the "Rich boys playing with their toys" view that the general public has of offshore racing. How, make it look like a race, not Rich boys running around in their big toys.
Which is just like it looks like now, with so many classes, champions, etc. And after the start..no one on the beach was any idea of whats going on, usually.

Third...Change how you think about getting the money. Going to a city council and asking for $50,000 doesn't work so well. How do they justify it? Most offshore fans don't travel very far, and the serious one's are here on OSO, so lets look at hotels...
50 teams x 3 rooms x 2 nights x $100 night x 2% hotel city tax =$600 in additional tax for a city. And wonder why they don't want to pay. Plus any add expense(police fire etc) that the promoter doesn't pick up.
On the other hand, in all my years of racing and being a fan, never has anyone asked me for a donation to the racers. Yeh, I have been asked to pay $20 or more for some "VIP" area that wasn't worth it or buy a T shirt...but as a fan on the beach no one has ever asked me for $5 or $10 to help bring the races back next year. And what about the spectator fleet..I'm sure some would be willing to donate...has anyone asked. You guys should see what there do at Seattle Seafair.
100,000 people on the beach at Pt. Pleasant, 1/2 at $5 a piece is $250,000, hell 20% of the people would be $100,000
Sell buttons or wrist bands. In this new economy, a little from a lot , is going to be easier than a lot from a few.
Change , you guys need change. Your thought thats it's working is flawed...not getting any worse, maybe, but not better.
Mike

But do you realy think ,,,if u ask for a donation that all these fans in this econemy would come to a race ?????

If they know they need to donate ,,,probably half of them would stay home.

I think its a great idea though. Defenetly helps. Thanks.

i think alot of people would. look at what sbi does every year in KW and people show up and pay.

as for all this rules changes. STOP, leave it alone. i would say if anything less classes. put a 15 mph jump in there and move some the boats around to make the classes bigger.
and with boat lenght, well certain boats are better in the rough, some in the flat. the races are pretty 50/50 with the two types of conditions. if the closet racers really want to race they would. the only thing that might work to bring out more teams is tow money.

Unless you are referring to Art Lilly at Chattanga 2 yrs ago. I recall he totally played with Class 4 in his single SVL boat. Even with his son driving in his first race.

$20 for a day on the beach for a family of 4 with exciting racing...cheaper than the $80 of shirts, or $100 of VIP or $400 of tickets to a Nascar event.

If only 1/2 showed up and you get money from them all, you get something almost as valuable as their money...fan loyality.
Try to market offshore right now...tell the sponsor you have 100,000 people on the beach watching you race, and he says, "yeh right", they are there for the sun. Tell him you have 50,000 paying fans on the beach watching you race,,,now you have something of value to him...loyal fans.
Mike

How abought 27' Canopy, single engine boats in class 5.
At one time you had most of the open class 5 fleet racing against the same boats in Class 4 now, What makes the most sense, 30'SVL's 92mph boats racing at 85 or racing at75mph.
You can't race SVL's against former F1 bats, I dont see adding another class, if their is one or two boats with a problem maybe look at them individually, or a class vote.
just my .02

Personaly I'm not looking for another engine change,
Thats why I'm closley following the, Gino Racing League thing,
he just may get this off the ground.

Im confused, wasn't all SVLs running class 4? I know in '07 the only canopy boats allowed was the bat boats. That makes sense as they are 24', a 30' canopy boat in class 5 doesn't make sense.

I like the idea of a single engine, 32' or 30' max length with engines built within a certain spec...510" max, etc. Sounds fun! What tech format was used in APBA's A-class racing?

Concerning the single vs. dual, the concern is not just in initial acceleration but also in the way it handles in the corner. Two props will always be more stable than a single. Try standing on two feet vs. one and you get the idea...

Forgot to add my "one idea per team".


How about those who break out still finish ahead of those who just flat out "break"?

All too often (myself included) a boat would break and not even complete all the laps yet end up ahead of those who ran all the laps. Now to me the guys who finished the races have put on more of a show to the sponsors/spectators and deserve the trophy/cash.

Thoughts???