First of all I would like to thank everyone for their input on this thread. I never thought it would have over 5700 views!! That is great!!

Yes in the beginning I posted it to try and motivate other teams to make each race site the best “show” it can be. However this thread blossomed into much more than that, yet still some very good points were brought into the light for all to see.

I did not want this to be an OSS vs. SBI thread and with that being said, I would appreciate it if we could please keep it from being negative in any way. I think we should keep it more of a (what can we do as racers to deliver more “show” for the fans) and look for (as Gregg-Bidpro said) Baby Steps that can be taken to help advance the sport no matter what association we are in. On that level we seem to be able to keep it positive.

Some of the things that have been posted seem almost unachievable, but in the future you never know. So lets try some of the little things first and see what happens from there.


Thanks,
Brad

Just a idea, SBI runs the divisional series and OSS runs the National series and we all meet in KW for the Worlds. Just a start.
MD

SBI is what it is,OSS is what it is,APBA was the best when Mike and company were at the helm.AT this present time OPA has the best ideas with the prize money and no entry fees.But lets face the reality of the sport from years past.You have a group of racers that dont agree with what the group is doing and branch off,HURTS THE SPORT.It has been this way and until everyone races under one sanctioning body and agree to stay there with rules and a full tech staff to see that everyone is playing by the rules unfortunetly it will never change.There is no reason that we should not be able to run what ever and whom ever engines as long as they are with in the guidlines and peramiters like max cubic inch and compression and carb size as well as exhaust .All of the racing organizations need to get together or the sport will remain just as it is today,a rich mans hobby and a poor man chasing a dream of trying to make it work and have some fun.Hmm that is what I said FUN,all of the BS always takes the fun out of it and most people go and look else where to spend there money and have fun or they spend all of there money starting another organization or blowing all there money trying to keep up with the Joneses.I would bet that if we started a pole on how many race boats are sitting because of the BS we would all be shocked.If we always agree to disagree,you are always going to have the same results.FRAGMENTATION and poor boat count.I would love to see 100 percent participation on racing together but I dont think the EGOs and Whiney hineys will ever agree so it will remain as a it is what it is and that is that.There are alot of good ideas out there and I hope they come together,until then there will be alot of spectators and race boats sitting.:(

My suggestion would be that the National series be the Spec. classes that OSS already has and SBI and OPA run the Divisional 1-6 classes that already exist. If any of the teams want to race with SBI that already have a spec boat but dont want to race the national series make them run in the 1-6 classes. This will lower the amount of classes and put more boats per class for better competition.
Part of the BS is both SBI and OSS have very simular classes and both sides are pulling boats out of each. If SBI eliminates these classes the tugging will stop. Race where you want but the choice's are smaller P class or spec.
MD

Randy,

Is your suggestion serious? If so then I would like to give my perspective on it, provided Brad is ok with me doing so. If it is not, or if other serious contributors to this thread do not consider the suggestion credible, then I will not say anymore.

P Class did not come about to be a major class like a lot of the racers and sanctioning body's are making it out to be and this is part of the problem. P Class is everyones biggest class! The racers that have been racing in P Class need to move up to a National series. The sancationing bodies need to find a way to have the P Class racers want to move up into a serious racing class. Until that happens you all are never going to grow the spec classes.

Im seeing to much emphisis (sic) or focus on classes..if you break it down and think about it, classes should be fairly simple to figure out. this is just a general idea to think about..Im not a boat racer...yet..this is just commen sense

vintage class...boats 25 years old or older..restored..nothing allowed that wasnt readily available at time of production ..exceptions saftey equipment..more of an exhibition class than all out race class

entry level: 28' and under, single engine, set max speed i.e: 70mph NO SIGNIFICANT DETUNING ALLOWED i.e: boats may only be underpropped say 10% of potential (teams/equipment subject to vote by current racers in class, to keep even playing field and spirit of class. i.e: eliminate sand bagging

a production class or two, boats as is from factory, modifications allowed for saftey, spec motors.

ltd. vee open class ltd hp.
ltd. cat open class ltd hp.

open vee anything goes
open cat anything goes

its really pretty simple...why does it have to be made so difficult..if the class your racing in doesnt go fast enough for you, move up. whats the sense of competition if you can out drive, out motor, out handle or out spend everyone in your class. it serves no purpose except to discourage everyone else in your class and ultimately hurts the sport.

Well my opinion is I don't want to move down to a spec class. To many ways to get screwed. To much finger pointing and so on. In theory the spec classes are stock hulls , vee or cat that run identical motors purchased from one source. The hulls are held to a particular wieght sporting a canopy and are similar in size. Am I correct so far? This means nothing to the fans and as I see it it becomes very important to the manufacturers to win as it should. Now if one hull is exceptionally fast and constantly wins wieght is added to slow them down? Kinda counter productive. If a manufacturer wants to win they build a brand new state of the art hull and beat the pants off last years hull. If I had a one year old boat I'd be pretty discouraged If it wasn't competitive. What I'm driving at is there are too many kinks in the armor. In the bracket classes you can move up or down depending on your speed. So last years boat will remain competitive, and you won't be chasing away your own racers thus keeping your boat count up, fan count up and it will give teams longivity in the sport. Unless all the boat builders enter the arena and race supervee or cat etc. those classes will always have a low boat count, and be predominantly one brand ae. Fountain,Skater etc.

Mike,
Sure I would love to hear your input, I ask to try and keep it positive.
Brad

...and this is THE exact problem with offshore racing! What the heck do you all think every sucessful motor racing business is? It is a spec class product! Car racing being the most sucessful has spec tires, spec fuel, spec engines, spec chassis.

NASCAR...all spec
INDY Car all spec
F1 all spec
NHRA all spec
American LeMans all spec
Porsche Cup all spec
MotoGP all spec
do I need to continue?

Louie you are not moving down if you go to Super V, Super Cat or even Super V lite, you will be moving up and furthering the sport. However I agree it is a total mess in those classes and I like you would not spend my money on it. Have fun at what you are doing for now.:D