Stihl Disqualification
 

As owner and driver of the new Stihl #13 Skater I would like to comment on the recent events surronding the July 4th Sarasota race and Stihl's subsequent disqualification.

First and foremost I would like to say thanks to the many individuals who have posted positive/supportive comments on our behalf. I am also very appreciative of Bob Teague's comments during the awards banquet. It was a great race and regardless of the outcome being window to window going into the last turn with Amsoil after 14 hard felt laps is about as exciting as it gets! To me, that is what offshore racing is all about...

Also, I could not have asked for anything more from the new boat (my sincere thanks to Peter at Skater) he did an outstanding job in all regards with the 388. I would HIGHLY recommend Mr. Hledin to anyone considering a new boat. and as always Grant and crew did a outstanding job rigging and preparing the boat for race day.

Now relative the props...as noted two of the blades on one of our props measured too thin during the post race inspection. After a great deal of discussions and research I offer the following comments from Jeff Johnston at Hering:

From: Jeff Johnston [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 11:28 AM
To: 'Bob Noble, Jr.'
Subject: Hering Propellers

Hi JR,

I want to first of all apologize (again) for this situation that you are in. I want to be absolutely clear, this is 100% the fault of Hering Propellers, as the programs that were ran on your propellers were incorrect, which equated to a thinner spec profile than that of the SBI rule books. This was (unfortunately) an honest mistake, that occurred in our production department when selecting which program was to be ran.

We have two specs for Super Cat Light (old and new), in which it was the older (thinner) spec that was ran for your propellers. It was simply a mistake on our part, not on yours. You received your propellers the day before the race, and had no way of knowing the specs were thinner than what the rule book states. And there is no way to tell by the naked eye, except for the professional measuring tools used at the race site.

We are going to build you a complete new batch of propellers (x3 sets) in exchange for the three (3) sets that we shipped to you with the incorrect specs.

Again, on behalf of Hering Propellers, I truly apologize for this mistake and misfortune, and hope to continue our relationship with you and STIHL Racing in the future.

Sincerely,

-Jeff

Jeff Johnston
Director of Sales and Marketing

Hering Propellers[/COLOR]

Hopefully this puts an end to the speculation and we can put this behind us and move on to the next race ....
Jr

And that is how professional adults handle difficult situations. JR is a class act. We will miss him in Cat Outboard.
SQ

A true gentleman and sportsman!!!!!!

You have a REAL proffessional team with one of the best Throttleman/crew chief in the business.

I can't wait to see you guys battle in KW.

Congratulations again.

Wil

No fussing, no fighting...right to the point! Very cool Bobby, Congrats.

Well done. I am now a fan of Stihl Racing......

Me too!!!!

This shows us that they are being honest and trust in doing business with customers. I see that there's no arguments which is good!!! :) :)

Chris

Exactly what I would expect from the folks involved with this.

Love the new boat, and watching them do battle with Amsoil last Sunday was a lot of fun- great racing.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/...e1871389_b.jpg

+1 We need more people like this!

Just what I expected from JR. like I said before he is a class act. His team is ran the same way ....

And that is why Stihl Offshore is so well respected! True professionalism, well done JR!

amen amen steve . and what a stand up guy herring is . verry cool to se his answer . robbie

Customer Service & sheer Professionalism
 

Hats off to Herring Props for stepping up and totally admitting to 100% fault. Not seen much this day in the business world as we can all atest that Customer Service has gone to $H!T.
Utmost respect for the handling of this situation by the Stilh Team! Just proves sometimes its not about winning or losing but "How the game is played!" KUDOS

Congrats to all of you for handling it so professionally, from the Sthl team.Sbi, and Hering.Our sport needs as much of this as we can get....Ide say Mr Teague is going to have his hands full....Congrats...

I'd just like to say, during all this, Bob Teague was a true sportsman and gentleman, He made a nice public gesture at the awards banquet, and after that came to our pits and watched the race video with the team, And never once made accusations or jumped to negative conclusions, So its people like Bob that make the sport more enjoyable as well. Great guy ! Thanks Mike

Jayboat
 

Great sequence of photos...would like to discuss possible purchase for our web site
Please contact me at [email protected]

Thanks,
JR

With all the negativity in the world, it is fantastic to hear that this situation was handled in a positive, professional manner. My hats off to Bob Noble, Jr. (Stihl offshore racing), Jeff Johnston (Hering Props), and Bob Teague for being the true gentlemen that this sport truly needs.

JR...thanks for posting the email and your kind words in handling this matter...you again have set the example on handling a bad situation which will sometimes happen in racing....along with Bob T and Herring....
Matt and Julie...continue doing your great job that you preform on Prop inspections....as racers, its what we want to keep everyone on the same playing field...
and to SBI to following there rule book and inforcing the rules that are set...

With the new MTI and Skater...I'm sue Bob knows he will have his hands full to win a race....along with the rest of the class..

Good luck on the rest of your season....

First Of All Jr ,bob T, And Jeff Of Herring Are True Professionals In What They Do. Jr And The Stihl Team Is An Example Of What Offshore Racing Should Be. I Have Read All The Comments And They Really Show That Offshore Racing Is Continuing To Grow.
However The Only Problem I Have Is With The Inspection Team That Inspects The Props, Is Supervised And Done By Matt And Julie Of Throttle Up Propellers, I Can Only Wonder What Would Of Come Of This If Team Stihl Would Of Won With Their Props. The Testing Of The Propellers Should Be Done By An Independant Comittee, So The Results Are Fair And Impartial.

You should be ashamed of yourself to say something like that about 2 of the most honoralble and professional ppl in the sport. The proof is in the pudding. If you want to throw stones, looks like to me Herring was the one that was trying to pull the wool over someone eyes. Looks like Matt and SBI were 100 % correct in their findings and the props were NOT legal. How is that fair to the rest of the class ??? If it wasnt for Matt spending his own time and money to HELP the sport and every racer out there, we would have no one doing it. You need to check your Offshore history, this is only the second team in five yrs that Matt has been an inspector that he has failed a teams props. Every other team including Bob wasnt running Throttle- Up props so whats your point. He has inspected 100's of other Herring props.
You praise Herring in your post and they r the ones that built cheater props not Throttle-Up, you have a hell of a sense of humor. The computer doesnt lie the numbers are the numbers. Not sure if you are or not but you dont have to be a head cashier at Walmart to figure that one out. Look at the position Herring put JR. in and you want to pat them on the back. Not only did it cast a shadow on one of the most professional teams in Offshore, it cost him a race. Did you read the letter Herring wrote, opppps we made a mistake, hmmmmmmmm on 3 sets of props OK i guess. So I guess u believe the tech just happened to make a mistake out of the clear blue not on one but 2 sets. Let me ask u something?? If you program a CNC machine to cut a prop how did it only cut certain blades thinner then the rest things that make u go hmmmm, I guess the machine made a mistake also not only the tech??? You figure that one out and tell me they came off the Machine like that lol lol . But this is the company you want to praise hmmmmm. Also if you read the letter Herring took 100 % responsibility for the MISTAKE (?) and said that Throttle-UP and SBI was 100% correct , but i guess you know BETTER.
If it wasnt for Matt banging on props in the pitts on race day you would of had 30 - 40 different teams that would of never have made race day. Lets not even talk about what he has done in Key West until 9-10 o'clock at nite repairing props, welding exhaust and fabricating bracts for anyone that needed a hand, all at NO CHARGE no matter what type of prop it is. All to make sure that any team he can help is on the race course.

Maybe you can explain the statement in your post about Herring being true professionals, what did they do, other then get caught by Matt? Looks like Matt he was the true professional.

I have no bone to pick with Herring but when someone makes a stupid statement like that and attacks someone crediibility for no reason they should be ashamed of themselves.

It ppl like you that hurt the sport and make us all look bad.

I agree Frank, Julie and Matt are awesome!!! Not to bah herring either, but CNC machines do not make honest mistakes(they DO have some tolerance variation, but not much). Yes you CAN load the wrong program, but then all of the blades would have been out of spec.(unless they ran them on the hairy edge of the tolerance, and had slight normal machine variation) Ask me what happens when we make an Honest mistake in the Medical Device machining field:eek:

Lets Be Clear On Something Im Not Questioning The Integrity Of Matt Or Julie Of Throttle Up Propellers, They Have Come To The Rescue Of Many Racer's When No Other Prop Company Would And Are Professionals In What They Do. All Im Saying Is That The Committe That Checks The Propellers Should Be Compiled Of People That Are Not Affiliated With A Company Thats Sells Props To Racers That Compete Against Each Other. Besides When You Check And Measure Propellers You Use A Scribe, and Scribe A Line In The Prop ,Not A Chisel Tip Sharpie To Make Your Line To Measure. You Can Be Out Of Spec Very Easy, Especially When Your Running Such Close Tolerances.

Thanks for ur reply. I don't understand why it was ok and still is for merc to check dyno and seal there own motor and no one has an issue with that?

In short they were built to OSS specs and SBI has different thickness specs for SCL props.

By the way, it is fine for Mercury to seal their own engines because that is the only engine allowed in the class.

Best of luck to Bob and his team this weekend.

I wasn't talking about SVL class but that's ok u got my point.