No offense guys but I seem to look at the name of this thread is "To all P-class racers in KW!!!!!!!" Ok I might be wrong again, but why are people like 2TR, Wahoo, and Skaterdave posting on here and they have no intentions of being in Key West? SBI is SBI and OPA is OPA. They are having a meeting to discuss how to make P-class racing in SBI better. With such idiotic comments insinuating that OPA is perfect, then if they are stupid enough to believe that, then they should race OPA and stay off this thread. Now a little disclaimer, OPA has done some wonderful things for their club, but it is far from perfect.
Opinions are like buttholes and everyone has one, but if you chose to go to Key West pay your fees then speak up, if not have a nice long cold winter!!!!! Although I will point out that this thread does not belong in General Discussion, it belongs in the SBI section.
first off f100/trent i live in fl, so the outcome might affect me. next, i'll be in KW:03:
next if you want to split hairs it say to ALL P CLASS RACERS in KW, not all p class racers that run only sbi. there for, you get input from other racers in different orgs. next i really don't think it matters which furom since its about improving p class racing and dd put it here on the web, where we can all comment on it.
the biggest improvement would be for sbi to use opa's fee schedule. that would put an extra $600 in the racers pocket. i myself would like to see more laps and as far as unified rules, well opa does seem to have more boats which fill it's classes therefore class reduction would not be necassary.
i think one of the easiest thing to do would be change some dates around so theres not conflicting dates like sbi @ ny and opa @ point pleasent. that situation makes no sense to me. with offshore being such a small market to racers you would think one or the other would move dates around to maximize race entries ?
as for making the same gps speed, well it should be as simple as a prop change or different setup to move that couple of miles an hour up or down.
mobilemerc, i would rather see simplified tech inspection rather than a merc only sealed rule. for instance a lot of people love the 525's and make a big deal of how long they last. well they should since they only turn 5400 rpm. and really are not anywhere near push the limits compared to a race only engine. next comparing there price i was able to build quite a better motor for what a 525 costs IMO.
so whats the middle ground for spec. pick certain guidelines that are easily inspected with out having to tear down the motor or pulling a cylinder head.
from what little experience i have being around friends that race cars, heres what i've seen and it seems to work rather easily.
by merely pulling spark plugs you can check cubic inch displacement and compression ratio. set a valve lift limit which can be checked be removing just a valve cover. and spec a throttle bore size for the carb. to go farther than that car guys use a sight hole in the oil pan to check crank and rods. but in a boats case you would have to pull the engine at that point, plus theres only so much to do in the low end that would make more HP. they mandate crank driven distributors and no computers and some spec a rpm limiter.
problem here would be the merc and blower motor combos with fuel injection and compueters. agian the easiest solution would be an air restrictor.
i know i'm off the P class subject but wanted to add that in there mobilemerc.
back to p class. i do like sbi's gps better than opa's type. garmin is a name brand gps which can be used outside the racing. second it would be nice to see sbi and opa post all the gps data for all to see. more transparency. for instance i questioned the speeds of the fountain worldwide last year and was told that the inspectors looked at it and was okay ???? why bring that up, well we you have a boat that's sponsored by one of the org's primary sponsor competing against a boat that runs mostly another org's races, one might get the impression of a little bias. to me that was BS.
when i use to race 4wheelers in GNCC at the end of the race they would post everyones times and positions. i don't understand the secretecy of that. and yes sbi does post that info several weeks later. with todays technology this should be done automatically. the 4 wheeler racing is using transponders along with almost all other forms of motorsports. offshore is kinda still back in the dark ages
