T2x
Icon/Charter Member
The sport misses marathons......
The recent Around Long Island race reminded me of just how much the sport of boat racing was stimulated by long distance enduros. The boat and motor manufacturers all competed for bragging rights about which product had the most endurance capabilities. The local marine dealers and service shops, most of whom had boats entered, all spent weeks of late nights preparing hardware while simultaneously piquing their customers' interest in the upcoming event. The various races ( Albany-NY, Gold Coast, Havasu, Salton Sea, Orange Bowl, Miami-Nassau, Around Long Island, Bahamas 500, Milwaukee-Chicago-Milwaukee, Parker, Berryessa, etc, etc,) touched most of the major markets , and some of the minor ones, in the U.S. During this era, the Offshore, OPC, Outboard and Inboard divisions all participated in long distance events and grew dynamically at least in part because of the tremendous interest generated by these iconic events. I guarantee that a reality show filmed at any one of the above events would generate enormous interest on TV.
There is a clear lesson in that the sport of track in the US only really caught fire in recent decades after various cities and communities started putting on half and full marathons, while spectator interest in sprinting has been relegated to every 4 years at the Olympics. Isn't there a parallel here in which boat racing has been reduced to heat races, 15 minute "mains", and 1/4 mile sprints, in the OPC, Outboard and Inboard ranks, or 80 mile "beach, bay and lake" races in the offshore arena...and gone steadily downhill as a result? Do racers really want to spend a fortune on transporting rigs and teams thousands of miles, with disposable, high horsepower, grenade like engines, in ever more lightweight boats, that you get to race for only a few minutes? Do spectators want to watch a race where you have no idea what boat is in what class, and if you step away for a soft drink, you miss most of the racing? With the new web based GPS tracking technology you can follow these races from anywhere on earth (Perhaps put a lap counter on closed course marathons?)
We should take a lesson from, not only the road runners, but our own history as well.
The shorter the race, the less interesting it is.
There is a new effort in Europe to bring back longer point to point events........and Ron Hill and his cohorts have begun to resurrect the Parker Enduro. With all of the hoopla surrounding the Miami Marine Stadium...shouldn't we be looking to recapture some of the old Orange Bowl Magic?
T2x
The recent Around Long Island race reminded me of just how much the sport of boat racing was stimulated by long distance enduros. The boat and motor manufacturers all competed for bragging rights about which product had the most endurance capabilities. The local marine dealers and service shops, most of whom had boats entered, all spent weeks of late nights preparing hardware while simultaneously piquing their customers' interest in the upcoming event. The various races ( Albany-NY, Gold Coast, Havasu, Salton Sea, Orange Bowl, Miami-Nassau, Around Long Island, Bahamas 500, Milwaukee-Chicago-Milwaukee, Parker, Berryessa, etc, etc,) touched most of the major markets , and some of the minor ones, in the U.S. During this era, the Offshore, OPC, Outboard and Inboard divisions all participated in long distance events and grew dynamically at least in part because of the tremendous interest generated by these iconic events. I guarantee that a reality show filmed at any one of the above events would generate enormous interest on TV.
There is a clear lesson in that the sport of track in the US only really caught fire in recent decades after various cities and communities started putting on half and full marathons, while spectator interest in sprinting has been relegated to every 4 years at the Olympics. Isn't there a parallel here in which boat racing has been reduced to heat races, 15 minute "mains", and 1/4 mile sprints, in the OPC, Outboard and Inboard ranks, or 80 mile "beach, bay and lake" races in the offshore arena...and gone steadily downhill as a result? Do racers really want to spend a fortune on transporting rigs and teams thousands of miles, with disposable, high horsepower, grenade like engines, in ever more lightweight boats, that you get to race for only a few minutes? Do spectators want to watch a race where you have no idea what boat is in what class, and if you step away for a soft drink, you miss most of the racing? With the new web based GPS tracking technology you can follow these races from anywhere on earth (Perhaps put a lap counter on closed course marathons?)
We should take a lesson from, not only the road runners, but our own history as well.
The shorter the race, the less interesting it is.
There is a new effort in Europe to bring back longer point to point events........and Ron Hill and his cohorts have begun to resurrect the Parker Enduro. With all of the hoopla surrounding the Miami Marine Stadium...shouldn't we be looking to recapture some of the old Orange Bowl Magic?
T2x
