I am only speaking in my point of view, i do not speak for OPA and or Smitty!.The way I understand it as far as the rules not specifically saying sealed was pointed out to me at Solomon's. I believe Trent was the one who actually pointed out. I am not sure who specifically Trent told this to tho but it was a very valid point. Two reasons why I understood that the fountain had altered power. The fountain team had stayted that they wanted to run with the class but not be in the points because they did not want to mess any points race that was going on, a very professional viewpoint. I am not going to get into why they were not allowed to run with us because I was not part of that decision but what I am going to address is this notion that the engines are the same. The rules between the two organization are completely different. The fountain by their own admission said they had a legal SBI engine, again they never tried to hide anything. We can go back and fourth on who has what power but one undisputed point is that the modified engines will more reliability issues that a stock 525. Since I have been racing in SVL since 2004, not one engine in any race that I have raced in has blown up in an SVL. We had our engine in our boat for 10 years and over 100 hours without a single incident.
Say what you want but the modified engines have trouble going to a complete season.
The fact the fountain boat blew up and I do mean blew up in a quarter of a lap it's a good indication that its probably not stock.
Now I will let the thread continue in its path.

Wil

You have a lot of questions for me and Im trying my best to keep up with them with honesty. Please refresh me on which was your first question you are refereeing to? I believe there was more than the motor that was a issue. Why don't you ask Mark or the OPA inspector.

Kevin and Wil thanks for your straight up answers. See you guys in KW good luck to all the boats racing the Worlds.

Yes Wil it was me that pointed it out, however the million dollar question I have is I knew the rules from day 1 when they were posted(sometime in May 2013), how did everyone not realize what was in your own rule book until some "outsider" came into the last race of your season to point it out to you?

Kevin, help me out here, With your statement, and I quote, "going to great strides and spending some $$$ to be able to tech the motors next season" . If you are going to this great expense, then why do you need the stupid amount of money for seals? I'm sure 10 g's could buy a whole bunch of Fireball. Side note, Smitty already has the necessary equipment to do proper tech, however where the expense is going to be is to hire someone totally unbiased to handle the tech process.

Hope the above is short enough as I realize how much you enjoy my novels containing facts

Trent

Trent ,

I wish I had the answer because I can sure use the money!!

These rules have been copied and recopied many times over from the APBA days. I believe Steve M wrote them.

Some how they forgot the part with the sealed motor. To be perfectly honest with you I have not read the rules since I started but kudos to you for noticing it.

Wil

I took your advise and spoke to Mark, he said OPA didnt NOT have any other issues with the boat and was OK to race. He said certain members of the class voted on him racing or not and they dicided no . I am suprised you didnt have the answer to that question because from what he said you were right in the middle of it simalar to what happen to Steve M nd Steve K . Mystery SOLVED.

OOOOOOHHHHH, that hurt . While I was out racing my boat this year your boat sat on the trailer most of the time. I have always like watching your team race but the big question on everyone's mind with the past history is, was it earned? We will all never know it's history now. In the end IMO you never needed to go there to win but as the team owner it was your call. Have a great race in KW.

Wil,

I apprec, however I'm not in this for kudos or any accolades. I'm just doing the job that I'm paid to do or when I put on my team owner hat, its my responsibility. It is also my responsibility to speak with numerous engine builders including Mercury in order to find out the benefits and pitfalls of different scenarios. Yes, I realize the evolution of the rules, but keep in mind, the original rules stated that we all bring our motors to Innovation and for $550.00 get them sealed. Thats a far cry from $10,000.00 or even more. You mention Steve M as the possible rule writer, your probably right, but also keep in mind, he voted to get rid of the seals as he saw that they are in essence useless and voted on the current SBI rules. He has made the suggestion on several occasions that we implement data loggers. Always the response was,"oh thats too expensive" and so on. I priced out several data loggers in the 1800-2500 range, but yet spending $10,000 for useless seals is now affordable?

Instead of being cryptic, I'll just come out and say it. Kevin runs a very successful 100 year old multi-million dollar business, Pirate has a very successful Liquor store, You yourself Wil have invested into several businesses the past few years. Point is you are all VERY successful businessmen in the real world, and obviously have figured out how to survive in the bad times as well as make more in the good times. Why, with all of your impressive resumes, do ya'll follow a complete moron?

Below is the common sense goals approach to SVL:
1)Make it a level playing field
2)Make it affordable in order to attract a big class
3)Have fun

Tech Enforcement is the whole key and as long as you have that, you dont need your $10,000.00 seals

Wil, I do appreciate the conversation, I have been begging for quite some time to have an intelligent conversation. You have provided it and look forward to more of the same in the future. I wont speak for the 3 other teams that plan to come out next year, but I will speak for the 4th, hopefully we can use our heads and common sense will prevail. I would hate to have to witness a power play and see who can get the most votes, hopefully it will be unanimous. This statement applies to both sides of the fence.

Trent

Trent this is why you cut grass for a living. You must not be smart enough to get a big boy job. I did that when I was in 7th grade and realized it would not give me the income I would need. Now you want to race boats and have people take you seriously. Are you kidding me.

Trent,

Those three goals are exactly what we all want, I speak from my point of view. The 10000 price tag is for a full rebuild that will last for a minimum of 100 hours. That's a lot of racing. Hopefully we can all find a way to make the racing in each org easier to cross over. Louie "the rigger " along with others are making plans to do just that.

IMO,
I believe the most inexpensive way to race is with a stock 525.

SVL is the best bang for your dollar.
Steve M has proposed the data loggers and I think they are a great choice but like everything else, we talk about it and nothing gets done. From an organization point of view , the reality is everything cost money. OPA spends a bunch to have the GPS trailer and to run it.
I don't know the answer but I hope somebody comes up with one soon.

Wil