APBA Winter Nationals Procedurally Wrong

[mercguy]

This is the way I see it. APBA sanctioned race - APBA tech (inspection) rules. You don't pass inspection, you're DQ'd.

I race 4 cylinder Mercs so the classes I race have made this simple for me in the past. However, I haven't kept up with APBA rules the last 10 years, but before that I subscribed to the Propellor mainly so that I could keep abreast of the rules. When I was keeping up with the rules, I always made sure that my motors were AOF and APBA legal (even though I've never made any APBA races) just in case. The formation of NBRA hasn't changed anything that I am aware of as far as motor rules are concerned for 30, 40, 44 inch Mercs. Weights are slightly different in some classes, but that is no big deal. Add some weight if you have to! I don't think that any rules have been passed that made modifications more restrictive than they were 10, 15, 20 years ago. My motors would pass inspection then and I think that they will now. Are 1:1 gear ratio Yamato hatchet lower units legal in APBA D mod? Is reshaping (thinning) the A/B/C Merc lower unit legal in APBA C mod on a Merc motor? < Those are the only questions I have about my motors.

David, your hatchet foot is legal on your 44 in APBA, but, you do have specs to follow. As to the "thinning" of the Merc case sides, the "flats" I see machined on some AOF motors are NOT legal in the APBA. It would be GREAT if all 3 sanctioning bodies had the same motor specs, but that would probably mean all 3 would have APBA specs, so would eliminate some of the "individualness" of each body.....

[ryan_4z]

Dean,
No need for an apology at all. You were posting with both reason and passion, something very few people are able to do at the same time. I for one tend to lean towards one or the other, it is hard to do both at the same time. I sometimes let my emotion get the better of me, and certainly need level-headed guys like you to get me back to what is important.

Dad,
WOW! Thanks. Just so you guys know, he ain't playing favorites here, you should here the things that are said in the shop! Dad and I don't always see eye to eye on issues, we just usually do the whole discussion thing in the shop and then post our collective thoughts here on Hydroracer.

Ed,
First off, thank you for always doing what you feel is best for the sport. So few people have the balls to do that, no matter what their friends and peers say. You are one of those people. While I do feel that this whole thing should have gone to a vote of the commission before this invitation was extended, this is going to be a great event, and that would not have happened had you not gone the extra mile for the better of the sport. I hope that, once all of the little, hot button issues, of this race are dealt with, that we all remember the great lengths that you, and Connie, and everyone else involved have gone to to better the sport. As well as ensure that we all have a future in racing. Thank you.

For those of you who still think this bickering is childish and meaningless,
Refer to my last post. A lot of sh*t has been accomplished in the last few hours while I was at work. I came home to see that almost all of us are now on the same page, which is absolutely incredible. Politics get things done, if you can handle the controversy. Fortunetly for all of us, the leaders of our sport can.

[Richie23N]

Originally Posted by AOFoffice
"There will be only ONE inspection manual in the inspection tent: It will read, APBA."


Thank You!!! this was the answer I was pursuing from my first post.

LETS GO RAICIN'

[AOFoffice]

Ryan,
I think you are amazing. It is so nice to see the "youngsters" of our sport have views and opinions and getting involved in these "politics". You have just become one of my heros. (All my heros are younger than me because I see no future in looking up to someone older than me. Well, there's not many people older than me anyway..). If you ever want a new home on a farm in the midwest, we have lots of beer.
Connie

[Steve Johnson]

Special Dispensation...

Art And All,
This is an Issue about Ed asking for a special dispensation from the "pope" so to speak, NOT about excluding anyone due to Club affiliation. I believe Most of us think what he did is GOOD but not sure if HOW it was done was legal. In my mind I'm sure ED did due diligence to see if his actions were specifically prohibited.I guessing the were not. so...Has new a new precident been set? most likely. remember there were others that approved his actions. I suppose a further , formal Inquirey can be launched,Thats our Perogitive. and the way the country runs. remember we can always vote the rascals out . Fitz, I appoint you to watchdog our other political leaders as closely. my hats off to ya, Being the dissedent voice is not always the easy road. but a necessary part of a functioning Democracy. A reminder to the political "spin Docters "out there, too much spinning leads to revolution....
Thanks to hydroracer as a forum for Discussion
Now lets get back to the nuts and bolts of making this race a success.
By the way... I volunteer to help as needed.
Steve Johnson

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[Steve Johnson]

I gave Last week

I gave till it hurt
bring on the pain

[ryan_4z]

Connie,
Thank you. It is very kind of you to say that. I look forward to meeting you in person in La next March.

[14-H]

Race Day Stuff

Now I remember why we race NBRA. If this is the crap we are going to have put up with at this race.We will not be there.
Art K

Mr. K: don't let this banter worry you. I give you my word that this type of stuff will not take place at a race that I am involved in running. It simply will not happen!

As an example, check out the Dayton Boat Numbers thread and then see the posts following the SO Nationals regarding the matter. There was a lot of griping going on here, but once we arrived at Dayton, it was smooth sailing, as they say. This is just a healthy discussion about the issues which, I consider constructive, so that these things can be addressed BEFORE we get to the race. Ed.

[14-H]

* * *What happened here is the Stock Chair took it upon himself to obtain a waiver of rules from the BOD without notifing any of the members or commissioners. He did this at the national meeting where there is plenty of opportunity to inform people of what his intentions were. We the members were not justly represented in this policy change.

We did not have discussion or voting. This to me is WRONG.

* * *d.

Did you not receive your notice of annual meeting last year? I always find it interesting how AFTER things occur at the annual meeting (which is where the business of APBA is legally supposed to take place), people who chose not to come, for whatever reason, claim something that took place there was illegal merely because they found out about it later. While I understand that most members cannot attend and I do my best to 'get the word out' both before and after the meeting as to what will be or did happen, this doesn't mean that because you weren't there anything that occurred was illegal.

For all of you who weren't there, here's exactly what happened: Mr. Jeffrey Carter came to the APBA Annual Meeting as a representative of the boat racers in Louisiana with encouragement from myself and the Executive Administrator of the AOF with a proposal that was made to both the MOD and SO Commissions to present a bid for the SO and MOD Winternationals in Louisiana in 2006. The presentation was very clear that it was the hope that this race could attract all AOF and NBRA racers to a large race in this area in order to attempt to 'revitalize' racing, particularly APBA kneel-down racing, in the middle south.

As part of this process, I understood that APBA By Laws require that single-day members may NOT race at championship events. All of the NBRA and AOF racers at this race who do not join APBA as full members will be considered single day members of the APBA and thus the only way this was going to work was to change the By Law. However, rather than change the rule forever, I went before the APBA BOD and asked that they change the By Law only for this one race. They did.

Now, if you don't like this, if you think that our AOF and NBRA bretheren should not be allowed to participate at this race without joining APBA as full members, then here's how you undo what I did: Get off your computer and put together a large group of members to go to the Annual Meeting to undo what I have done. New York Corporation law allows the members to undo any change in the ByLaws by the Board of Directors.

BUT STOP WHINING ABOUT WHAT HAPPEND AND ACCUSING ME OF DOING SOMETHING ILLEGAL OR UNFAIR. It was neither. Just because you choose not to attend the annual meeting, does not mean what goes on there without your imput is unfair.

[fitsracing]

You're right I wasn't at the meeting.

But conversations that I had with a stock commissioner who attended, a modified commissioner who attended and the Modified Chairman who attended all told me this was not brought up at the respective meetings.

The Stock meeting minutes that are posted on the APBA website had no indication of this change.

I don't recall reading this in any propeller article.

I don't recall seeing this topic discussed even here on Hydroracer prior to the start of this month.

Of the members I spoke to noone knew any detail of this.


This appears to add up to a lack of disclosure.

Also prior to the start of this thread, on the first winternationals thread you were asked and did not respond if you were solely responsible for approaching the BOD.

[sponsonhead]

Sehr Schwer

Ed's right: Go to the APBA Web site and read the minutes of the 1/27 APBA Board meeting at the National Meeting. This was posted on Feb 15, 2005:

For those of you without the patience or perseverance to find it, here's an excerpt:

8. Ed Hearn requested a waiver for the Single Event members at the (pending) 2006 Stock Outboard Winter National Championships. The SE members would be allowed to race at the event, however if a SE member won a championship in a given class they would not be recognized as the National Champion and no National Champion would be recognized in that class.
**Motion duly made and 2nd that a waiver for the event be recognized and an exemption given for the 1st time this event is held. Motion passed

Looks like he covered it. Good work.

R-19

[ryan_4z]

The way I read this, it means everyone has to join as a Single-Event member of APBA, is this correct Ed?

[fitsracing]

Ed's right: Go to the APBA Web site and read the minutes of the 1/27 APBA Board meeting at the National Meeting. This was posted on Feb 15, 2005:

For those of you without the patience or perseverance to find it, here's an excerpt:

8. Ed Hearn requested a waiver for the Single Event members at the (pending) 2006 Stock Outboard Winter National Championships. The SE members would be allowed to race at the event, however if a SE member won a championship in a given class they would not be recognized as the National Champion and no National Champion would be recognized in that class.
**Motion duly made and 2nd that a waiver for the event be recognized and an exemption given for the 1st time this event is held. Motion passed

Looks like he covered it. Good work.

R-19

Nobody is questioning wether he went to the BOD.


The question is wether the commissions and the general membership was informed of the wavier and rule change.


Don't lose the focus of this inquiry.

[sponsonhead]

Nobody is questioning wether he went to the BOD.


The question is wether the commissions and the general membership was informed of the wavier and rule change.


Don't lose the focus of this inquiry.

Ok....I'll grant you that. but where does it say in the APBA by-laws that the commissions and the general membership HAVE to be informed of the rule change?

Please understand that I don't agree per se with the SO Chair's actions on taking this action without consulting or informing his Commission first, if in fact, that's what happened (I will be first to admit I wasn't there, so I don't want to jump to that conclusion).

Perhaps it's really more of a question of what one can do, versus what one should have done. In this particular case, I won't pass judgement on that, but you bring up a valid point---if this did occur without the SORC or MORC's prior discussion, and if it can happen over something as well meaning as this, what would prevent a category chair from going direct to the BOD to take action that might be counterproductive to a category on anything else?

Maybe the question is how much faith do you entrust in your elected officials? Or in the ways your By-laws are written?

(Geez, do I sound like I'm from a blue state, or what?)

R-19