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APBA Decals - SSOA Statement

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  • APBA Decals - SSOA Statement

    Enough already ..... here are the facts of this matter.

    Region 1's first race of the year was May 16 & 17th. During his inspection of boats for their safety stickers, Inspector Allen advised several drivers of the need to have APBA decals on both sides of their hull. He further explained to these drivers that it was a rule and the purpose was the promotion of APBA. Shawn Cavanaugh informed the Inspector that he received his safety inspection sticker at Tabor City and that he did not need one. He was advised that he did in fact need them to be in compliance with the rules and was handed enough stickers to do his boats.

    Later in the day upon reporting to inspection it was noted that only one decal had been applied. He was again advised that the decals were to be on both sides of the hull. He was given a free pass on this one as the Inspector did not disqualify him and considered it a warning to be corrected for the next event. The Monday following Standish the Inspector notified APBA headquarters via email of the incident and requested guidance on this rule. As the Inspector, he took his role seriously and felt it was his duty to enforce the rules. APBA responded that the topic could be covered in the upcoming issue of the Propeller.

    Fast forward three weeks to Milton, NH. During his prerace inspection of boats that were not at Standish, the Inspector noted that Fastjack Racing still had not put the second decal on the boats. He then reminded them of the rule and their comment was "yea, we heard that". At the drivers meeting on Saturday morning as Race Director I reminded those in attendance that a safety inspection of all boats was required and APBA decals (plural) were required to be on your boats. I also informed the membership that the 2" x 5" decals in red, white, blue and black were available from the Inspector.

    Fastjack reported to inspection after AXH still having not complied with both the Inspector and Race Directors request, he was disqualified for violation of Bylaw Article 1, Section 1.4. This was not an oversight or an innocent mistake. He was warned three times, given three weeks to correct the issue and blatantly defied the Inspectors request to put his boat in compliance. Were there other boats without stickers? Of course there were and they all responded to the Inspectors request by applying the decals to their hulls. We would have never disqualified any driver without fair warning.

    I stand 100% behind our Inspector. His job is to enforce the rules. Fastjack pushed as far as he could and now feels that he is the victim. There were five Referees at the Milton event and anyone of them could have pointed out the rule to him. Instead he chose to plead his case on Hydro Racer as if he had no clue why this action was taken. No appeal was made. Is it unfortunate that the kid was penalized for the parent’s actions? Yes, but only after being given a warning and no DQ at Standish and having had three weeks to put a 2" x 5" sticker on his boat. I, along with Referee Giles, personally talked to Fastjack on Sunday and told him that I would inquire if this was the appropriate penalty for this type of violation.

    I emailed APBA of the incident Monday morning only to question the penalty, not the violation. I was advised that a violation of the rules results in a disqualification. Both APBA and the J Category Chairman agreed that ample opportunity was provided to correct the issue at hand and that it was ignored and disqualification was warranted. Fastjack has previously indicated that he has had issues with APBA and unfortunately South Shore Outboard, its officials and membership have been thrown under the bus, backed over and run over again. Fastjack should have deleted that post as soon as he saw the mudslinging that evolved on Hydro Racer towards our membership and officiating crew.

    Many of you may question what is the importance of that 2 x 5 decal and why is it a rule? The simple answer is branding and name recognition. If you are asking that question I can assume that you have never been involved with developing a race site. I can assure you that when you are standing before a City Council or a Town Board of Selectmen, when you say the event is sanctioned by the American Power Boat Association and explain to them who APBA is and its history, it is instant credibility. I have been involved in four brand new start up sites in the last eight years and the APBA name gets you to the second meeting. That in my mind is why we carry that logo on our boats and trailers. Now we may not all agree with what goes on within APBA, but we need them as much as they need our membership.

    End of conversation.
    Steve Noury Race Director #294

  • #2
    Thank you Steve! Well said.

    Comment


    • #3
      Amen.

      All the whining on the original post...c'mon. How the hell does anyone learn anything if the rules aren't followed? No one wants to accept respsonsibility for their actions...always blaming the other guy.
      I DQ'd a J driver years ago because she was the cause of the red flag. The grandfather demanded she be put back on the course. REALLY!?!? What lesson are you teaching your kid? Rules don't matter?
      He said she was crying about it. I told him I cried plenty of times as a kid. Helps build character. And it certainly doesn't give you the right to get what you want. Especially when you're in the wrong.



      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by dholt View Post
        Amen.

        All the whining on the original post...c'mon. How the hell does anyone learn anything if the rules aren't followed? No one wants to accept respsonsibility for their actions...always blaming the other guy.
        I DQ'd a J driver years ago because she was the cause of the red flag. The grandfather demanded she be put back on the course. REALLY!?!? What lesson are you teaching your kid? Rules don't matter?
        He said she was crying about it. I told him I cried plenty of times as a kid. Helps build character. And it certainly doesn't give you the right to get what you want. Especially when you're in the wrong.
        This spells politics and I promised to not get political on this site but you fools make it awful hard, right Dave Mason. (we mostly agree on this stuff Dave)

        Comment


        • #5
          Thank you Steve for standing up and telling us the other side from one of the officials. I 100% support this decision. Yes it unfortunate, yes we hate to throw people out as officials, but there are rules, and rules should be followed. It sounds like he was given multiple warnings, but chose to not follow. Guess what happens when you don't follow rules? You get disciplined. I taught my kids everything in life is a choice, you need to decide if you are willing to deal with the outcome of that choice.

          Raceright I think your name is Pat, don't know you at all, but did you have kids? If they didn't follow your rules did you just turn the other way? Did you try teaching them the correct way, did you coach them, mentor them, did they blatantly defied you, I would bet you didn't just say, well that a small thing so I'll just look the other way even though I have told them on several occasions. If you didn't have kids, put it a business situation, it's no different. I have to coach/mentor every day in my job, if someone blatantly defied a business process they would be given some sort of discipline.

          It's well know how much you, Dave and others hate or dislike APBA. That's your choice for your own reasons. I will not judge you for that, nor should I. But come on, do you really need to use everything that happens as a stand to throw mud at them?
          "Ask anyone, I have no friends. I do have some people that put up with me and mostly because they like the rest of my family"

          Don Allen

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Big Don View Post
            Thank you Steve for standing up and telling us the other side from one of the officials. I 100% support this decision. Yes it unfortunate, yes we hate to throw people out as officials, but there are rules, and rules should be followed. It sounds like he was given multiple warnings, but chose to not follow. Guess what happens when you don't follow rules? You get disciplined. I taught my kids everything in life is a choice, you need to decide if you are willing to deal with the outcome of that choice.

            Raceright I think your name is Pat, don't know you at all, but did you have kids? If they didn't follow your rules did you just turn the other way? Did you try teaching them the correct way, did you coach them, mentor them, did they blatantly defied you, I would bet you didn't just say, well that a small thing so I'll just look the other way even though I have told them on several occasions. If you didn't have kids, put it a business situation, it's no different. I have to coach/mentor every day in my job, if someone blatantly defied a business process they would be given some sort of discipline.

            It's well know how much you, Dave and others hate or dislike APBA. That's your choice for your own reasons. I will not judge you for that, nor should I. But come on, do you really need to use everything that happens as a stand to throw mud at them?
            Big Don I do not know you either are we not lucky. Was a Pro Comissioner in APBA for 7 or 8 years watched APBA rules shoot them self in the foot all the time.
            Some think APBA is big time others are more into a fun weekend with hot dogs and beer. What ever floats your boat. (not bad comment huh) . Like some of the founding fathers of this country some believed in loose interpertations of rules and some strict ones. I only raced stock many years ago in Super C and Mod several years ago for maybe 2 seasons and believe in loose interpertations of rules. Much prefer pro because there are less rules.
            The USTS has many less rules than APBA and is were like thinking people like me are to be found. I helped Write the Capsule regs in APBA with Bob Wartingers help and wrote all the regs for capsules in the USTS.
            My kids now run a business I started in 1973 and they never worked anywhere but in the family business. Never one ounce of trouble with all 5 of them, they know the difference between bull**** and seriousness. I never hated APBA quite the opposite I feel sorry for those who are not helping APBA but think they are and bull**** like decals that almost know one up in the mountains of Maine will see is just that BULL****.

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            • #7
              Bottom line I guess is ask yourself what is killing the sport??
              Mike - One of the Montana Boys

              If it aint fast make it look good



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              • #8
                Originally posted by blueskyracer View Post
                Bottom line I guess is ask yourself what is killing the sport??
                For sure= everyone has a different idea as to what that is. But it is not what they are doing.

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                • #9
                  Think how easily this whooflop could have been avoided if the inspector ( or any other official ) had just stuck a decal on himself.

                  Comment


                  • modracer7b
                    modracer7b commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Another thought I had, if the decal is checked as part of the safety inspection, why was the boat allowed to run the heats in the first place?? Refund the entry fee and don't allow the boat on the race course until it passes the entire safety inspection. That would have put the next move on the father and not punished the kid. My issue is not whether fastjack was wrong, he was. It's the way this was handled that was even more wrong.
                    Last edited by modracer7b; 06-13-2015, 10:57 AM.

                  • tcf284
                    tcf284 commented
                    Editing a comment
                    i agree with modracer7b instead of waiting after the fact to dq someone for a non speed violation lets not allow the boat on the water by failing it in the safety inspection process making it be correct before it can be allowed to race ,but then again if we did that we may not have anything on here to chatter about lol
                    Last edited by tcf284; 06-15-2015, 06:25 AM.

                • #10
                  The APBA decal is not officially part of the safety inspection, so a boat can be allowed to run without the decal.
                  To me, this has little to do with a lousy decal. It's the direct and concious defiance and disrespect toward the race officials and the organization that is of concern. That said, I'm sure Shawn didn't mean to behave inappropriately, I know him, he is not that type of person. And by the way, Jack has been around long enough to take some responsibility here also. He is a smart kid and good boat racer and disqualification under this circumstance should serve as a great life lesson.

                  Comment


                  • #11
                    Originally posted by csh-2z View Post
                    The APBA decal is not officially part of the safety inspection, so a boat can be allowed to run without the decal.
                    To me, this has little to do with a lousy decal. It's the direct and concious defiance and disrespect toward the race officials and the organization that is of concern. That said, I'm sure Shawn didn't mean to behave inappropriately, I know him, he is not that type of person. And by the way, Jack has been around long enough to take some responsibility here also. He is a smart kid and good boat racer and disqualification under this circumstance should serve as a great life lesson.
                    Ya : Kid you're going to get screwed by people with more power than you. Get used to it. What a great life lesson.

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                    • #12
                      Or how about "there are consequences for your actions or inactions". How many warnings should it take?

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                      • #13
                        Well, we have heard from the officials, but no reply/rebuttal from "FASTJACK" I think it is incumbent on him to reply, since it looks as though he touched a nerve with many competitors and APBA members. How about it FASTJACK. I think you owe it to the large group that seemed to be on your side in this controversy regards the Decals and the rule that covers them.

                        I have been giving this some thought the last couple of days, since I have little other to do these days, and it seems to me that Rumley Flips and Modracer7B have some good suggestions, especially if it is a rookie J driver who is involved since most parents these days have all on their plate they can take care of with the racing part, much less coming up with the dough for the equipment for yearly dues, safety equpment (helmet, cut suit, etc.). I speak about one of the officials putting the Decal on the offenders boat, since it would only take a moment, especially if the driver is a rookie J person.

                        Other suggestions would be that if APBA feels this strongly about the advertising value of these decals, they make a deal with the driver or owner of the equipment. If they display the APBA decal as spelled out in the rules, they get 20.00 off their membership for the year. They say money talks so let us see. The 20.00 is not written in stone, could be more or less, whatever the membership would decide on, and let them vote on this.

                        Another suggestion if a monetary reward would break the bank at APBA, make it contingent on the decal being displayed as to whether full points for a finish are given for those that chase US1, US2, HOC or other yearly awards.

                        Just some thoughts to chew on, for as I mentioned it seems this has hit a nerve with lots of folks.

                        Comment


                        • modracer7b
                          modracer7b commented
                          Editing a comment
                          Bill, although I do not know fastjack and his son, I can tell you that they have been around awhile. Being from those parts until about 12 years ago when I quit racing for good and moved to Florida I do know all the players on the other side. I was attending SSOA races from 1957 to early 1970's and again from 1987 to 2003. The problem in that region was always a power trip thing. Those in charge had no regard for the thoughts or ideas of anyone that did not see things their way and made racing not fun for anybody that dared to question their authority. They feel they have all the answers to making racing grow and be successful and we can all see the results of their direction. Racing is pretty much dead and is no longer fun for anybody that was around when a local race normally had more boats in many classes than a nationals gets now. The bigger question is what made fastjack angry enough to defy the powers in charge. I would assume that they gave him the my way or the highway and we don't care what you think attitude that has caused so many to leave the sport. People leave because of the way they are treated by those in power, not because they stop liking running the boats.
                          Last edited by modracer7b; 06-13-2015, 10:40 PM.

                      • #14
                        Really!!!!!!

                        Comment


                        • #15
                          All said and done, there is still no penalty stated in the By-law.

                          Comment


                          • modracer7b
                            modracer7b commented
                            Editing a comment
                            R.C. - According to Steve's summary of events above, he states that headquarters authorized a DQ for this refusal to put on a decal. I guess this follows APBA SOP. Make up the rules as you go

                          • Matt Dagostino
                            Matt Dagostino commented
                            Editing a comment
                            R.C.- When the punishment/consequence of a law is silent it is up to the Powers to Be to have the flexibility to discipline as the violation warrants. At least that what my lawyer pals tell me. Hope to see you at Thompson!! matt and Val
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