It's about time!!!!!!!!!!!

[glh]

Talent takes a back seat to cash flow...

You been going to the strip joint again Rich..... Bad boy!

 

[ApachePete]

You Trouble Maker Sean...

Let Mr Hledin chime in...

http://www.performanceboats.com/index.php?q=home#id=home&m=&a=

That's a terrific interview.

Rich, you ought to have Darren "borrow" it, and add it to The History of Skater!

 

[MikeyFIN]

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

Over in Europe with the small class offshore races we do it just like that foot throttle, trim on the steering and navigator/mechanic. The driver is the owner and the navigator/mechanic just comes along for the ride
And yes there´s been thoughts about showing how that package would fare against the US competition and I´m sure it would do some serious hurt.

 

[T2x]

That's a terrific interview.

Rich, you ought to have Darren "borrow" it, and add it to The History of Skater!

Pete

We don't "borrow" anything. All of our stuff is our own.

I did consider doing an interview with Peter myself....and may do one in the future.

Thanks,

 

[Pete B]

Pete

We don't "borrow" anything. All of our stuff is our own.

I did consider doing an interview with Peter myself....and may do one in the future.

Thanks,

That would be very cool!

 

[T2x]

That would be very cool!

We do have one of the interviews I did with Peter back in the day on the DVD. It would be interesting to update his POV. We are supposed to get together over the Holidays...I'll chat with him about it at that time.

T2x

 

[Matt Trulio]

An interview with him now would be fantastic. In addition to having vast knowledge and perspective, he's funny. Really funny.

 

[BRAD SCHOENWALD]

An interview with him now would be fantastic. In addition to having vast knowledge and perspective, he's funny. Really funny.

Part II is up now. http://www.performanceboats.com/index.php?q=home#id=home&m=&a=


Part III is coming and it is really interesting

 

[Ratickle]

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.

T2x

I agree Rich. But that is one of the reasons I hope they never go to a single setup instead of the driver/throttleman combo. I think it levels the playing field a little and doesn't let the money have complete control.

If you had the money to hire the really big names away and let them run by themselves, the really big money boats would be all that would be out there shortly in my opinion......

 

[Pete B]

I agree Rich. But that is one of the reasons I hope they never go to a single setup instead of the driver/throttleman combo. I think it levels the playing field a little and doesn't let the money have complete control.

If you had the money to hire the really big names away and let them run by themselves, the really big money boats would be all that would be out there shortly in my opinion......

Merry christmas Paul,

In reality that is all that is running in the big classes are the ones that have money, hence the need for 20 checkered flags! the more you look at the whole picture the more things really need to change.

 

[Ratickle]

Merry christmas Paul,

In reality that is all that is running in the big classes are the ones that have money, hence the need for 20 checkered flags! the more you look at the whole picture the more things really need to change.

Merry Christmas Pete. Where are you ? And is Tammy with you?
Hope you have an outstanding Christmas...


I agree on that's kinda what we have now, but at least the driver/throttle combination allows a little evening of the boats. With the driver (someone like me) not being an experienced gun the leveling ocurs some I think.
And I think it's always been the case that a single driven boat would be faster in all but the very roughest water.....

 

[Pete B]

Yes, home in Cape Coral, Tammy's Kids are here, we went Karting yesterday.

When you look at the Big picture of competition, at least in My opinion, the top guns on the sticks win almost everytime, one in part because they are good, two because they have the $$ to have a good team, and last but not least, some have no competition.

When you look a SVL, any given Sunday applys! as does Cat OB, with the other classes not so much. It sux that a sport that we all love is so divided.