The Silly Season

[GrandpaRacer]

Don, exactly! One boat length is not safe and we all know it. Even in J it is not a safe maneuver!
John Adams

[Big Don]

John, the obvious answer is someone need to make the call. But bigger picture, what are you suggesting. More than a 1 boat length?

[bill hoctor]

We here in Fl. have two [2] races, Lakeland 250! mi. & Jesup Ga.350! mi.Tabor NC.800 mi. & Wilson NC 1000 mi.
Last year Dave & Kelsey traveled to Ohio,Ken., Mich., Wis. All about 8000 miles ...10400 THOUSAND MILES To go to a race ?? Plus 3 plane trips ! When we all, Nuch, Dave & I lived in N.J. The farthest trip was Lock Haven at 500 miles round trip with 10-15 races a year in our back yard NY. NJ. MD. DEL. PA.

[GrandpaRacer]

You guys are right to look at the reasons why people quit racing boats. Often they don’t quit racing, but quit racing boats and go onto go karts, dirt bikes or whatever. So the common stated reasons ring hollow like it’s too expensive or takes too much time or too far to travel. There has to be more to it. Every form of racing has drawbacks like dusty dirty tracks or hot asphalt parking lots full of unfriendly rednecks. But boat racing usually puts you on the grass where you camp for a weekend on a lake side location. When you are not racing you are in and out of the water helping you friends and your competitors are usually also your friends. You and your kids and perhaps your parents are all also joining in on the hobby unlike any other. And then there is boat racing itself, flying across the water in a little wooden boat at astonishing speeds followed by huge rooster tails is just cool. Fun and exciting for sure. Any boat racer will tell you what’s the most fun and exciting part of boat racing. It’s not winning, tho winning is fun, but they will say the most fun is running flat out, side by side with your friendly competitor lap after lap until that final sprint to the finish! When your in one of those races whether you win or not you come into the beech all pumped up and excited! This is the case if you were racing for 4th and 5th or even 10th and 11th. All you want to do is go out and do it again! This is what keeps us involved, even if you are like me too old to drive the boat, but are part of the crew. You are ‘racing’ with your driver and get almost as excited while standing on the beech! At the end of the day you can sit around the camp fire with family and friends and talk about that great race and what you should have done and what you are going to do tomorrow. What could be better? Why would anyone want to stop doing this?


Really that is the question we need to ask and answer. I don’t think people stop because they don’t like the class structure or get bored watching the same motor running in three different classes. Cost is often stated as a reason but boat racing with little outboard motors is about the cheapest form of motor sport racing there is. While cost sometimes is a real issue, if you look at the motorhomes, campers and fancy trailers on the beech, cost doesn’t seem like the big issue.

I think the reason people stop is that it isn’t fun any more for them. How could the picture I painted above not be fun? Well if you are the back marker and rarely get a chance to experience the thrill of racing that would be a reason. The Rookie classes address this well I think and provide the chance to gain experience. Another reason could be getting a good start, being in the mix, having a great time side by side racing and instead of finishing with a big smile you come to the beech at the end of a tow rope. Your boat is busted, your motor is submerged, and you are madd as hell. Because instead of racing for the week end as planned you have a big problem to deal with because that other guy sawed you off, completely unnecessarily! Sure it was legal but your weekend is ruined. Worse yet that same jerk has done it before. In fact he does it all the time and never gets called for an infraction. He’s faster so what’s the point? Eventually you say screw it, I am outa here! This I believe is why people quit!! APBA must address this or we will continue to lose racers.
John Adams

[deeougee]

Unrestricted.

[csh-2z]

Herb, Good write up. The Promotional Committee has a survey which consists of 5 questions for recent members that did not join this past season. We are working on expanding that list to include prior years. Currently our APBA database is being updated to give us more information in an easier more efficient format. That is not quite completed yet, but it will be soon. Once it is complete, we'll have all of the access we need. We have asked that the BOD members make those phone calls (because it is that important) during this off season and the BOD under the past president agreed to do so. I'm sure the new BOD will also agree to work with us on this issue.

[Herb Lanphear]

I believe that someone important in history said" information is power".I also believe that we all assume too much with regards to why people have left stock outboard racing over the last 20 years. APBA has a complete listing of everyone who has ever left our sport but no follow up information regarding why? Knowing that information could and most probably would have a profound impact on any future decision making!I will take it a step further, design a survey which would encompass 4 to 5 reasons( no need for too many variables)with room for further explanation if they wanted. Get me a current list of those members over the last 10 years with as much info as possible, I will try to reach every one of them. Then , do the same with the members that have joined stock outboard over the last 10 years with a different survey set of questions, and speculation as too "why ",will be revealed.I will call every one of those people as well! Ignoring , gleeming over ,or assumption ,can only lead to poor decision making no matter where it is implemented! I would submit to you that information would be very valuable, not to mention a way to incentivize a possible return, or what would would it take for you to return? These lists could be circulated by region to all of the associated clubs, the options are endless, free club dues, reduced membership fees, invitations to local driver schools, invitation to the next local club meeting, the list is endless with possibilities! The easiest new person to attract, has to be someone who at least some previous experience. "Information is power"!!!!!

[modracer7b]

I understand what you are saying, but I was one of the first to be flat turning a roll up boat with no fin where you came off the corner aiming at the infield. I did it on small two pin turns as well as big multiple pin turns, also ran courses where I flat turned one end and rolled up the other end because of wind and water conditions, but still feel the best ride for me is the true flat turner.

[Ram4x4]

Most other motorsports don't have the engine availability issues we face. In our sport, we can't really afford to force viable, running engines out of the game because they very likely will take the drivers with them. Also, once a driver reaches that age where they are ready to retire, then their engines are perfectly suitable to be sold to new drivers (and that's how and why so many of them are still around). It's not like we have 5 or 6 or more brands to choose from; outside the J's, or D classes, we have Yamato and Sidewinder. Somewhere in all that we have to find a way to keep the currently running boats and engines while ensuring more Yamatos and Sidewinders also have classes to race in.

[Ram4x4]

Been there, tried that, didn't like it. Now I just run my C boat in 500 and have a better chance at being competitive. In all fairness, the 102 with a restrictor isn't known for being all that great in 20, and I do not have the right prop to run on the restricted 20 to get it to go very well, but even if I did, I'd most likely still not be particularly competitive. So, in my personal case, it's partial laziness because it's a lot less work to just plop the C boat back in the water and go run with the 500 guys than tinkering with a restrictor, adjustments and finding a prop that works with that combination 9and then retweak the settings back for C).

[GRMead]

I write this as a non racer/ parent trying to support my kids new endeavors/ fan of all this fast n' wild. I've started my two boys this year with old hydro and two OMC's and we dabbled late this season in JH, AXH and even one In A at three different sites. So the idea of what I'm writing could have been discussed a hundred times over and I would know it but here it goes....
Junior classes
I understand after being at races the difficulty in solving 'motor parity' with multiple motors in each class. I think it's important in the junior classes to allow newcomer drivers to use the older omc's when starting out. Personal experience, it was the only way we would have ever been able to get started, as the mercury 15 is beyond us financially and there are too many stowed secrets to make the average joe even want to touch one, and so the omc reduces barrier to entry. And that option should always be available to newcomers Eventually once hooked, I'm sure new families will eventually find their way to mercs if they really want to be competitive and buy into the sport.
So the BH class/ 20SSH class. To the outsider, this class does not appear the starting point for many new racers. Rather it's an established place for racers to spend time and money on equipment and be comfortable for a long while. Maybe never going into CH or CR.
If you combine the 20ss/b classes, why not let all the existing, established racers ride out their years with their Yamato 80's. Use APBA 2018 registration numbers in the 20ssh class to be the cutoff point for using Yamato 80's and let all new registrants to the new combined class (B) join with the 20 sidewinder. Let the guru's work out the parity between the 80 and sidewinder, which, from what I'm reading, these motors are similar in performance?
B runabout... same idea. Combine 25 mercs, 80's and 20 sidewinder but all new registrants to the class after 2018 have to use sidewinder 20's. (The 25 mercs, same deal, just work on parity till they fade off into the sunset. Seems there are only a few out there anyways)
All racing, whether motor cross, Nascar, drag, karting,boat...whatever.... should always be forward thinking. No Motorsport should ever move backwards. It should always be cutting edge or moving toward 'newer' technologies. Is a year enough time for sidewinder to ramp up efforts to have 20's ready for younger drivers trying to find their next ride in B?
Save the 300/321 for the sealed classes as racers move up to C eventually.
I know this is overly simplistic, but let the 80's eventually fade out as drivers retire happily rather than forced out. Try and level the playing field in what would be a newly combined 'B class' hydro and runabout with those two motors. Keep your Veterans happy and give newer drivers a CLEAR pathway to the future, so they can proudly say..'I can't wait to race B' , rather than try to avoid the storm altogether, and skip the class in entirety.
There's enough experience here to figure out how to level the playing field. Veterans will always have the edge in the class with years of experience and a trailer full of good props, no matter what motor.
FLRC does a great job with the B classic hydro. More clubs could do the same and keep those older Yamatos and older B motors running and having fun. Two years in a row I've enjoyed watching that heat more than any other. At the club level there will always be a place for b classic, but think to the future please. A perfect place for all those who want to run roll ups too, B classic runabout

[ryan_4z]

Yeah it is! Holy Crap!

[CSR4C]

Runabout racing was much better when the fins were on the bottom, or no fin at all. I loved racing my ASR at Yelm with no fin and sliding side ways through the big turns. What Stover Hire could do with a Hedlund B Runabout was amazing!

[PittmanRacing]

Side fin, weight change (heavier), and reliability of motors (fix the motors so the flywheels don't fly off).

[pav225]

That's really fast!
1/2" below the bottom at 400 lbs.
No restrictor?