racing or top speed???

[Fast Shafts]

I agree with Randy, more boats per class,=better racing! Favorite class of all time (as a fan) was F1.

[XtremeRacing]

I have a question if F1 was so great for the fans and the racers, WHY is there no more
F1 class????

[Fast Shafts]

Mercury stopped building the 500 HP. They wanted everyone to buy their new 525.

[XtremeRacing]

Thats silly their are 5 other builder that can build HP 500 if the class really wanted to race..... Tyler built me one a few yrs back and so has Inovation . The big boats r the show that why, that was my point believe me it has nothing to do with merc.

[Mike A.]

Thats silly their are 5 other builder that can build HP 500 if the class really wanted to race..... Tyler built me one a few yrs back and so has Inovation . The big boats r the show that why, that was my point believe me it has nothing to do with merc.

It had everything to do with Mercury and our not keeping the 500 as the sole engine package.

[F1-00 Racing]

The big boats r the show that why

I am sure Mike can correct me, but in St Pete 03 I remember 10-15 750 Cats racing, then Mercury gave someone 5 votes and decided to discontinue the 750 and release the 850. How many 750-850 boats are out there now(that race on a regular basis)3-4?

The bottom line is Mercury has affected all of offshore racing(big and small), but now that they dont have any vested interest or sponsorship monies to any race group, what do we do now?

Frank, in the pits your right, the big boats are the show, on the race course however, they have a tendency of spacing out too far, or basically blowing up and when your a dope on a rope, thats not too much of a show. Last time someone told me that people were there to see the "big boats" I decided to run side by side with a P5 boat and the both of us made the front page of the paper the next day, not the big boats that this particular someone told me everyone was there to see. If memory serves me correctly , you made the front page of the Miami Herald or the KW paper in 05 worlds as you were pictured running side by side with TKO and LaveyCraft. In Deerfield 03, I will never forget you running down the dock telling Bruce and I how great a "show" that we put on with Pitman Photo, "It was the best race out there", you said. We were on the course the same time that Bacardi Silver, Snack Attack, etc were. COMPETITION is the show, whether it is a big boats or a small boats, side by side racing is what the people want to see. Funny thing, I remember when you were one of us small guys, you always used to say"We are the show" Dang you go and get ride in a big boat now and your attitude sure has changed lol

[DollaBill]

The big boats are cool. But come on....... 1, 2 or 3 boats is BARELY a race.

[XtremeRacing]

Its not a matter of attitude change... Its fact when u stand on the bulkhead at KW all you hear is talk about Geico and the Supercats. I wasnt talking about our team Trent but nice shot, the SVU dont fit in that class, its the big cats. You were the one that told me not to long ago that you wanted to run SVU so u could get a sponsor.The Supercats put on a hell of a show in KW this yr. by far they had the closest side by side racing I have seen in a while. Like it or not thats why they are there.

[phragle]

What specific rules are you talking about?
MD

What are Rules??? anybody see a Gieco, Aquamania or Jbs run in OPA, SBI or OSS??

SBI:
9.1 Turbines Class Boats CAN NOT EXCEED 155 MPH any time during the event. If any Turbine class boat exceeds the above stated speed during the

OPA: Boat speed is limited to 150 MPH at any given time for all boats, no exceptions.

[THEJOKER]

I'd rather see 25 boats at 80MPH

Applause

[Wazzup Racing]

I know everyone is a monday morning quarterback, but why are they in a 160 mph boat with no full time air? At least if you survive the impact, it gives the medical time to respond. First big wreck in a while where the windows stayed in place. I agree slow down the big cats.

[Wazzup Racing]

Frank I would have to disagree. The Big boats are the show if there is nothing else going on. Come on up and watch class 6 and 5 with 20 boats deck to deck. Doesn't suck.

[XtremeRacing]

Smitty,

I never said the smaller classes dont put on a good show I have been doing it for the last 10 yrs in F1 and P class. But the fans do like the Big Rigs and Boats in the pits. I think you need both to put on a complete show, every fan has their favorites....

[MikeyFIN]

Big fields close racing does it every time.

offtopic:

Back in my road racing days we had this class in Scandinavia Called Super Saloon which was basically a continuation for Super Star Camaro Cup.

The Super Star Camaro Cup had F1 world chamions even racing a race or two just for fun, Big fields a lot of bent sheetmetal and a real crowd getter with 20-40th spectarors quite often.
When the Super Saloon came the field changed every year to more expensive stuff like Porsche 962, Audi IMSA GTO etc etc and the field came down to 1/10 of the former despite still having sometimes great drivers and attention getters´plus the spectators in the last races could be counted by two hand fingers...

In Sweden the guys started the Camaro Cup again and with the 3gen chassies had 30 car fields and I can attest that in the rain at the end of the backstraight ( an airfield landing strip) on Anderstorp 3 Camaros abreast figthing for space makes an attention getter.
Not even The Ferrari or Porsche Challenge or STCC could be close to that attention and had the people in the rain watching as much as the Camaros.

http://www.scandinavianraceway.info/...vies/scra3.wmv

[Sean H]

I know everyone is a monday morning quarterback, but why are they in a 160 mph boat with no full time air? At least if you survive the impact, it gives the medical time to respond. First big wreck in a while where the windows stayed in place. I agree slow down the big cats.

Why doesn't an org mandate it? Why are "safety" inspections just checks to see if you have non-skid and a kill switch? When was the last time a boat was turned away because it had hardware we all know has failed before?

and this isn't directed at OPA, they all do it....

[MikeyFIN]

Gotta disagree here..on the small classes like U.I.M 3C they are quite "anal" regarding safety checks and I´m fine with that, The doctors and diver come for example to every canopy boat at every race and ask specifially how to open the hatches, belts, where are the belt cutters and sofort.
We race with a serious risk all the time with those little Cats and What made me wonder on the Victory in cockpit vid was that where was the regulators and how flimsy the roof looked compared to our canopies with over half the weight of our boats.

[MikeyFIN]

.The Supercats put on a hell of a show in KW this yr. by far they had the closest side by side racing I have seen in a while. Like it or not thats why they are there.

Those and the VEE classes put on a nice show!

Thenagain seing the Turbines..ok nice for a while but didn´t get my attention.

[Steve Miklos]

That crash was supposedly around 120. So slowing down the boats isn't the answer.

The two most recent incidents here in the states with a cat going over and crew getting hurt were well below 120, one well below 100.

How about teams invest in the safety of their boats instead of worrying about tow rigs, pit partys, motorcycles, cars, cool paint jobs, matching uniforms or any of the other things that come before spending money on a quality canopy, windscreen, hinges, handles, seats, etc and making sure their boat is actually built correctly?

The knowledge, technology and parts are out there, they just cost money.

As far as the question, the fan in me wants to watch the big boats go fast.

Exactly

Alltough I think we need to accept that some of the speeds are excessive.
Steve

[Sean H]

the divers do that here too, but asking how to open hatches is a moot point if that hatch isn't going to be there when the diver gets there.

I have seen boats replace the part that failed with the exact same new part. Makes ya wonder.

[Sean H]

Exactly

Alltough I think we need to accept that some of the speeds are excessive.
Steve

I would agree with that. I am talking Superboat/Supercat and under speeds. Not unlimited/turbine speeds.