I simply dont think that will change anything, look how many one boat classes, Have National and World Champions all over thier boat, It's all about feeling good about one's self, or stroking one's ego if you will. When you have a gazillion classes and keep making more as to not pi$$ people off, or have them take thier circus to the next town instead of your town this is the end result.
The smaller class in other types of boat racing all have a ladder, one does not jump into a F1 boat or Unlimited because they have the CASH to do so.
The same goes for most other motorsports, unfortunately most would never achieve the pinnacle of offshore due to it being financed out of one's own pocket.
In My Opinion if APBA does regulate the future of offshore they need to start by only recognizing certain classes when it comes to records, while growth of the sport can still happen, you want to be the name in the record book it will take more than money can buy, it will take Skill, desire, and a platform that is recognised!
I was in a bit of a friendly debate last weekend that ended with an interesting conclusion:
Given the calm water racing around the world and the speeds of the fastest cats, a single driver with a foot throttle and trim on the wheel (as in Formula 1) would outrun a driver-throttleman combination in all but the roughest races. In reality the "money guy" (usually the driver) does not have the skill level of a JT, Steve Curtis , or Joe Imprescia and , in many cases, slows the whole process down while "communicating" during the tight racing action. I would become a real fan again if those three, and a few others, ( Ballough, Billy Moore, Jeff Harris, etc) lined up in single seaters (of any size) in one class.
Formula 1 and Unlimited hydros feature "Top Gun" talent first and foremost, with the boat being secondary to the issue (It's about Rinker vs Torrente, vs Seebold not hull versus hull). In Offshore it has become which driver can pay for his seat, and which owner can pay the remainder. Talent takes a back seat to cash flow. In the top racing circuits ( Formula 1 cars, Nascar, etc), the well heeled owners man the pit lanes and leave the driving to the guys who know how to do it. Nascar would be a hell of a lot less successful if Hendrick took the wheel while Jeff Gordon handled the shifting and pedals.
The sport has suffered from high profile owners pouring money into self promotion for a few years and leaving a bewildered public in their wake. Top people (with star potential) like Bill Sirois, Bobby Moore, Richie Powers, Jerry Gilbreath, Bob Idoni, Jim Dyke and many others have toiled silently as the second banana to the "rollers' for decades, when in fact all of the wins came from the hired guns' skill and knowledge. Instead of fans coming to see the truly talented guys, all you heard from them was "Where's Popeye's?", even years after that team's last race. Add that to a big fleet of weekend warriors in the sportsman classes clamoring for attention (and precious sponsorship dollars) with no real basis for fan support, and you completely obscure the real talent pool. Instead of providing a string of stars for the newer guys to emulate and fans to support, we have a developmental system based solely on a desire for a bigger, faster boat. In the end, we have done a masterful job of burying the beef and glorifying the sizzle.
If ever we get another real mass media opportunity, this problem, too, must be solved.
T2x
