It could be, but that is entirely up to the racers.

what are the SVL rules for this year?

I fail to see how making everything go 5mph faster makes the racing better. Besdies Im building a boat for an 85mph class, if that changes Ill be REALLY annoyed.

But your right the awards will be important the band is killer

Understandably so. Been there. Heard the band was good

The band has been "Switched"

No offense, and not trying to go tit for tat, but keep in mind, BWD spent over 100 G's(probally way more) on a brand new boat for a certain speed and upon completion found out that the class was raised 5 mph... Obviously he was upset, however he moved forward and raced. Thats what racers do. He only brought it up for discussion purposes.

Maybe a solution would be keep the speeds the same and to utilize the formula placed in the OPA rulebook of: Pitch X RPM's X .01 / gear ratio / 12 = class you go in. Smitty is way to intelligent to know that all a boat can turn is a bravo 24, so if people come in the front door, they wont get embarrassed.

Found this in the local paper this morning about the coverage of the 12 car pileup @Daytona yesterday:

"The sport is rewinding," Keselowski said. "That is the important thing to say. The sport advanced to the two-car tandem three or four years ago and there were certain things you could do then that you couldn't do in the past without wrecking. Now the rules package is back to where we were in the early 2000's, when the fans enjoyed the racing better."

Sometimes you need to go backwards, before you can go forward. Johnny, before you get all defensive and say I'm picking on ya, I'm not... You and I have discussed several times that the races are over after lap 2 and the only way to advance(95% of the time) is through attrition. We both agreed.

I KNOW the band is great, but if I'm going to throw away over 1000 bucks ;its not to sit at the bar, listen to the band, eating ok food and more importantly freeze my a$$ off. Its to make the sport better...

So I ask you, how do we make computer racing better? How do we make it exciting from start to finish? How do we attract more racers and more importantly fans(which intern brings sponsors). Forgot to add, less classes= less fan confusion

Brian I consider you a good friend of mine so PLEASE dont take this as me being an ass (youll think im an ass after the first race anyway )...but
Why is it the two guys who want to change the rules are
1. Currently doesnt have a boat to race and consistantly talks about getting out of racing
2. Hasnt raced OPA yet?

And if something REALLY had to be changed(which nothing does frankly), and your fixated on less classes....why change everything?
TKO, Buill and Zipp want to run 2...bring back 2, eliminate SV. There. Less classes and not a change EVERYONE has to deal with.

Oh Johnny, you didnt get the memo? I have a boat and it can race tomorrow... but your right I do talk about leaving racing all the time, just fed up spending a lot of money to race against a computer, not other racers... I miss those days

Furthermore, I have mentioning that the speeds need to change for years, way before your new boat was even thought of, you know this.

I ask again, how do we make it better? I see above that you dont want any changes, so am I to assume that everything you told me over the years was false? Racers being self serving is why Offshore will never move forward and I find it hard to believe as talented as you and your father are that you cant find 5 mph for next to nothing cost wise

Oh I see, "racing a cumputer" was OK when you did it, but now that you arent, its "lame". Whatever.
Im sure the old Cobra could be pushed to 90, its really not the point. I fail to see how me racing at 90 vs 85 will make it better. Will it be closer racing? No. Will the fans even notice the difference? No. I guess we just dont have egos that dont need to go 90? lol
I Am however looking forward to a killer class 4 this year. Brian, Team Velocity, RnS, Maybe PFE, Jersey Outlaw and The Cobra at least. Way cool!

And Trent when its in the ocean, and its rough...we are racing each other

Hey Johnny, I've reread what I wrote and I can see how it could construde as rabble rousing. That's not really my intention. I have no intention of standing up being a newby and try and turn your class upside down. I was just thinking out loud and meant no offense. I built my boat for the 85 bracket but got trapped with SBI by accident. Thnks for being friendly and helpful, you will get nothing but the same in return from me. And if you want to be an ass on the course go ahead, I have big shoulders and can take it and am not afraid of getting banged up a little bit. :-) All that being said on the days that it roughens up enough that we're not running up to 90 or 95 or whatever it happens to be ( which seems to change daily) its kinda nice not to be running against a computer.