The Silly Season

[pav225]

Just kidding Captain. See you in Jan!

[csh-2z]

The Captain would do it to Pav............without a second thought! Actually the Captain would never have been in lane 9 in the first place.

[Matt Dagostino]

Ouch...........would you really do that to The Captain...........(((

[Ram4x4]

Is DSH or DSR a fair comparison to the Yamato classes? I mean, kinda hard to be doing a lot of chopping or 6+ boat packs in a turn when there's only 3 boats in the race....

[pav225]

As much as I was looking forward to LEGALLY coming from lane 9, to chop the Captain in lane 1, a rule change may not be in the best interest of Safety or the sport.

[ryan_4z]

I have seen many drivers change their attitude about first turn etiquette after interactions with the 2-Z(J). (And he was the one who taught me not to expect a lane from my outside sponson.) 'When Farmer speaks, we should all get the message,' D.G. Yuengling.

[csh-2z]

1st rule of boat racing. Don't EXPECT a lane. It probably won't be there when you need it, regardless of the rule.

If you want clearly defined lanes go bowling.

John, Those 2 or 3 drivers you mentioned NEED to be watched carefully and thrown out EVERY time they do it. Even if it is a borderline overlap distance. If it is too difficult to judge a boat length from the patrol boat, err on the side of safety and throw them out. Those 2 or 3 drivers NEED to be talked to by the referee. Rules cannot be written to cover every scenario, that is where judgment is needed. Back in the day, guys like that would often wake up the next morning with a different attitude.

They will get the message.

[Harold8]

Fortunately or unfortunately, the younger drivers DO watch the older more experienced drivers to learn how things are done. Its like that in every sport, so we need to have things done properly on the race course so the younger drivers get things right!!

[ryan_4z]

Well said.

[ryan_4z]

This is incorrect. The driver must have the overlap of each driver inside her as she crosses through each lane. It is inaccurate to treat the whole racecourse as one scenario. Too much time elapses for this analysis. Once this hypothetical lead boat changes direction the hypothetical following boats would advance on the position of the lead boat much more quickly. A boat at 6-8-12 lanes inside would have to be a considerable distance back for the outside boat to get there in time to cut them off. A distance too great to be judged by either party in terms of 'boat lengths lead.' Overlap, as always is determined when the lead boat arcs in front of the trailing boat, and at that moment only. Either that move was legal or not. This is the only way to evaluate an overlap and the only time it is necessary to do so. A boat cannot have overlap on a field, only on the one boat to his immediate inside. This is the same way the current rule works as well.

[GrandpaRacer]

I like to think my family team is included in the ‘Fast guys’ and we try to play it safe and avoid saw jobs. My grandson did it once last year and I had a good talk with him. He told me he did it cuz he saw some older guys do the lane 12 to the entrance pin maneuver!

[GrandpaRacer]

Deeougee you are correct but each club has those two or three drivers that will slam the door any chance any where they can because “it is legal”: Little thought goes into ‘is it wise or safe’. If the over lap is extended it will be much more difficult for the lead boat to know, so they will be motivated to hold their lane and make safe arc. This is racing not dodge’em. The fast guys are the one getting through the turn safely and it’s the slower ones that are getting slammed. Those are the ones we need to keep in the sport to have a sport. Sawing them off serves no purpose and hurts the Sport. I asked before and no one answered “What possible good for the Sport does permitting a dangerous maneuver provide? ” Do you want your 10 year old J kid or 16 year old A driver to get blown over in the first turn with 10 boats behind them just because it was legal? If we want to grow the Sport we should keep it sporty and make it safer and keep it fun.

[deeougee]

More than anything use what's in your head! Know who you are racing against and know what you and your equipment are capable of! The lead boat will always dictate the way around the course. Bad things usually happen in turns when people make the wrong move. If the trailing boat is trying to make a move on the inside and slides out through the tail of the lead boat you have little control of where you are going and may wind up in front of traffic in the outside lanes. There's subtle ways of sending the message to the guy behind you without slamming the door like squeezing them in down the straight to tell them, "hey there's not going to be any room for you when we get down to the corner". 20SSH is they only class I've seen where drivers get a pre-heat warning just before the start of a heat from the race director that "hey the throttle works both ways, use your head out there!" Questionable moves seem to happen in the Yamato classes a lot more than in other classes. As speeds go up it seems more respect is given to your competitor. You don't see these moves in DSH and DSR. That's a small group of guys going really fast where things happen fast. There is little room for error. Just because the rules say you can do it doesn't mean that it is "safe" to "slam the door" with a boat length. We all have things to do on Monday so think about it.

[Matt Dagostino]

Pav, no. If they are on your inside, the rule means you leave a lane. No one is sawing off any other drivers in the first turn as a result of this rule, otherwise all the other race categories would change the rule. It works. No matter what the rule is, drivers can saw someone off which should be called by turn judges.

With regard to the frequency of incidences I think that we should really look at the data. I raced an OPC for many years and saw fewer incidents than in stock outboard. Most of these were never result of an overlap issue.

'Tis The Season'..............just remember this is just a Hydroracer chat forum and no consideration or conversation is currently taking place with the SORC on this racing rule. It is interesting to read all the different thoughts and ideas. It is also cool that often time over 6000 folks view a topic!! That tells me the silent majority is paying attention although they don't often comment unless something outrageous pops up. To see Mitch Meyer or Dominic DiFebo chime in is very cool. With the volume of traffic Hydroracer generates, it really is the best social media site in the world to connect with boat racers!............

[PittmanRacing]

Pav, no. If they are on your inside, the rule means you leave a lane. No one is sawing off any other drivers in the first turn as a result of this rule, otherwise all the other race categories would change the rule. It works. No matter what the rule is, drivers can saw someone off which should be called by turn judges.

With regard to the frequency of incidences I think that we should really look at the data. I raced an OPC for many years and saw fewer incidents than in stock outboard. Most of these were never result of an overlap issue.