Top Banana
Icon/Founding Member
I hope this will open a dialogue with many people, both in America and anywhere else, that have an interest in this type of racing. Before we even start, let's all agree that the type of racing that we are talking about here is the historic type of offshore races, like Miami to Nassau and Around Long Island....not the shore type races that have developed over the years in the sport.
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE SHORE RACES..... EXCEPT...THEY ARE NOT THE HISTORIC OR CLASSIC TYPE OF OFFSHORE RACE.
I'm not being critical, just looking for dialogue to keep the old stuff alive. Let's keep it positive here and maybe we can actually make some progress with this.
When the modern era of offshore racing started, the races were long point to point events. The first boats used were rather ordinary types of powerboats and the attrition rate was very high. Often just making it to the finish line meant you would win. The publicity that was gained by this kind of racing in the boating world, was noted by the boat manufacturers and they saw an opportunity to promote their product as not only fast, but also very reliable. As could be seen by the results of the race, their boat was safe and could bring you and your family home under actual sea conditions.
Added to this was an element of young men who were actual veterans of WWII and were looking for that combat rush that they no longer got in the civilian world. The engine manufacturers were in there too, trying to prove that this brand was the best outboard or this type of drive. Sterndrive was better than a V-Drive or straight shaft etc etc. Add in the many bilge pump and engine oil people and you had a sport that had quite a large foundation of products that could see positive benefits from participating in it.
The sport evolved into the form that seemed to be the final accepted version. When Don Aronow built and raced his 32 foot Cary in 1969, he set the bar at what has been copied ever since. A Deep Vee design boat over 30 feet, with twin big block motors set in staggered formation, driving two high speed sterndrives, carrying enough fuel for long distances and manned by a driver, throttleman and navigator. The boats grew larger as the horsepower increased and was able to power them, but the basic design and layout stayed the same. When anyone looked at a boat like that, they knew it was capable of racing offshore anywhere in the world.
I don't want to get into a cat vs a vee debate here, for the sake of this conversation let's stay with deep vees only and when we get that worked out, we can expand it further if there is interest. As the Brit's do, they limit their offshore racing to deep vees and boats with no canopies. This helps to maintain the value of the old race boats so much longer. Just look at the recent results of a older aluminum deep vee with new Ilmor power winning the Cowes race this past year.
What can we do to generate interest and support for this type of racing again? I propose a circuit of no more than 4 or 5 events per year that are geographically located around the country and actually run on the old classic courses. Around Long Island, Miami to Key West, Great Lakes and California.
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE SHORE RACES..... EXCEPT...THEY ARE NOT THE HISTORIC OR CLASSIC TYPE OF OFFSHORE RACE.
I'm not being critical, just looking for dialogue to keep the old stuff alive. Let's keep it positive here and maybe we can actually make some progress with this.
When the modern era of offshore racing started, the races were long point to point events. The first boats used were rather ordinary types of powerboats and the attrition rate was very high. Often just making it to the finish line meant you would win. The publicity that was gained by this kind of racing in the boating world, was noted by the boat manufacturers and they saw an opportunity to promote their product as not only fast, but also very reliable. As could be seen by the results of the race, their boat was safe and could bring you and your family home under actual sea conditions.
Added to this was an element of young men who were actual veterans of WWII and were looking for that combat rush that they no longer got in the civilian world. The engine manufacturers were in there too, trying to prove that this brand was the best outboard or this type of drive. Sterndrive was better than a V-Drive or straight shaft etc etc. Add in the many bilge pump and engine oil people and you had a sport that had quite a large foundation of products that could see positive benefits from participating in it.
The sport evolved into the form that seemed to be the final accepted version. When Don Aronow built and raced his 32 foot Cary in 1969, he set the bar at what has been copied ever since. A Deep Vee design boat over 30 feet, with twin big block motors set in staggered formation, driving two high speed sterndrives, carrying enough fuel for long distances and manned by a driver, throttleman and navigator. The boats grew larger as the horsepower increased and was able to power them, but the basic design and layout stayed the same. When anyone looked at a boat like that, they knew it was capable of racing offshore anywhere in the world.
I don't want to get into a cat vs a vee debate here, for the sake of this conversation let's stay with deep vees only and when we get that worked out, we can expand it further if there is interest. As the Brit's do, they limit their offshore racing to deep vees and boats with no canopies. This helps to maintain the value of the old race boats so much longer. Just look at the recent results of a older aluminum deep vee with new Ilmor power winning the Cowes race this past year.
What can we do to generate interest and support for this type of racing again? I propose a circuit of no more than 4 or 5 events per year that are geographically located around the country and actually run on the old classic courses. Around Long Island, Miami to Key West, Great Lakes and California.
