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Serious News
05-27-2015, 08:16 PM
As someone who is pulling for our sport to achieve, grow and prosper, it is becoming increasingly difficult to push aside the tendency to think of Unlimited Hydroplane Racing as leaning toward being more of a hobby.

Harsh? Maybe.
Worth exploring? Absolutely.

It’s no secret our sport has had its share of challenges in recently years. Let’s take a look at some of the more recent issues, try to get a sense of direction, and see if we can get racing “off the trailers and into the water.”

Logistics and Resources, Baby!

Historically, races have been scheduled in such a way that teams could get their equipment to the next race, with adequate time to make course-specific modifications, in a safe manner, and along a logical route on the map. This year’s Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Schedule accomplishes that. Starting in Madison, then out west to Tri-Cities and Seattle, and then down the left coast to San Diego.

Fine, but there’s another component missing from a successful city-to-city transition.

Coeur d’Alene Leaves A Hole

With the 2015 CDA race postponed, there is now a 19 day hole in the schedule. Yes, that’s adequate to safely move equipment. However, one could also argue there’s an important resource missing during that time.

Let’s explore that missing resource as part of the Gold Cup story.

Gold Cup Heading West

With the Detroit River Regatta Association’s (DRRA) announcement of its intention to cease operations, a number of dominos are falling. First, some background. The Gold Cup belongs to the American Power Boat Association (APBA). With the DDRA no longer in existence, Tri-Cities has been successful in negotiating with APBA to host the Gold Cup July 24-26. They will have the honor of competing for the oldest active trophy in motor sports to celebrate 50 years of Water Follies. Congratulations to everyone in Tri-Cities!

Point 1

While efforts are underway to find a way to keep racing on the Detroit River, optimism isn’t rampant with no formal announcements made to date, now late in May. (See Steve David interview reference below, indicating a potential August date.) The discussion point here is of perceived strengths. If the relationship between H1 and DRRA was so weak that H1 truly did not know this was coming, it sends a tenuous signal about the potential strength as a sport. If H1 knew in plenty of time and still couldn’t place a race at such a storied location, they posses not much more strength than a hobbyist.

Point 2

Many Unlimited Hydroplane Racing teams have relied on Detroit not just as a race venue steeped in tradition, but also as a sort of land-based dry dock. With Madison (historically, the week before) being tough on boats — and Detroit tougher! — Detroit’s vast availability of industrial machine shops have been a strategic resource for quite some time.

In addition to race courses being hard on boats, boats need course-based tuning when courses are so different from week to week. For example, Detroit has long straightaways, one wide turn and in addition, the tightest turn on the circuit. Madison has comparatively short straightaways and wide turns. Boats are tuned differently for courses like these.

Tri-Cities is a wonderful area of the country and hosts a great event annually in the Water Follies. However, it could be argued that they do not possess the same sort of industrial resources as Detroit. Getting to Tri-Cities in plenty of time is one thing, but how will the boats be repaired and/or tuned?

With several teams based in the east, they of course could travel to their home garages for work prior to heading west to Tri-Cities. Most of the remaining teams could bypass Tri-Cities for Seattle and use their home bases in the region before heading out to Eastern Washington.

All of this is to say that a sport which relies heavily on one city, doesn’t necessarily constitute a hobby endeavor. However, it does cause a wake in the logistics, significantly complicating the planning. With 19 days between races, teams may be asking themselves, “Do we send the boat back home, do repairs, then travel, or should we move west and make repairs and modifications along the way?” Answers are probably different for east- versus west-based teams.

Additionally, that doesn’t even address the impact on volunteer crew members and how they manage the vacation allotted to them from their day jobs.

Monty Hall: Door or Curtain?

On Let’s Make a Deal, Monty Hall would pose this question to contestants. If magic happens tomorrow — and a Detroit Race materializes — where would they place it on the schedule?

Ideally, and traditionally, it would take place the weekend following Madison, especially since the loss of Coeur d’Alene creates that 19 day gap. But look at the calendar: we’re only seven weeks away – and counting quickly.

If a Detroit race were placed on the schedule between Seattle (July 31-Aug 2) and San Diego (September 18-20), considerable country criss-crossing would be required. (Out east for Madison, west for Tri-Cities and Seattle, east for Detroit, then finally west for San Diego.) I’m thinking… No. (More on this below.)

Another opportunity for our Damn Smart Fans: what do you think is the best option for Detroit? Either for this year, or maybe more realistically, in 2016

Doha: Too Many Eggs in One Basket?

Professional financial planners and money managers suggest diversification to mitigate investment risk. With another recent announcement of a race venue disappearing, Doha is further evidence of poor diversification.

Historically, teams have relied on Doha “Show Money” to support operations. Domestically, teams have earned in the range of $8,500 to $12,000 for each team participating in a race. While some performance-based payouts have been implemented more recently, the overall amounts pale in comparison to “Doha Dollars.”

Show Money from Doha appearances have been in an approximate range of $80,000 to $120,000 for each participating team, approximately 10 times that from domestic appearances. While not a true order of magnitude, 10X is substantial; substantial enough to cause a significant hole in a team’s operating budget.

Relying too much on one very deep-pocketed venue for sustaining operations shows short-sighted stewardship. If you or I had personal investments grossly overweighted in one stock, shame on us for not making appropriate adjustments just in case that one company hits a reef. The same is true in business. Relying too much on one “customer” is bad business.

Still Not Sure About H1

It is becoming harder for me to place a bet on either “sport” or “hobby.” Admittedly, this is a narrow view with just a few examples. To be fair, Steve David addresses some of these points briefly in his audio interview with Steve Montgomery posted yesterday on the H1 web site.

When asked about Doha going away, he touches on H1 being lean, conserving cash and as a result of not traveling to Qatar, lowering its expenses. That may be successful for the short term, but is “hunkering down” sustainable for the long term and what impact will it have on individual teams?

He’s very, VERY positive about a race taking place in August. If that comes to fruition, teams will be forced to travel to Madison, then from Madison to Tri-Cities and Seattle, then to Detroit and subsequently, back to the west coast’s San Diego mid-season. (See Monty Hall above.) Talk about adding expense!

One point giving rise to my own optimism is his reference to potential expansion in 2016 in Owensboro, Kentucky and the return of Coeur d’Alene. However, everyone knows the challenges new venues face just to put on an event.

Time Will Tell

Leadership is a key factor in how an organization is perceived, the tenacity it holds, and the results it achieves. Hobbies often thrive in a vacuum of serious leadership, but a true sport needs true leadership that can foresee and anticipate the future.

As Damn Smart Fans, what do you see for the future of Unlimited Hydroplane Racing?

UHR Dave

http://www.unlimitedhydroplaneracing.com/hydroplane-racing-sport-or-hobby/

Ratickle
05-28-2015, 11:29 PM
I'd say he's completely wrong on the "relying on one city" theory. Detroit is certainly no more important than Seattle. Both from a technical side and a performance side. I believe that both cities are equally important to the sport.