The Silly Season

[Big Don]

Ryan, I'm saying we assume the diehards will conform because that is what we do...we work and race. But we are putting the other 70% (it could be 50%) I'm guessing just like all of us are on what will work and what won't. I can tell you this, many 20 drivers have told me that they cannot afford to switch classes and will not run C. I can tell you that currently about 40 to 50 of the 20 drivers do not run C. We are putting them at risk. Why do that when there is better opportunities to go after.

[GrandpaRacer]

I recently looked at our class participation numbers fully expecting the top three would be the same as your list Don. To my surprise number 2 was AXH followed by 20ss. AXH has replaced ASH here. ASH was killed by the Sidewinder being so much faster than OMCs but it is making a very slow recovery.

[ryan_4z]

Don, are you seriously suggesting that 70% of 20 drivers would quit if the SORC made a parity adjustment?

[ryan_4z]

How would funneling all the SW 20S drivers into 20ssH hurt the class?

[Big Don]

So let’s look at the numbers, this is based off 2016 numbers, because I have not done them for 2017 yet.

If we take anyone that did not race a class 3 times or more and drop them out of the numbers it looks like this.

CSH	74
20SSH	65
CSR	45
300SSH	34
ASH	33
25SSR	25
ASR	16
BSH	12
BSR	10
DSH	9
45SST	9
25SSH	2
DSR

I’m not sure why we want to do anything to 20SSH. It our second biggest class we have. We would have to be out of our minds to mess with it.

We can say we don’t like watching the same engines on the water but news flash, we only have 2 engine manufactures (excluding the D stuff) Sidewinder & Yamato. We are going to see them on the water a lot.

Here is the bottom line to me. We have people that can afford to drop 5500.00 on engines, and we have people that can’t. We have people that like to tinker, and we have people that don’t. We have people that work at winning and we have people that don’t. We have people that can’t afford to make a major investment changes in their equipment. It’s always been this way. We better work at keeping both or none of us will be racing. I have to believe most that race Yamato’s like that they are inexpensive, easy to work on, very reliable, keeps their overall cost down year over year.

I’m not saying we should not change some of our ways, but messing with 20SSH is not one of them. This class works for Yamato. Yes people like the Allen’s, Pavlick’s, Peter’s, Clark’s, Reed’s, Runne’s, Pater’s will give in and race just C or go a different direction. But you will lose 70% of the other drivers who are on the fringe. This sport cannot afford to lose them, the occasional weekend racer. Our effort should be on ASR, BSH, BSR, DSH, 25SSH, DSR and of course 45SST. We can say that is what we are doing, but not at the expense of our second biggest class.

[Big Don]

But if we got rid of BSR, it would then be a side fin class and the 10 BSR drivers would go away.

[ryan_4z]

Gotta agree with Pav on this. I have seen stock powerheads perform very well. The gearfoot, however, with no question would have to be shaped.

[ryan_4z]

What about making BSR a sealed motor class? Any thoughts on that? Would this make the class more attractive to racers who do not want to work on their own motors? Would this be a way to help consumer confidence if their sealed motors had some sort of warranty? If the class doesn't grow, get rid of it. Make parity adjustments to 25ssR.

[pav225]

I can't keep up. I thought we were discussing growing BSH by including Y80s for a time and adding side fins to BSR.

[ryan_4z]

Alright, so obviously I have been looking at this all backwards. So, how about this:

-We get rid of BSH. Now the SW must have at least equal footing in 20ssH so we make the appropriate parity adjustments in 20ssH.

-20ssH parity adjustments:
-Lower weight for SW to 380-385 lbs.
-Change heights of all motors to 3/4" below bottom.

(Obviously we should rename 20ssH BSH to keep A,B,C consistency, but all new B records and champions would be recorded with 20ss records and champions as was done with 15ss in '92. But, I mean, Jesus, if everyone likes the name 20ss so much I would never bicker over a detail like that.)

[dwhitford]

As a non-invested spectator, I support Sidewinder too. While it's true that the extended Runne family wants the Sidewinder enterprise to succeed, I really believe that the family and Ed Runne in particular has the best interest of boat racing at heart. So they deserve the unqualified racer support that Merc and Champion got in the 1950s

OK, so a new Sidewinder costs $5K. Have any of you Stock Outboard drivers priced a factory new 15-horse engine -- mass produced at absolutely minimal production costs -- lately? You might come away aghast!

Or have you looked to see what a competitive PRO racer needs to spend for his engine? OK, you didn't. Which is why you race ''cheap'' stock. Considering what you spend to attend races for a season, the engine cost is a drop in the bucket. Get real! Penny wise is pound foolish! You need not send money to Japan for used hardware in at least some classes when American goods are available.

From what I know, it appears that the Sidewinder engines are the only true ''stock'' engines available now for racing anyway. While the Yamatos are robust, they are neither new nor truly stock, especially considering the gearfoot contouring, cooling mods, and such other nonsense that the present Stock rules permit.

So I suggest getting on board with Sidewinder for Stock Outboarding to survive, especially in the ''A'' class, in which Sidewinder is . . .

[dwhitford]

Tim, my 1st racing engine (never raced, however) was a Wiseman Service-C Evinrude. Where do I get one now? (Reply sdwhitford at cox dot net)

[dwhitford]

While I'm quite out of touch with current engine speeds and technology, I got my start in BU in 1960 right after the 20H Conversion engines began to (finally!) become competitive again against the Hot Rods, which were holding sway in the middle 1950s against the unconverted Merc 20H ''Green Hornets''.

Based on what I read on this Forum and what I've seen at races I attend, I think it would be viable (and equitable!) to combine 20ssH and BSH with little or no big rule changes.

That combo could be at least one small step in healing the splintering of the Stock Outboard Division: strengthen the ailing ol' BSH and BSR classes by allying them (folding them into) the strong 20SS class. Name the result what you will. For old times sake, I favor retaining the old B-Stock naming convention. And you could now have a 20SSR class: a revived BSR (aka BU) class, strong as ever!

[dwhitford]

I built a new (1956-vintage) Foo-Ling B-Stock runabout in 2014. The build time (part-time) was late March thru late July (4 months +). My materials cost -- epoxy, varnish, and so on -- was well more than $1400. If Ryan will sell a new runabout for $1800, that's a bargain!

[pav225]

Deeougee,
A stock motor placed top 5 at Nationals in 20ssH. A stock motor was used in 80% of the races to win C High Points.
2 separate, stock, motors did VERY well in 2017.
People can spend all the money they want on racing, but you can do well with a stock Yamato.
Just trying to keep the facts in front of everyone.