A parity meeting explanation

[Jeff Brewster 59s]

The thread with the information below was deleted by myself.

A parity meeting results 3/24/13

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This evening the A class parity committee held a phone conference for changes that will be effective 30 days from today's date.

- The committee voted in favor of lowering the Sidewinder 15S engine to 1-3/4" for the ASH class.

- The committee voted in favor of lowering the overall weight by 15 lbs for the ASR & ASH entries using the Mercury 15 engine.

The changes brought forth will be visited again once the new intake manifold is available for the 15S engine and proper data is brought forward.
Thank you,
Jeff Brewster
__________________

[Jeff Brewster 59s]

A letter to our A class members

This letter is to explain the recent decisions of the A parity committee of which I am a member of. I will share a little history on the subject before I begin. The committee was nominated and voted on by the SORC at the national meeting in Texas this year. Usually a committee such as this is appointed by the chairman. I instead asked for their input. I asked for four names to join me. One Sidewinder minded, One OMC, One Mercury and one impartial. All of these gentlemen have one thing in common with me. They have spent their entire lives racing boats with us and would do anything to make our sport succeed.
I called our meeting Sunday night when our previously scheduled test session for last Saturday in Grass Lake was cancelled due to the lake re-freezing. Our rules state that for us to make a decision, we must do so thirty days prior to allow the membership time to act. Since the majority of races begin in thirty days on the east coast we needed to act without the data so many feel we should have.
Some feel we “caved” in to the threats of the OMC guys either quitting or going to Mod. I really don’t feel that they were threats but just promises. Why would anyone continue to go through the work and expense to race when they have no chance of winning?
One of my first statements as a chairman was to Ed Runne. I told him I was a 100% behind the evolution of the Sidewinder engine in the A class and would do everything I could to help but, I would not let the engine destroy our A class during its inception.
I have felt all along that we need a slow transition into the Sidewinder motor as the dominant engine in the A class and that has been my main focus. I am determined not to make the mistakes we have had in the past when times were great for our sport and the OMC took over.
Before the national meeting I suggested taking the 15S out of our A class and bring back our 15 class again. The Sidewinder minded screamed, “you can’t do that, who will we race against”? That is exactly why I agree with the decision that was just made. If the Sidewinder dominates like it has in the A class, then just who will you race against? There have only been a total of thirty engines sold. When we are talking about the few members we have, we have to keep as many as possible.
The idea that we can force our A drivers into purchasing a very expensive motor with a ton of controversy surrounding it is not rational. They just are not beating down the doors to order one folks and you cannot force it on them.
Many say that we market to the wrong people in Stock Outboard. Some even say that if they cannot afford a Sidewinder, they shouldn’t be racing. I couldn’t disagree more. This is grass roots and that is what we have always been. If you are wealthy then good for you, we have categories in APBA needing more members like you that can afford more expensive equipment. We must have a way for people to get into our sport cheaply, it is our best selling point we have.
As I promised our committee Sunday evening, when we have more data we will meet again. The new intakes are on the way and will be very beneficial for the tuning of the engine. Actually, it very well may slow the engine. If so, we could be right back to 1-3/8” like we were last week. If it takes a hundred meetings we will continue to do our best for the sport and the A class.