Breakthrough performances were the order of the weekend the Super Stock Big East Construction and Super Cat Wicked Racing teams last weekend at the Great Lakes Grand Prix, https://www.speedonthewater.com/firs...es-grand-prix/

It was a great event. We had a blast!

To me, it seems the bigger story is the amount of holdout racers. I attended for my first time, and I was surprised at how many Supercat and Extreme teams decided to sit this race out. Is there a story of why the participation was so low for this race? (Aside from last year's hull failure in the Supercat class)

edit: Perhaps this is the primary reason: https://www.speedonthewater.com/apba...oning-ability/
The points don't count.

Nauti, I agree. It was quite noticeable, I even commented & questioned the lack of participants during the live feed, but to no avail.
I was looking forward to some of those racers. For the sport, racers and fans, I truly hope that the sanctioning bodies can put all the politics, egos and drama aside, so we could support the sport & grow. Alas that will never happen, i,e. F1 Supercross, IRL etc all have the same b.s

The folks that decided not to come missed out on an epic event. There's a lot of division in our sport currently. I would like to point out, OPA is by far the most welcoming sanctioning body there is. The teams that showed up even though they werent getting APBA points showed they are in it for the thrill, the passion and the fans.
We had an amazing time at our favorite race site. OPA and X Insurance rolled out the red carpet.
Great coverage by SOTW!

Family and I enjoyed it

Glad I went to Road America for the IMSA Race. Once again Michigan city is a time waster.

once again? Every class had good battles. Supercat, even with 3 boats, was incredibly close. Both races on saturday were down to the wire. Superstock had 15 boats. Wazzup and Kucklehead ran each so hard Knucklehead spun....twice! The list of positives goes on and on. The VIP tent on the beach was catered and open bar. Last year, we had even more boats. Must take a lot to impress you...

I can tell you from experience. Promoters, sponsors, etc see things like this. So if you really do care for the sport, say something positive, or keep it to yourself.

I think you're absolutely right. The promoters did an impeccable job in every area except for one: filling the fields. It's a tough job for sure, but a necessary one if a race event is to grow. A shrinking starting grid is never good for drawing in eyeballs.

A smaller deal, but cell service on the beach wasn't sufficient to send a text, let alone listen to the live stream. If there was a broadcast, I didn't think to bring an FM radio to listen to it. Hearing the play by play would have been nice and would have added to the excitement. Lessons for me for next time.

Did any of the $40 parking fee I paid go towards the promoters of the event, and to the racers via a purse? This is a gap at St. Clair, where attending the event raises $0.00 for the promoters for general admission. I think that is something that needs to be fixed across offshore powerboat racing. It's okay to charge people to see a spectacle.

Johnny,

Some of the best races I've ever seen were between the only two boats on the course. Get all the jam boats out of the way and those guys will hang it out there.

Thanks. Brad.