Press realese just sent out from APBA HQ - sobering numbers

[sam]

& whatever the PWC equivalent ... like foreign exchange students

Yes, that's what I meant

Travis lives down the road from me ... but I've been thinking about his style ... not sure there is a fit here

[ram95]

Blew its brains out!!

Yup. We had a darn good Thanksgiving dinner. We didn't eat one of those freaking butterball mushbags... nope. The bird we dined on had its brains blown out by my kid with a 410 over-under! We plucked that sucker, soaked it to tenderize it and frikaseed it in hot oil.

Now, back to boat racing! Please bear in mind, I realize there is a very limited audience who is posting and reading here, so I'm probably preaching to the choir. The osteriches have their heads in the sand somewhere. So, while they are smelling for bugs, I'm going to roll a few grenades down the table here, so look out!

First off, J category kids, virtually all of whom drive rigs bought, built, maintained, and set up by their parents or an adult.... don't belong in the HOC. Sorry! They didn't come into this world knowing a darn thing about the HOC. So it was someone elses ego that got them there. Go ahead jump and shout and dump garbage in my driveway and egg my car! IDGAS. The money spent on these J rigs could better be spent on "dad's or mom's" rig.

The OMC A motor, of which there are thousands, is the US version of the Yamato... it is one incredible little motor. And, now that all of its dimensional differences are pretty well known, the playing field is pretty much level. Why in the heck did we need to introduce another engine into that class???

K-PRO... no weight... kids 11 yrs old... were those kids pushing for us to develop such a class for them??? Nope... it was the adults.... nice going morons!!

Before I ask for lower dues from APBA, I want to know where the present money goes. For what? To whom? By whose decree?

Safety Committee - You clowns are need to stay out of Stock/Mod/PRO. Go chair a committee made up of big spenders in superfast boats.

Stock/Mod/Pro Chairs need to gather together and quit operating in individual vacuums. Kevlar reinforcements -c'mon. Picklefork three versions - c'mon. Overlap, three versions - c'mon.

Minimum age for various classes... have you looked at them? Does the arrangement really make sense. Why can't we fix it so it does.

Because at the Nat'l meeting, we only have about 12 minutes to discuss any particular agenda item - what good is the national meeting? A Carnival Cruise costs about the same amount - tempting!!

Why do I need to pay to post an ad 'on-line' on our APBA website?

APBA and many folks voice disqust at the posts which go on here on HR. Let me ask where else can these conversations take place? Where else can someone speak their mind without getting rudely interrupted? Where else can someone be made to eat their words (as is probably going to be my fate). And, where else can someone like myself 'edit' my remarks to more accurately reflect what I thought I said?

Thanks for reading. Now go ahead and find my driveway. We'll be watching for ya.

Lock n load Alex!

kindly submitted by the Mad Russian

[Ron Hill]

One Topic at A Time...

Before I ask for lower dues from APBA, I want to know where the present money goes. For what? To whom? By whose decree?


To the Mad Russian....

The late Bill Muncey did a fund raiser to buy the Detroit office. Next thing I know the office was given away to the Historical Society. Then, APBA bought it back!! WTF???

Do you think the membership of APBA would spend $150,000 to build a 60 MPH boat with a four stroke Mercury on it that will have a sale price of $20,000???

APBA is a MINI AMERICAN GOVERNMENT...We have Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi's everywhere in APBA.

I'm done with APBA, just getting my ducks in a row to not be any part of them.

[Ron Hill]

15 HP Johnson

Dave Bryan (1982 C Runaobut National Champion) and I went to Havasu and Vegas last week. We found a clean 15 HP Johnson Electric for $300.

I can buy a new gearcase for $1,100, I have 12 sets of steering bars...and a throttle hook up is a hundred or two...I could have a racing Johnson for $1,500.

Spend a grand "BLUE PRINTING" it and you have a **** fast OMC A for $2,500....

Dan Schwartz built J. Michael Kelly's winning A OMC a few year back. He bought a new Sidewinder. He spent all day Frid, Saturday and gave up on Sunday trying to make it runat havasu Landing...Dan Schwartz couldn't make a Sidewinder run??? How but Ron Hill??? Could he make one run? NO!!! My Old Man was a Champion dealer in 1957...We could not get our Champion to run and traded it to Ruben Dawe for an A Mercury...

I've own more than 20 15 A Johnsons and Evinrudes. I've never had an engine failure in one of my OMC A's...

[Ron Hill]

J runabout

First off, J category kids, virtually all of whom drive rigs bought, built, maintained, and set up by their parents or an adult.... don't belong in the HOC. Sorry! They didn't come into this world knowing a darn thing about the HOC. So it was someone elses ego that got them there. Go ahead jump and shout and dump garbage in my driveway and egg my car! IDGAS. The money spent on these J rigs could better be spent on "dad's or

GREG FOSTER AND I ARE PRETTY CLOSE. Greg wanted to put his son in a J Runabout. Ernie Dawe said, "You better not put him in a runabout in the river,as the side fin will catch the current and it will turn him over..." WTF?? The J Chairman has a boat that won't float a new KID???

Foster's kid has never driven a kneeldown boat...

Why are all NASCAR called the CAR of the FUTURE???? Kneeldown racing needs Boats of the future! And not boats that when you try to start the motor, by yourself, that the bum***** sinks!

[bill van steenwyk]

Like Ivory soap, I'm 99 and 44/100% in agreeance

Alex:
The only place I would part company with your opinions as stated are regards the weight rule in K-PRO, and your comments regards the safety committee. There are some safety issues that are too important to be left to a political body, as the racing commissions are. The very good reason for the K-PRO wgt rule, is except for the Nationals where the Antique classes run, PRO has no weights for any of their classes, other than possibly the Yamato class. (not OSY) Since USTS is the primary source of the great majority of PRO racing in the US, they have no reason to have scales at any of their races, as they do not weigh any of the other classes. I also have no personal knowledge of any accidents or dangerous conditions caused by no weight in K-PRO, as I am sure the safety committee would have made some noises by now if that were the case.


Ron:

Re APBA is a "mini US Government complete with Reids and Pelosi's."

Couldn't agree more. It is all about fiefdom's IMHO. I have only met one or two really open minded folks in the APBA hirearchy, one of which is a close friend of yours and a former APBA President.

Good luck getting your "ducks in a row" regards APBA. I am all for you (probably shouldn't say that, might bring the lightning down on you).
I have several horror stories regards APBA also, as do many. As was mentioned, it does little or no good to complain when the responsible folks that possibly could be convinced to recognize that problems do exist, when about the only person who will enter into a debate, on this forum anyway, is "Eddie the Chairman". AKA a lawyer. Most of the rest of the officers and commission members just "hunker" down and ignore you, hoping it will all go away. If you feel you are right about something, and try to use leverage (as I did) when he ignores an obvious problem, then he will try to have you thrown out of APBA and banned for life. I may be banned now, as I haven't tried to join for several years, but when I saw the e-mail he sent to APBA Headquarters threatening to do this, I had to just laugh as that was the first year I had not been a member in about 30 years. I really wish I could have seen his face when he was told that action was not possible and there was ABSOLUTELY nothing he could do about it.

The really sad part of that whole affair was after the matter was ruled on by Charley Strang, and we won the appeal, he (Eddie the Chairman, NOT Mr. Strang) then sent much information to the Chair of the PRO Commission telling him how they might attempt to get around that ruling. The bad part about the whole thing in the end, was it ended up not being about safety in any way shape or form. It was all ego, and a lot of it.

Good Luck


ADD:
ALEX: Congratulations on your Sons's turkey, was it his first??

[raceright]

Russian
Nice you had fresh turkey.

But fixing APBA will be more difficult than Turkey hunting (have killed a few myself).
For quite some time APBA has had more than its share of problems. I believe trying to set STOCK/MOD/PRO rules and superlisences is one of them. It would be easy to say check the memberships over the last twenty years and blame anything that is being done now as the cause or as some do blame every thing that has happened over the last twenty years as the cause for membership decline.
But I say what have you done lately to help increase membership (complaining does not count). For some reason we have many who always want to say what APBA should or should not do---You are APBA and there is no they--it is you who must act. Is this easy heavens no but left up to they and forget it.

Pat

[ram95]

Fixing 'turkeys'....

I like Pat Wright's comment about "they" and "what have you done". I spent 22 years in the Air Force (jets & aircraft maint) trying to see 'the big picture', find 'the regular crew chief (ie the one who was really in charge of the aircraft we were trying to fix), and searching for 'they' (who were the ones telling us mechanics we needed to do more with less). Never did see the big picture, never did meet the reg crew chief, and "they" (me an them) retired!!

As a Commissioner in Region One, for the past two years I have sent out a mailing to about 80 members, SO racers and others, asking them for their ideas and inputs for the Nat'l meeting. My time, my expense - no problem. I've received very few responses, but the few I've received have been helpful. I intend to send one more brief one with some yes/no questions along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

Annnd... I post here on HR,,,, rolling grenades down the table and watching them blow up and being ready to duck should one come back my way.

Oh yeah.... and I brought an extra D hydro (12A) with hydraulic steering and loned it out at all the races. My goal?? Put a D in everyone's driveway.

Alex

[ram95]

Kids - KPRO - no weight

[QUOTE=bill van steenwyk;170436]Alex:
The only place I would part company with your opinions as stated are regards the weight rule in K-PRO, and your comments regards the safety committee. There are some safety issues that are too important to be left to a political body,

Well said Bill. My point on the "weight" was simply that adults are shoving kids into a paper-bag boat - Like, they're really ready for that at 11.

Alex

[reed28n]

More than a little Frustrated

You all sound aggravated. I believe it is because we have APBA has grown away from its' roots. People want to take about grass roots racing and overwhelming acceptance by all of APBA's members. The problem is, if you locked all of the membership in a room we would not be able to come to a consensus decision on anything. The majority of members have very strong opinions of the sport they are so passionately involved in.

The answer is leadership. Because we are so remotely governed it is virtually impossible to make the correct decision for all parties in all corners of the country. APBA has an identity crisis. Our mission statement is missing in action.

Do we want to be the best racing sanctioning body on water? Or do we want to be a club where everyone that has anything that looks like it can be raced on water has a place to participate.

Start there. Once we have decided what we want to be, let the chips fall where they may. Then you will have a group that will swoop in and follow through to that end.

We are all debating moot points, minutiae, details toward multiple targets. Give me one target and one goal and I know we have the resources within APBA to achieve it. If we continue chasing everyone's vision we will continue to self destruct.

[ram95]

Target acquistion

[QUOTE=reed28n;170454]You all sound aggravated. (QUOTE)

Scott... What we have here Comrade... is a discussion among people who aren't sedated or on prozac. This is where members and non-members alike can ask dumb sounding questions. And this is where dumb sounding answers often get un-dumbed. This comrade, is where people who haven't kept up with the rulebook find out that now there IS NO rulebook unless they have high-speed internet! Or like watching paint dry. with 'local-dialup'.

THIS is not yelling either... nor is it minutiae.

And as for a target.... geeeze I THINK just gave one a post or two ago: IE, I want to see a D (hydro..... or utility) in everyones dooryard.

QUOTE "Give me one target and one goal and I know we have the resources within APBA to achieve it." UNQUOTE

Now that, Scott .. is the spirit!!

Alex
Mad Russian Racing coming to a peaceful lake near you!

[Matt Dagostino]

Don't jump to conclusions!

[QUOTE=ram95

Scott... What we have here Comrade... is a discussion among people who aren't sedated or on prozac.
Alex
Mad Russian Racing [/QUOTE]



Sometines i wonder????????????

The Captain

[raceright]

With over 9,000 views of this post it is obvious that as a collective we do not know what to do to increase APBA memberships.
But we are great at pointing out past wrongs or mistakes to no end.
Although we have had several ideas pointed out within the past posts hope it did some good.

Well guess I'll go to the National meeting and try to improve the Pro catergory.

Pat

[wsmith0607]

This may be a little off subject, but, if anyone has ever been on my Facebook and looked at my friends list as "Racers" you will see that this sport is prevalent all around the globe. I must have at least 1600 friends who race in all classes around the board. Malaysia, South America, Australia, Europe, Japan, etc... The jist of it is, people, men and women both, love boat racing! I encourage anyone who hasn't looked at the pics of these racing in other countries to look at them, because, they ARE COMPLETELY NUTS!!! (Wendy McCourtie-Smith) And they seem to have amazing fun. We can do that here also. I know we can. Let's put our heads together, talk to our APBA officials, our club officials, our friends, family, whoever it takes, to get this sport going again like it used to. Who's with me???

[reed28n]

Alex and Matt

Sometines i wonder????????????

The Captain

Am I confused or did the post get spun to make me out to be angry???

If anyone's opinion has been twisted or over analyzed it is mine. My opinion was stated and I have been consistent. APBA does not have a clear message. It is becoming watered down like my 6 year old's soccer league. Pretty soon we won't keep score and the highlight of the event will be the freezy pop at the end.... I would like to have someone in APBA stop congratulating each other on how we have mitigated our decline and start planning and marketing for the future. A consensus direction for APBA......

Comrade we all have opinions......and I commend you both for volunteering and for Alex putting an extra boat on the water. I have boats, motors and props all over the country to help fellow racers succeed....that is what we all need to do more of.....just in fewer classes with more direction.