Biloxi Musings

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

Hold them accountable for unification...

In reality we want the same thing...I'm just a little less patient about it than you are. After all some of us have less time to waste waiting for the promise to be fulfilled.

T2x

I don't think unification has much to do with it. There are enough racers and types of boats to full fill two different strategies.

One can not do it all as well as two different groups can. IMO

Yes, I do agree some consolidation is in order.

 

[Sean Stinson]

Okay then let's give it to them.

HORBA had planned on staging a race from Miami to Key West next February on the weekend after the Miami Boat show. It is the second oldest course in US offshore history, after the Catalina race. It is 185 miles non-stop.

HORBA will gladly give up the sponsorship to any other sanctioning body or any group that say they want to race together and will help in any way we can to put the race on.

Let's call it an OCEAN Race, not Offshore.

February is before the start of the regular season for any sanctioning body, so we are not infringing on your dates. Anybody and everybody is free to help. All of the world boating press will be in town for the boat show, so there will be plenty of coverage from the boating world.

Whatever simple classes we come up with should also include an opportunity for the average guy to get in on this too. Guys like Bob the Builder, have said they are in....and he is not a racer in any group out there.

Charlie please call me I need to catch you up:sifone::sifone::sifone:

 

[Ted]

I don't think unification has much to do with it. There are enough racers and types of boats to full fill two different strategies.

One can not do it all as well as two different groups can. IMO

Yes, I do agree some consolidation is in order.

I have to disagree Jim, if all the best people from each organization were working for the same thing and using each of their strengths accordingly we could have ONE very well run organization. But there is too much history and too many ill informed people to make that happen right now.....Unless it is done by force.

 

[Top Banana]

Charlie please call me I need to catch you up:sifone::sifone::sifone:

Sean PM me your number.

 

[Ryan Beckley]

If ONE organization REFUSES to work with another how will it ever work. ONE organization has tried to work with the others time and time again to no avail. Jim is right, racers need to support the organization that they believe in and see where the cards fall. Race were you feel works best for your program, give the others a shot and see what works best for you. Focusing you efforts on unity is unfortunatley a waste of time at this point.

 

[T2x]

If ONE organization REFUSES to work with another how will it ever work.

It's so simple that it becomes complex......... If one refuses to work with another...let the people who care about the sport...give in.

As bad as SBI/APBA is (the group that I presume is refusing to work with others)......... The other groups are just as guilty....of existing in the first place. Hard as this is to understand none of the groups is necessary in any way without a unified product to sell to sponsors.

Bottom line, if the racers would get together as a group "United we Race" they can dictate to any organization they please. The racers caused this in the first place and they continue to enable the problem by selfishly racing wherever they d*mn well please and wherever victory is easiest.

I have sadly concluded some years ago that until there are 10 boats and 12 separate organizations with 20 classes, the light bulb will not go on.

 

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

Rich,
It is sad and at times comical. A group splits off apba . OPT is formed and is short lived. You say that eventual became SBI . I don't know the details and don't care. SBI rivals apba for years and changes names a few times. US offshore hangs a few years and dies. OSS forms and builds some steam. apba and sbi merge. A group of OSS guys split and start Supercat seems to not have a strong following. OPA is formed and gains strength.

It may be over simplified, but how can you say any one group is guilty of existing?

 

[Brownie]

Like Jake Trotter said back in the early days, "I agree with you a hundred percent, but you are WRONG"!

 

[stainless]

what do you guys think of the x cat series in dubai?

 

[Ryan Beckley]

Well just so you know X-cat already canceled two of there 6 races this year. As far as the racing goes I'll let you know after I get back from Dubai & Abu Dabi in a few weeks , racing with GB.

 

[stainless]

Good luck Ryan kick some butt over there !

 

[mikey]

Well just so you know X-cat already canceled two of there 6 races this year. As far as the racing goes I'll let you know after I get back from Dubai & Abu Dabi in a few weeks , racing with GB.

Good luck over there Ryan!!!!

 

[Jeff Helmkamp]

I am not a racer, never have been. I am a fan most of all and a guy who takes pictures at the events I am lucky enough to get to attend. Speaking as a fan of the sport since the ’93 season when SBR (now SBI) came to LOTO, I can tell you that last weekends race in Biloxi was a little bit of a disappointment to me the fan. I still enjoyed the experience and it was far better than sitting at home in Illinois, but it could have been much more exciting, even with the boats that were there.

I saw too few boats out on the course at one time. The CL class had 6 boats and that is pretty good today, but they should have been out there with another class or two of similar speeds. There were too many times when I was just sitting there for minutes at a time waiting for a boat to come around. I brought my daughter to this race and she was bored out of her mind. I gave her a camera and she took pictures of the boats on cranes most of the time to help keep her occupied. This was her first race and she doesn’t think she wants to go to another one at this point.

The turbines put on a great show, but they were never really racing close. With only two boats in that class, since the other one was doing a poker run instead of racing, I guess they will just take turns following each other around the course. The 750 & 850 racing was great. Close battles going on every race. The 750 guys really did well and I believe even were the overall winners between the two classes…good job “Talkn’ Trash.” I agree with others that this should be one big class.

I really enjoy the CL, 750, 850, CLO, and SVL classes. I only wish they (OSS) could find a way to get more of them out on the course at the same time so there isn’t as much down time waiting for boats to go by.

One last thing, as far as heat racing goes, using the turbines as an example, JBS won one heat and MGR won the other; who was the event winner? Does it go by time?

Congratulations to all the winners from the weekend. Congratulations to Ryan Beckley for receiving a high honor from his peers the Randy Lineback award.

 

[glh]

In reviewing the posted results from this past weekend's race at Biloxi:

1 There were 26 boats in attendance
2. There were 10 classes
3. Only 4 classes (actual racing not bracket) had more than 3 boats
4. Only 2 classes had more than 5 boats
5. 2 classes had one boat racing (both boats wasting Miccosukee's sponsorship dollars)

IMHO

Merge 750 and 850 Super cat...There were 5 boats between them with essentially identical budgets.

Merge those two with Super Cat Light (similar budget again) and use a weight/HP "levelizer" formula.

Now we're up to 11 boats

Eliminate Turbine class and make those guys race in the above combined class (saving those two and future teams a boatload of money and avoiding the inevitable 170+ mph fatal accident that will happen sooner or later)

Now we're up to 13 boats.

Market that class and the Single engined canopied vee 5 boats(OSSVL) ...exclusively as your 2 major classes. That will force the other teams with similar budgets (OSS outboard and SV) into one or the other classes respectively.

Now you have 18-22 boats in 2 classes of real racing

Split $60,000 prize money between the two classes on a 66-33% split

Let the "P" guys play as they please, but off camera and for trophies only, with the clear understanding that when they want to get serious they have the top 2 classes to choose from.

Just my .02

T2x

P.S. This is the same formula (2 major classes including one "premier class" plus "development leagues") I suggested to APBA/Offshore leadership in 1986 and 1996
__________________

The Oatmeal a little weak this morning? I though you Arkensah National Guardsmen were fed properly...:seeya:

 

[Ratickle]

I brought my daughter to this race and she was bored out of her mind. This was her first race and she doesn’t think she wants to go to another one at this point.

I only wish they (OSS) could find a way to get more of them out on the course at the same time so there isn’t as much down time waiting for boats to go by.

That is the one area where a long ocean race is a bad thing. I personally like the shorter course at Key West now vs the old long course from a standpoint of watching the race. I wish they would add a few giant screens and stream live back from the choppers following the course also.

The long ocean races are a made for TV event only, in my opinion, not a huge fan draw in this new age of instant gratification. (I know T2X will beat me up on this one).

 

[Top Banana]

That is the one area where a long ocean race is a bad thing. I personally like the shorter course at Key West now vs the old long course from a standpoint of watching the race. I wish they would add a few giant screens and stream live back from the choppers following the course also.

The long ocean races are a made for TV event only, in my opinion, not a huge fan draw in this new age of instant gratification. (I know T2X will beat me up on this one).

The long boring ocean races held off Pt Pleasant drew over 400,000 fans back in the 70's. The race had to be held on a Wednesday rather than a weekend, as the Coast Guard felt they could not control the boat traffic of the crowds.

There were three lower classes....Production and one top class ....Open and everyone understood that the first boat home in those classes won and the next boat was second etc....no brackets, no breakouts.

 

[smokeybandit]

That is the one area where a long ocean race is a bad thing. I personally like the shorter course at Key West now vs the old long course from a standpoint of watching the race. I wish they would add a few giant screens and stream live back from the choppers following the course also.

The long ocean races are a made for TV event only, in my opinion, not a huge fan draw in this new age of instant gratification. (I know T2X will beat me up on this one).

The simple answer to the ocean race is staggered starts so that you have all of the boats running on the course at the same time. With 26 boats you really don't even need a staggered start. Once the boats spread out there are always boats going by. I always found it it exciting to see rooster tails coming from the distance and not knowing who it was until you actually saw the boat. When there were 2 or more boats of the same class coming at the same time you just knew they had a hell of a fight out there in the open water.

I think the best examples of offshore racing are the Pt. Pleasant races from the late 70's to the mid 80's. The crowds were HUGE. How did they get such large crowds without the spectators seeing the whole course? At one time, the NJ race was billed as the largest spectator fleet in the world. Figure out what was done right back then and just keep doing it.

 

[T2x]

Rich,
It is sad and at times comical. A group splits off apba . OPT is formed and is short lived. You say that eventual became SBI . I don't know the details and don't care. SBI rivals apba for years and changes names a few times. US offshore hangs a few years and dies. OSS forms and builds some steam. apba and sbi merge. A group of OSS guys split and start Supercat seems to not have a strong following. OPA is formed and gains strength.

It may be over simplified, but how can you say any one group is guilty of existing?

Back when we were ignorant, the racers thought that the UIM was the World sanctioning body and the APBA was its U.S. arm. We stupidly thought that we only needed one sanctioning body and one recognized source of World speed record and World Championship designation. We also thought that we only needed one group of referees, inspectors and officials and their overhead and expenses. We also thought that a single Safety group would be the wisest use of limited funds and would allow all safety efforts to be headquartered in one location under one overseer to avoid duplication of effort, and needless reinvention of the wheel.

Every subsequent group has been redundant and unneccesary.

If you look at it from that perspective and take misplaced loyalty to extraneous and destructive organizations out of the picture, you will see just how absurd the whole scene has become.

Look, AMF has the deepest pockets in the scene right now and promotes this "United" malarkey while moving from group to group. Why not invest solely in backing a single entity? Certainly all of those people who line up for a free meal at their trailer will fall into lockstep until a real series sponsor can be found.

T2x

 

[T2x]

Like Jake Trotter said back in the early days, "I agree with you a hundred percent, but you are WRONG"!

On the other hand.....

She wore a glove..........



T2x

 

[Sean Stinson]

Hell Pt Pleasant this year had a few folks there not 400k but I saw a lot on the seawalls as we went out of the breakwater!!!!