Chris!

Am I reading something wrong? I only counted 9 boats, it that true?

Congrat's to all the winners.

Great job by all of the teams that supported the race.

I know....I was expecting to have 15+ boats showed up at Michigan City but only 9 showed up. Last year there were 19 boats total showed up at Michigan City!!! Hope boat count will be better next year!

Chris

Probably had something to do with the cancelation of last years race due to terrible lake conditions.

Wow. Feel bad for Michigan City. I understand it is funded by the local government, I hope they still got their money's worth. It is a shame that great sites aren't better supported.

Water was not very rough compared to last year. Water was reasonable such as 2-4 feet....Everyone had a great time...Sad that anyone didnt go, missed the great show! Hope you can come back next year! :)

Chris

Had a great time despite the boat count. The crowd was way down compared to years past.

I was at work and got to watch both races on the live stream. I have been outspoken (just a little) about how much I hate these short course roundy round races. That being said, with just 9 boats this was the first "Offshore" race I have seen in quite a while. Forget about the quantity of boats. This was about the quality and the ability to run in something other than dead flat water. You could tell that a few of these guys have never run in anything but dead flat water and it took them until the middle of the second heat to figure out how to run in actual waves. They all did a great job adjusting and learning.

This was far better and more exciting to watch than any shootout or river race. That's just my 2 cents. Congrats to the 9 warriors that showed up.

It was great seeing all the fan and all there support. The parade and st party was awesome this yr. Spoke to the Mayor at the awards and the city project over 30,000
ppl. We all had a great time and want to thank all our sponsor we had this yr. This is one of our favorite races and both Byrider boats will support this race.

Yes I have heard your point about the short course roundy race around more then once. I'm sure you have also heard my side before about the open Ocean races and Lake races. This is something that will never be resolved to everyones satisfaction but here I go. Yes the Ocean races were fantastic to watch on DVD or T.V. with helicopter coverage but when it came to spectator viewing you could only see them leaving and coming back. What do you do in the mean time, have a little snooze for a while and if I'm going with family or friends or travelling to see some racing, thats what you want to see. The best "spectator" viewing courses are the short 4 mile course where the spectators can see the entire race and there is continuous race action for them to enjoy compared to the occassional Ocean race action. Its as simple as that, its all about bringing in spectators to spend their money at race sites, enjoy continuous race action and that is what sponsors want to see, dought what I say, how many boats were at Michigan City 9? How many spectators were at that race? How many boats were at that flat 4 mile round course at the St. Clair River Classic the week before, at least 50 boats even thought the boat count was down? How many spectators were at the St. Clair 4 mile round course? I can tell you quite few as usual. The question is why? Compare the two types of race courses and best spectator viewing of the race and the "short 4 mile round course" is exactly what the spectators want to see. I love Offshore Powerboat racing and you can tell me that it is not Offshore Powerboat racing but pond racing and it is OK. Those that have raced in the earliers years only remember what they have done but its really about what the spectators want because without a big race boats count and without big crowds of spectators you really have no racing at all and if your a sponsor you want to spend your money where the spectators are. I feel sorry for the organizers of the Michigan City Race for all the hard work they put into this event but as a spectator I'm glad I didn't go to Michigan City and went to the St. Clair River Classic and watch some great racing on that flat roundy 4 mile course. Maybe it is really time to bring all the orgs together and have big boat counts at selected races. That just my 2 cents.