SO/MO/PRO Nationals @ DePue

[YankeeRacing]

Oh my gosh, I certainly hope we don't stoop to being territorial now in our sport. That is the last thing we need. Just think about Alex for example. Not sure if it was NOA or APBA there first, but just about every organization has raced there since.
NBRA has some Ill sites, so does MRC and BSOA.
Omaha has been AOF and APBA many times.
Jesup, GA, first races there were AOF. Took a lot of talking by AOF officers to get the county to agree to racing there.
If it is going to be a SUPER nationals, by virtue of the agreement signed by all 3 organizations, hopefully it will be just that no matter where it is at.
I will add that Art Kampen and Jim Homfeld did an outstanding job in 1995 in putting on the AOF nationals at Creve Coure lake in St Louis. It is an amazing spot. You are directly in what seems like the middle of a big city, then you turn off into a forrest, go down a hill and spot this beautiful lake. It blows your mind. The pit area is virtually endless.
The only drawback, and I am sure it can be remedied, is that the judges stand had a very hard time seeing the race course because it was out so far. a change in the course would be great.
I am guessing that by adding some OPC and such we might get some big Marina sponsors and maybe even Budweiser through the Seebolds. After all, if we are talking about territory, this would certainly be Seebold Territory.
A great place to think about and pretty much smack dab in the middle of the good ol USA.
Connie Payn

[sadiemydog1]

Race Site

Not trying to be territorial. Just asking that NBRA be included in some way. The lake has changed since AOF was there for the better. The course would move to the bank to the right of where the first turn was. Front straight would be right against the bank. Judges would be right in the action. If this could be made to happen all of boat racing would benefit. Not just APBA.
Art K

[kws]

the resort at lake shelbyville is really only about 10-15 min from the race site. watering hole, rooms ect. if all the groups are going to play nice. and have a true super Nats it would be great place to do it
of course so is wakefield ect. but it is so far north

[mercguy]

While I agree with your thinking, my purpose was to find water that is big enough to hold 350 trailers. Once you get a list of possible site, then we can compare the pros & cons of each site. And while the population of a site is important, unless we work hard at getting people to the water to watch and/or have a sponsor that is looking for a return on investment with sales or concessions or whatever, then the people count is less important.

So far, here is the updated list:
Dayton, OH
Whitney Point, NY
Hinton, WV
Wakefield, MI
St Louis, MO
Rainbow City, AL
Omaha, NB
Zanesville, OH

Any other sites out there?

Bakersfield, Ca.................but, it is not very "central" like Whitney Point..............buy nice and sunny in August.....

oh wait, I am in "lurk mode"......

[HRTV]

Bakersfield, Ca.................but, it is not very "central" like Whitney Point..............buy nice and sunny in August.....

oh wait, I am in "lurk mode"......

Hey who let you out

[3rd Chance]

I thought Hinton WV was out of the picture these days???

[sam]

I thought the only problem with Hinton was making up for standing them up on that last Sunday ... racing was finished early Saturday and everyone packed up and left - leaving them feeling like they were promised racing all weekend and got short changed.

An olive branch and a promise to run all weekend even if the schedule is completed early might get us back in ... unless there is something I don't know about behind the scenes

I have always thought that the idea of finishing the finals while the weather was good is a good idea and the way around finishing early and still keeping the locals happy with races all weekend would have been to run consolation heats on Sunday. I know the race committee was tired and wanted to go home like everyone else, but it appears to have resulted in a less than desirable circ*mstance

The whole crew would not have had to stay (or at least not worked as hard) for consolation heats ... with no points, no inspection needed and limited scoring.

[Dave M]

St Louis

Sounds good to me, and it does not get much more centered in the U.S..

To make it a true super Nationals, ALL cards from ALL three organizations should be accepted as FULL FLEDGED members for ALL Organizations. No short changing anyone. If you are an APBA member, then you are accepted as a full time NBRA member, and AOF Member. If you are an NBRA member, you are accepted as a full member of APBA and AOF. Same with only being a AOF card carrier. That is truly the only way to bill this as a Super Nationals. You want to beat the best, you have to win all three Nationals each year. Here is a chance to become boat racers and not politicians. Don't blow it. The ice is thin enough right now and it would not take much to fall through and segregate the factions.

Considering Kampens live near the St Louis area, and are experts on promotions (Shelbyville, Centrallia) I bet they could be an invaluable tool to make this happen. Alan Owen and his crew are not to far down the road either. With this group it is almost sure to be well promoted event.

[T Chance]

Go to Google Maps (better picture than Mapquest or Yahoo) and type in Creve Coeur Lake. Then take a look at the satellite view of the lake and surrounding area.

[Kristi Ellison]

Looks like a great lake.

[scorer]

Good idea

Creve Cour is a georgeous site, USTS raced there in the early days. The site does charge think it was 3k when we were there, but St Louis offers a lot of the things that we would need in addition to racing. Restaurants, hotels, etc. But when I start to think about the logistics of planning something like this with all volunteers, my mind reels and my head hurts. Lots of planning oh yea, lots of meetings, not everything can be done by email or phone especially in the first year. Cardinal rule, you are working with new people, the time involved in follow up is unreal. When they say they will take care of it, you have to follow up to make sure it happens or you can show up assuming it has been taken care of, in which case you get what you deserve. Money, where will it come from, we struggle on a yearly basis, except for the Nationals. There the well oiled machine known as the DePue Mens Club takes care of everything. Our laison with the Mens Club Paul Bosnich works numerous hours throughout the year coordinating things for USTS with the Mens Club. This is a 20+ year relationship, we make the National's look easy. It was not that way 20 years ago. So while I agree with the concept, please go into with eyes wide open and know that for 5 years you will be devoting huge amounts of discretionary time to this endeavor. Bev Krier

Waiting to hear a lot of chiming in from people who have organized a single race and who can tell us what we need to go forward with this idea.

[Ron Hill]

Hot In August

I'd say, IF we went to Missiouri, the "SHOW ME" state, we'd need to race in OCTOBER......Which, might make sense, as the APBA year ends October 31, and the Super Nationals, would "CAP" the season....

I know the weather is VERY NICE there in October...

ADD;

Truth is: In the OLD DAYS of STOCK OUTBOARDING my racers were kids in school...That really isn't the "NORM" now.

St. Louis aera would be and easy "HAUL" for the West Coast Inboarders....(We were including them, right??). And not that bad for the East Coasters...

Red Bull Super Nationals, "The Worlds Largest Boat Race"