New rule needed - No hi-heeled sneakers

[ram95]

Yes folks, bear with me here... this is what it has come to down here at the kneeler/laydown level.

Before I get to the need for the "new rule"... let me S H A R E with you a little incident which took place at the race I attended last weekend up here in Maine ( aka Life in the slow lane ). A gentleman of middle age decided to come and see... for the first time ever.... a boat race. He was carrying a pretty expensive camera and wearing an expensive pair of Reeboks, and he obediently signed the waiver and obtained a wristband so he could really see things. This fine gentleman wandered thru the pits photo-ing and finally taking a seat on a nice rawk (that's how you pronounce ROCK in Mainah). He then made a grievous grievous mistake........he removed his Reeboks and sat there with his feet in the warm water at the waters edge.

Now.... as all of you readers must (or should) know.... especially if you're an APBA member.... such careless behavior is NOT ALLOWED.... NONONO! As ones TOES must not be exposed IN THE PIT AREA lest our insurance minders find out and we get sh-tcanned K&K fashion.

So... what happened. Welll... I'll tell you One of our race officials simply walked up to the person and explained that he must WEAR HIS SHOES. The gentleman was taken aback... HUH? he said. I stepped over and supported the race official and briefly explained that it was AN INSURANCE REQUIREMENT.... He balked. I offered to let him wear a pair of my wet Nike's, but he said "No... I'll just leave.. I've never been toi a boat race before and just wanted to take some pictures.... that's okay... I'm leaving now." As he put on his shoes and left.

Can any of you see the impact of this stupidity? No no... I'm not faulting the race official... not one bit. For all he knew, the guy with the camera was one of the insurance company minders sent out to see if SSOA was going to comply with THE FRIGGEN RULES... you betcha!!! I douibt that the camera-guy was from the Insurance Co.... but I'll bet you that it'll be a cold cold day in ....errr ahhh MAINE before that guy EVER goes to watch another boat race where he can't relax and dangle his feet in the water as he takes pictures.

My friends.. ie, those of you in my ever diminishing circle of friends... we are shooting ourselves dead in the foot.

NOW.... "the New Rule" cometh, here it is: "There will be NO high-heeled sneakers allowed in the pit area - period" RATIONALE: My X, wearing a full compliment of Victoria's Secret attire to include a pair of Gucci Hi-heeled sneakers.... nearly tripped (due to the shooze) falling almost head-first into a lit bar-b-que grill, knocking all the hot dogs and burgers into the sand. As you can imagine... this would have been one helluva insurance claim. Hence the need for A NEW RULE.

Thanks for reading. Have a nice rest of the freaking day/night.

Alex
The Mad Russian 8A & 12A DSH
Commission, Stocks Region One

[Racerkyle20]

Sucks. But he signed the waiver. Next hes suing when his foot gets cut....He could have done that outside the 'restricted' area. Did anyone offer him that? Seems a little extreme for him to just leave....

[Fast Jack]

Restricted Zone

In an effort to comply with new insurance rules , I made the entire pit a restricted zone. We- SSOA -would have needed over 1/4 MILE of snow fence to protect the 1300 feet of beach in the pits. A Chain link fence already in place protected the public from the HOT pits and saved the club a ton of money . We have 2 races within a month and have to pay for both of them up front. This is a strain on our cash flow. I personally put over 1400. $$ into front money to comply with state requirements and other race costs. I have been reimbursed, but I can see APBA costs eliminating the possibility of holding Races with them . A few club members and I have talked and are looking into possible alternatives to APBA( priceing us out of racing.) Sorry we lost the New GUY , I am sure Crown will get him back as he glides along on the social media train.

[raceright]

read

This new person just did not read the waiver. Anyone entering the hot pits has to follow APBA's rules.
I have been telling ya all that the cost of racing is going up, this guy got to see races for free if he would of had to pay $20,00 for a hot pit pass he would not have left and would have more respect for boat racing.
You have to pay for hot pits at car races why not boat races.

the guy is a moocher--we do not need moochers, already have to many.

[Big Don]

I’m not positive on my take of this rule, but the rule says this:

All participants must wear closed footwear when driving boats or working as pit crew (working on boats, launching boats, or retrieving boats)
in the restricted area.

I read that to say, if you are not a driver or pit crew or helping to launch a boat or retrieve a boat then open toe shoes are allowed. Which to me would mean one could go barefoot. Per the rules. (Does not mean I agree nor disagree with the rule just stating how I read it)

So let’s say we are at a race and we decide to make the entire pit area a restricted area, then if someone wanted to walk around with open toe shoes or barefoot as long as they are not touching the boats it would be legal per our rules.

Now him sitting on a rock with his feet in the water is a different issues.

[KG4]

Too bad he felt that way and left but if he would have cut his foot severley it could cost the hard working club the race site and we need all we can get.It was the right call.

[thepiranhabros]

Grey area in rule

I’m not positive on my take of this rule, but the rule says this:

All participants must wear closed footwear when driving boats or working as pit crew (working on boats, launching boats, or retrieving boats)
in the restricted area.

I read that to say, if you are not a driver or pit crew or helping to launch a boat or retrieve a boat then open toe shoes are allowed. Which to me would mean one could go barefoot. Per the rules. (Does not mean I agree nor disagree with the rule just stating how I read it)

So let’s say we are at a race and we decide to make the entire pit area a restricted area, then if someone wanted to walk around with open toe shoes or barefoot as long as they are not touching the boats it would be legal per our rules.

Now him sitting on a rock with his feet in the water is a different issues.

Don:

Good post. I believe I can clarify this.

According to APBA 2012 GSR 7, "All participants must wear closed footwear when driving boats or working as pit crew (working on boats, launching boats, or retrieving boats) in the restricted area."

Let's break this rule down. All participants (key word) must wear closed footwear when driving boats or working as pit crew ... in the restricted area.

Per APBA's Assistant Risk Manager paperwork (which I just filled out and submitted this morning for our Pleasant Prairie race this past weekend), "A participant is defined as someone who signs a waiver."

Ergo, EVERY person in the Restricted Area must wear closed footwear be it a driver, pit crew, spectator, etc. (They must also have signed the waiver and be wearing a wristband on either wrist.)

Unfortunately, if a Race Committee opts to make the entire pit area a Restricted Area, they must have every person there sign the waiver, wear a wristband on a wrist, wear closed footwear at all times, and not be in the water for any other purpose than launching and retrieving boats. That puts a lot of work on the Risk Manager(s) to police the entire pit area rather than a smaller Restricted Area.

[Dave M]

Glad

I am glad you guys enforced the rules. But it sounds like each club needs an experienced lawyer to interprete the insurance policy. Yoou guys are being a slave to your insurance provider, and paying them on top of it. I just don't get the snow fence requirement. And I don't get why a guy sitting on the rocks taking pic's, shoes or not is a problem. I would have left as well. I am so glad to hear common sense has all but left society. Now we can let the lawyers pave the new path. Should be entertaining at the least. I highly suggest APBA start shopping now for a new insurance company. And I mean SHOPPING, not waiting for one to come to you....

[thepiranhabros]

Respectfully disagree

I am glad you guys enforced the rules. But it sounds like each club needs an experienced lawyer to interprete the insurance policy. Yoou guys are being a slave to your insurance provider, and paying them on top of it. I just don't get the snow fence requirement. And I don't get why a guy sitting on the rocks taking pic's, shoes or not is a problem. I would have left as well. I am so glad to hear common sense has all but left society. Now we can let the lawyers pave the new path. Should be entertaining at the least. I highly suggest APBA start shopping now for a new insurance company. And I mean SHOPPING, not waiting for one to come to you....

Dave:

I respectfully disagree with your notion that one needs to be a lawyer to interpret the rules. Not so. One must just be marginally intelligent and have diligence and follow-through. The rules really have not changed, and were in place long before this insurance shake-up. We are now at a point where the rules must be enforced in order to continue racing. We are not "slaves to our insurance provider." We are simply following the prescribed rules set forth in order to race.

It is common sense to wear shoes at a race site, regardless of where you are. It is common sense to keep racers, participants, and spectators safe. It's high time we admit that what we do as potentially dangerous to ourselves and others, and do everything within our power to make our sport as safe as it can be. If you want to be a bandit river racer with no rules and no regard, that's fine. That's your call; you go do it on your own time. But if you're going to race in APBA, you're going to have to abide by the structure set forth by the head office. You may disagree with things, and that's fine too. But if the disagreement rubs you so wrong to the point of going rogue, maybe that's where you need to go.

Unfortunately, it has also become too common in our overly-litigious society to file lawsuits at the drop of a hat. A well-defined, followed, and enforced set of rules are required to help combat frivolous lawsuits that could potentially bring an end to our sport.

[David Weaver]

You never Know

What is in the water.

Saw a guy dipping his bare feet in the water at Plymouth, NC. A cottonmouth came by and bit his toe. Lost the ambulance for an hour. Evidently, neither this spectator or the cottonmouth paid attention to the waiver. No real point to this story, so it seems to fit here.

Asking a fan to obey the same rules and the participants does not seem unreasonable.

[Howie Nichols]

Don:

Good post. I believe I can clarify this.

According to APBA 2012 GSR 7, "All participants must wear closed footwear when driving boats or working as pit crew (working on boats, launching boats, or retrieving boats) in the restricted area."

Let's break this rule down. All participants (key word) must wear closed footwear when driving boats or working as pit crew ... in the restricted area.

Per APBA's Assistant Risk Manager paperwork (which I just filled out and submitted this morning for our Pleasant Prairie race this past weekend), "A participant is defined as someone who signs a waiver."

Ergo, EVERY person in the Restricted Area must wear closed footwear be it a driver, pit crew, spectator, etc. (They must also have signed the waiver and be wearing a wristband on either wrist.)

Unfortunately, if a Race Committee opts to make the entire pit area a Restricted Area, they must have every person there sign the waiver, wear a wristband on a wrist, wear closed footwear at all times, and not be in the water for any other purpose than launching and retrieving boats. That puts a lot of work on the Risk Manager(s) to police the entire pit area rather than a smaller Restricted Area.

Mike,
The way I read the above was "working..." is when you need close toe shoes. I believe this was discussed and changed to this wording which allows the person that comes along with you, be it mother, wife, grandpa that is just there to spectate and hang out he would not have to wear the closed footwear. Once he/she gets up even to just hand you a screwdriver then they become a "participant" and would need closed toed shoes.

Perhaps Mr. Wheeler can provide us all with the correct interpretation of the rule.

[Silas_53A]

I'd disagree...

"All participants must wear closed footwear when driving boats or working as pit crew (working on boats, launching boats, or retrieving boats) in the restricted area."

Since a spectator is neither a driver or pit crew, they don't fall under that rule... Doesn't matter if they are a participant.. they are NOT driving OR a pit crew member... (ie, working on boats, launching boats, or retrieving them...)

[G Stillwill]

Alex can the woman put the high heels on after the race, just askin

[dholt]

Howie and Silas are correct.

I just got done ref-ing our race at Franklin. We made the entire pit area the restricted area.

Everyone in there had to sign the waiver. But as long as you weren't WORKING as pit crew you DO NOT have to wear close toe shoes.

The rule is pretty simple to interpret.

Dana

[Boatracer4fun]

I'd disagree...

"All participants must wear closed footwear when driving boats or working as pit crew (working on boats, launching boats, or retrieving boats) in the restricted area."

Since a spectator is neither a driver or pit crew, they don't fall under that rule... Doesn't matter if they are a participant.. they are NOT driving OR a pit crew member... (ie, working on boats, launching boats, or retrieving them...)

Nice post.

Got to make sure all the rules are followed, especially with races being on webcam.