Boat racing drinking age?

[brian]

Would an 11 or 12 year old be safe (not taking too many drinks in the lake) racing 200Mod? OK, that was mean, but got you to read.

Why does 200MOD require you to be 14 years old to race? Kpro is 11 years old and racing speeds of 52-57(with no weight), AXS is 12 year old at speeds of 52-56, so why is 200mod at speeds of 53-57 still at 14 years? Maybe mod is missing out on some younger drivers.

How about a rule change? Maybe we could could change it to 11 or 12 years old with 8 races of J or Axs experience? Tell me what you think.


Oh, if this rule was changed Ash could race his Mom! A bidding war would happen for the best equipment and I would be the winner!!!!

Brian

[Matt Dagostino]

Would an 11 or 12 year old be safe (not taking too many drinks in the lake) racing 200Mod? OK, that was mean, but got you to read.

Why does 200MOD require you to be 14 years old to race? Kpro is 11 years old and racing speeds of 52-57(with no weight), AXS is 12 year old at speeds of 52-56, so why is 200mod at speeds of 53-57 still at 14 years? Maybe mod is missing out on some younger drivers.

How about a rule change? Maybe we could could change it to 11 or 12 years old with 8 races of J or Axs experience? Tell me what you think.


Oh, if this rule was changed Ash could race his Mom! A bidding war would happen for the best equipment and I would be the winner!!!!

Brian

Great point...........many of the rules in our book are outdated and need to be re-visited. You of all people should know you have to pressure your MOD COMMISSION and local rep to make change! Seems to make sense to lower the age and potentially help our clubs generate more enteries! Good luck.

[DeanFHobart]

Great point...........many of the rules in our book are outdated and need to be re-visited. You of all people should know you have to pressure your MOD COMMISSION and local rep to make change! Seems to make sense to lower the age and potentially help our clubs generate more enteries! Good luck.

Sounds like a good idea to lower that age limit.

[Dan M]

Brian, as an outsider to mod, my only concern would be that the competition might be a little rougher in 200 mod than in Kpro and Axs. Your idea of having some races under their belts would help. I might get concerned with a full field going in to the first turn and playing bumper boats with youngsters.

Respectfully, Dan

[Mrs blueskyracer]

I think it is more a question of physical ability.

One outboard club had rules stating at least 9yrs old for novice racer. They put a girl in a boat that couldn't turn the steering wheel, boat went right when trying to exit the launch area went towards the beach and took out two of our boats sitting on boat carts for another heat. Damaged propellers and skegs! Bottom line she might of been old enough but had not got the muscle strength to handle the boat. Parents comment (and it was their boat she was in) well she was old enough according to the rules.

Seems to me there should be some kind of physical test to be sure the youth member can handle the boat they are being put in.

Another example my 9 year old grandson weighs all of 50# if he is soaking wet in his clothes, and is no more physically capable of handing an outboard of any size than flying to the moon. We know this and would NEVER put him in a boat to start with, common sense. However the rules say he can.

Maybe a minimum age AND a physical ability test.

[DeanFHobart]

I think it is more a question of physical ability.

Maybe a minimum age AND a physical ability test.

Now that is a good idea.

[Roskowski30h]

I think that the age change would be a great idea! Make it 11 or 12 to match up with the other classes of comparable speed. Speaking as someone who has raced every combination of OMC A classes if you can turn the boat and handle it in J or even AXS then you can handle it in 200 mod, so I don't really think that a physical test would be appropriate for these classes, but can see the merits for larger classes. The biggest difference between in the unrestricted classes is the acceleration and that, like any other class, takes time to get used to.

I think the age change would be a good idea! You've got my vote!

[racer3j]

I don't think the minimum age should be based purely off the class speed, there are other variables that should be taken into account before lowering the age of a class. A question that should be asked is if your 11 year old child is in lane one with Andy Hansen on his or her outside (50+ years of racing experience), will he or she be ready to go head to head with him, or will they be a danger to themselves along with the rest of the field. Racing at 56 mph at 12 years old against a bunch of other kids, is a lot different then racing against grown men. Also, if you want to talk about speed, a good 200 mod hydro can run upwards of 60+ mph in a very small boat... Ask Dave Bennett how it goes as seen at the 2008, and 2010 Nationals.

DR

[csh-2z]

Maybe the K-pro age is too young! I've heard of many bad situations over the years with kids that are just not ready yet to handle the elements they have to deal with in these classes. I'm sure your son or daughter will tell you they're ready, and maybe some are but most probably shouldn't be put in such a high risk low reward situation. Better to be safe than sorry.

If they can't drink with the big boys.............................................. .............?

[Matt Dagostino]

Johnny..............at 14 you and i were battling in CSH with DiFebo,Armstrong, Menzies etc etc. Come on. 12 years old in a 55-60 ride is nothing. These kids get on jet skis going faster than that at 12 years old. We all know there are kids (and adults) that have no business even being in a race boat! Age is just a number. It is the coaching and ability of the driver that makes the case, not a arbitrary age restriction!

[brian]

To that end who is ready to go into the first turn with Andy! And the speed issue is laughable. NO ONE is racing at 60mph in 200MH. If they are they are they are the safest person out there. Our rig is fast and we can go 60MPH but we would never win with it. Maybe the 1 mile plus tracks, but we never use that prop but it is in the box.

But I like the thoughts...my wife was in her 20's (and even more beautiful now!) and she will tell you it was not an age thing but a fear thing. 9 boats at Burlington! I have the video. She was first across the line and last around the first turn. Andy did not mind passing her.

[61-W]

I agree 100% with both Dylan and John. I race the class and there is a lot more to consider then just how fast a class goes when considering the minimum age. My son was amazed when he switch to ASR and 200cch from AXR and AXH. First words out of his mouth after the first heat was, "Wow, those guys turn now!" The other thing, when speeds increase even a couple mph faster then AXS speeds, the handling changes exponentially! They can be a handful to drive in the wind and rough water.
Jeff Scheffler.

[csh-2z]

Matt, looking back on it I truly can't believe what our parents were thinking to allow us to do that. We were very fortunate.

[Matt Dagostino]

Or maybe we were just that good........))

[brian]

Parents are not drivers. Coaches are not drivers. Good points.....but would lowering the age be good?

[61-W]

NOPE!

[bmitch1]

Nate and I had the D-F-U talk before running 200mod at Hinton where we quickly lost count on the years of experience he was competing against with the likes of Andy, Carl, Dave, Jeff and others. (I would include Amy but I don't want her (or Jim) thinking we inferred anything age related!! ) After his first elimination race Nate's first observation was the level of competition that has gravitated to 200mod is dramatically different than what he had seen in AX...and the resulting level of intensity was much greater than the minor speed differential between the the two classes.

He shared the exact situation that Dylan and Jeff noted above - he was inside of Carl when Andy came up between them and turned left.....and it was a clean and legal move but not something the AX crowd sees routinely. If an inexperienced driver wasn't prepared for that ==> bad things....

A notable comparison might be the various levels of the stock car series - inexperienced drivers run the lower series until they're experienced enough to run with the experienced crowd...because the experienced crowd knows what they can do with their experience and will use it. The junior series can teach the speed but allows the time to build experience.