Why all this negativity ??

[Mike A.]

Mike ,
U should build a new Fountain, sure Reggie will give u a good deal.

Ya think? I ain't so sure but you never know. I may just have to call him. The boat is a freakin' rocket ship. Looked like a Super V running on Sunday. Very impressive.

[2TR]

[mdkeywest]

When people started racing boats seriously back in the 60’s it was a fun small sport back than. Very small, but incredibly fun or so I have been told. There were no out of the box race boats if you wanted to be part of the sport you had to work at it than build it. Than Don came along and you could buy a boat from the factory race ready and every guy living on a canal became a weekend racer. And the “old school” racers were cool with that because they saw it as confirmation of how great the sport was and how great it had become.

Offshore grew exponentially in the 70’s. To the point were it was much bigger than it is now, but because it was such a new sport everybody felt like they were on the ground floor of a great new thing. They would not complain about the way things were simply because they did not know any better. Than when it lost its fad status and settled down, the changes started coming. Some good and some bad, the powers that be became fixated on popularity and the who’s who in the pits.

Now too much popularity may not ruin a sport, but it changes it for the worse most the time. A sports founding traditions, history, customs, values and beliefs go out the window and will be quickly forgotten as new people flood in. People will dilute the purity of the goal, abuse the value system, alter the mindset, and weaken the resolve of the founders and then move on to wreck havoc on the next fad they find. It doesn’t matter to the new guys whether the sport they jumped into and eventually changed with their non-core values maintains it’s purity, because they are just passengers on the bus that stopped at an Offshore Race and will pick them up and take them to the next “hot” spot after this. We have very few people left in this sport who remember were it came from (much like me) with new teams and people entering and existing the sport every 3 to 4 years with each adding a little to the stew or taking something away.

Now look what we have today, Forget about the minor squabbling we see and look at the full on name calling, back stabbing and fighting online for everyone to see. I watched what appeared to be a great class grow and than start to tear it selves apart right in front of me in a matter of months. Why? It seems like this sport has developed the lobster effect; simply put one lobster will never let another lobster get free from the pot. This unfortunately seems to be the norm. Modern offshore racers don’t usually like to see other succeed were they have failed. If one tries to do something positive, another instantly starts looking for ways that it will not succeed. Instead of giving hypothetical reasons while something will fail, why not encourage someone efforts or work together for a positive result? Teams need to realize what might be good for the sport might not be good for them and try and remember the sport is bigger than anyone, no one is bigger than the sport.


I for one I’m tired of all the negativity.

This has always ,and will always spring up ,every year .

So ,just make a forum ,called " CROSSFIRE " or some such .

Then those who wish can partake ,those who dont care about the issues ,dont .

[2TR]

This has always ,and will always spring up ,every year .

So ,just make a forum ,called " CROSSFIRE " or some such .

LOL..

[Pat D]

I would like to know why someone hasn't pulled the plug on a thread that has become the signature of bad professional behavior.

Daredevil has been banned for being annoying and far less slanderous than others who are allowed to continually make accusations and FORCE their attitudes, opinions and worldly knowledge in print to get attention.
Yeah I know....I don't have to read it, but you are wrong if you think many other people aren't watching the negative stuff like a car crash.
If it were anyone else voicing all the "negative".....would it still be allowed?
I don't think so.
Enough is enough.

[Ratickle]

There will always be those "negative" people who think the only way they can be a "success" is to demean and minimize others accomplishments.

Personally I usually ignore them, because, for me to care about someone elses comments and views, I first have to respect them.

[2TR]

There will always be those "negative" people who think the only way they can be a "success" is to demean and minimize others accomplishments.

Personally I usually ignore them, because, for me to care about someone elses comments and views, I first have to respect them.

Some times people comments "or posts" can have a damaging effect.

There are three other OPA teams considering building or buying an SVL. All are afraid to commit for obvious reasons. .

[Mike A.]

Some times people comments "or posts" can have a damaging effect.

So true, so true.

[mdkeywest]

Until you guys put the authority in the hands of one overseer you,ll always get this .

Always .

[mdkeywest]

If I promise to be positive will you guys pay my way down to the races ?