That I guess is a moot point, so it doesnt really matter. Phantom, I guess the rejection of it was the knife wound, lets not twist it and make it worse.

With Mike A giving us his time and past experiences, some of what worked and what didnt, only gives us a better perspective of a course of action to take into the future. Yes this thread took a pretty wild turn, but I think the way is has turned is about the most productive things have been on any thread in the racers area in a long time. Now with Mike S. in the mix it only helps. I am sure he doesnt speak for everyone in OSS, but he is one of the most respected racers in all of racing and everyone(on both sides of the fence) is taking notes.

Not trying to jinx it but I hope this is kind of a glimpse of the future. Time will tell.

Trent

WoW !!! Some incredible reading in here!
It took me a couple of hours to read all this, and I have to say, I'm impressed at the level headed discussions, thoughts, observations and ideas. Props to "Funhome" Brad for getting things started and for keeping them on track.
If I may be allowed to throw out some observations of my own...
The last few years that Mike A was involved in APBA, The TV show was changed, tweaked, and finally evolved into the BEST TV in the history of offshore racing. We need that kind of TV show back. Why was it so good? It didn't show a parade of boats in single file, it showed boats racing. How did we get boats actually racing close together? By having a competition based model that kept everyone close without anyone running away from the field. Strict rules with strict inspections. I realize this all takes time, money, and good, unbiased tech inspectors. But something that a few such as Mike D, Old School, and HaulingTrash mentioned was the Factory classes. Having boats with the biggest baddest engines does not necessarily make a good show. As Brad (Funhome) said, and I think we ALL agree, It's all about the show!! Factory 1 and Factory 2 were not the biggest baddest boats on the water. BUT, they were close, tight racing that the fans related to.
There are some that keep trying to compare NASCAR to offshore racing. Ok, does NASCAR allow 1500 horsepower supercharged bigblocks? Do they allow just any body design that can come from any futuristic think tank? No. They use the exact lines from automobiles we all drive every day, and fan loyalty runs deep for respective manufacturers. Go into any bar and start talking crap on Ford, Dodge or Chevy, and you'll have a Nextel Cup brawl in no time. In the prime of Factory class racing, it was the same racing based loyalty for Donzi, Formula, Fountain and Cigarette. As for those big blowermotors, I remember when Mike A. and Steve M. told me they wanted to eliminate superchargers in Super V, (the class I was racing in at the time), and limit carbs and heads to a givin spec. I argued my ass off to Mike A that it would be a huge mistake, that fans wanted to see huge superchargers and hear that "blower whine" screaming by. Mike argued that fans wanted to see all the boats that start the race- also finish the race. And not be a matter of attrition or "the last one running wins", but a close race throughout with a dogfight to the finishline.
He was right.
Point is, Top speed is cool. I have all the respect in the world for the guys racing at dang near 200mph, and I'd love to race in an unlimited Supercat. But I think at this point in our sport, 20 boats racing at ninety mph will be a better show to fans than 2 boats running at one-ninety.

gordo glad to see you on i agree with some of the things you said but got a ? for you if nascar slowed the cars down to 90 mph on daytona. do you really think the fans wounld watch it ? nope they would be turning it off faster than the cars are going. me personialy i love the big fast boats why do i want to watch a sv run 90 . when you can go to the dealor and buy one that will run 150mph with no trouble . i think the alure of racing is having something that is fast and exciting to watch and enjoy . if the racers did not push the speeds we would not have the tec we have today in the boat's we buy .i think it good to have the big fast boats and the p class boat for people to learn . it's great to see you run what you brung class limted onily by top speed . any boat as long as you fall into the speed of that class. way cool ( opa ) robbie

i think what sbi is doing is working very well . i hope it keeps up. a real unified champ would be great . opa is doing a great job . i think smitty and augie have found a working raceing seystem thank god . i really like sbi becaus the have races here in my home state. we doint have the funds to travel real far. so it is wounderful i can go to the races here on the coast of nc .

That same "friend" (tongue planted firmly in cheek) also said in a one on one conversation..... "There will be many diverse forces pulling at you if you take this job. Always remember, stay your course and don't blink!" At the time it appeared that the "forces" would be owners and racers. As it turned out far bigger forces came from the corporate world.

For the record, it appears that after stepping down...the emperor seems to, finally, be finding his pants.......;)

Consider this an olive branch.

T2x

Look how simple. All we would have to do at that point would be to slide the OPA under the APBA banner, and United We Race. Outstanding...Smitty

Fountain1fan....I have to disagree with you.

In my opinion, the most exciting tv, was watching the battle of the factory 1 and factory 2 boats. and they only ran 80 and 90mph respectively.

I welcome you to jump in a 90mph boat in race conditions and see how boring it is. If the racing is deck to deck, it doesnt matter if they are going 80 mph or 180 mph. Hell, look at P-5 class . they put on a great show last year. and they only ran 70-75mph

I also agree with most of what is being said here and think that Mike A coming on sheds some light on things as well.

Thanks Mike.

However, with all do respect, I must also say, that while Offshore, during the Mike A era was some of the best Ive seen in recent years, we dont really know what was going on behind the scenes.

Without going into detail, because of hearsay, some venues had problems with APBA offshore and so did Speedvision.

Again hearsay....

One that comes to mind, was Daytona of 03, when Daytona threatened to cancell the race because of insurance issues. Another was Milwaukee, and also Orange Beach. I dont know all the deatils, but remember some negative talk from people involved with those venues.

Mike, do you care to comment on these?

I would love nothing more than to see everyone racing under 1 flag. And I like to think it will happen in the not to distant future.


Please take this as a positive post...no bashing. If we admit our mistakes and shortcomings, maybe we can move forward in a more positive direction.

Feel free to delete if I am out of line.

Thanks

keep the ideas coming

I agree with Doug and Gordo.Another factor is the structure of the sanctioning body.A race team owners group managing a sanctioning body is definately not the answer!It has been tried over and over again in offshore powerboat racing(PROPS
OPT and now OSS);it has not worked in the past,and it is obviously not working now.It also has destroyed other forms of motorsports;examples being indy car racing(CART)and sprint car racing(NST...which just folded).Imagine if NASCAR was run by Rousch,Childress,Yates,Evernham,Penske,Ginassi,Ear nhardt,Petty and the others.The power struggle in indy car racing between IRL and CART has also lead to a decline in sponsors,manufacturer involvement, race teams,race fans and media coverage.It seems alot of people dont care anymore.Sound familar?It is a real shame that everyone cant get together.It is safe to say that the sport would be alot better off if the APBA LLC was still around.

Its not all bad.OPA has built a great divisional series that continues to get stronger, and 2007 is looking even better!And SBI has a group racers that are loyal and seem to be happy running with them.

I would think that many more teams would race SBI if the schedule was a little more spread out. How about cuttting 4 races off from flordia and doing 2 in the great lakes, 1 midwest somewhere and point pleasant:D I know this is one of the reasons that most of the northeast teams will not race SBI. The travel kills you. 10 times to flordia in a season is overwhelming.

Sorry for being an A-hole to you too Rich. In retrospect, I was probably too young and inexperienced for the position, at least in terms of dealing with people. But there was a reason why you pushed me for the Chairman position back in 1998 and there was a reason why I relied so heavily upon your counsel. I was and remain that person. Just got overwhelmed and twisted in too many directions. Oh well. Live and learn.

It is sad to see what has happened to the sport since though. Thanks for the olive branch. My best to you, Darren and George.:drink: