Breaking News - Fastest Growing Sport

[raceright]

Eye's

It all about EYE'S--the more eyes that see anything the better chance there is for growth. Most things written on bulletin board type Webb sites with all the knowledge of powerboat racing is just selling to yourself.
Un till there is some break away eye catching exposure to the rest of the population things will remain the same.

Pat Wright

[propnuts]

Seems resonable to me

I guess we should probably all sell our racing gear and go buy some lacrosse sticks so we don't miss out on the trend. I sorta get the point of the post, but on the other hand who gives a crap what's popular. Boat racing works for me and I try hard every year to make it work for others.

Per news report today, Power Boating Racing is not the fastest growing sport, again. Lacrosse is on top with participation up by 218.1%. No data was found about Boat Racing. Again this sport is under the radar screen, 99.9% of the population is still not aware. A letter writing blitz and cake sale is in the planning stage to get the word out. At this time all work is stopped due to discussions on the color and text size of the lettering for the letter and cake sale signs. Expect dues increases next year to cover the cost of higher postage.

[Tomtall]

Dave M.

Dave - We have seriously considered going the NBRA route but after viewing the race site distances from our front door it would be tough to do the races with our work schedules. Being as we are in the hub of stock country we can still get 5 to 6 races in a summer with APBA without traveling more than 3 hours. Thanks everyone for your posts.

[PopPop]

rules make the sport. Apba rules make you drive out in front as far as possible, because the heats are timed and the fastested elapse time wins the race. Nbra rules allows for ties, except at championship events. This allows the driver to win by a foot in the first heat, and this looks much better to the spectator. Second heat is a new race. Yes, you do have ties for first, but the money is divided and it's not a big deal. The points are the same, if there is a tie.

good thoughts, doc !!!!!!

[propfxrO84]

Raceright has got it RIGHT, get your product in front of the "right" crowd and see what comes of it. I hope Lucas oil speedway is our step in that direction. We sure as hell could use it!!! That's coming from the new guy, since I have only been racing boats for 21 years now. Hint, hint.

[ricochet112]

Short tight course, sponsors, spectators, yea we have them. It's called Lucas Oil Speedway in July. Might want to come by and take a look!!! Just sayin....

How big is NBRA? How many racing members? On average what is the number of entries and how many at one of your larger events? Just curious.

[Dave M]

How Big ?

How big is NBRA? How many racing members? On average what is the number of entries and how many at one of your larger events? Just curious.

Does it matter ? Lets just say they get about the same turnout as APBA does at a local event. But right now, I think we need to focus on growth, and this Lucas Oil gig is a huge huge huge step in the right direction. They are promoting us on a professional raceing guru website that attracts a ton of traffic. And all that traffic is gearhead types like us. This race can be a game changer for kneelers.

I don't think you can compare APBA to NBRA, it is apples and oranges at this point. APBA sanctions a lot of categories of racing. NBRA only sanctions one, Stock & Mod outboards. It is market specific, and a simplified format that marketing people find appealing, and easy to market. The fans don't have any issues with engines as the stock counterparts are mised into some of the mod classes. They provide some exciting racing deck to deck on average 3/4 Mile tracks. The long course Nationals are uaually no more than 1 mile.

Come on over to the Trout Creek MT race and see it first hand. Better yet, sanction an NBRA race in your back yard. J Michael Kelly holds several records in the NBRA. So the format is familiar with some out on the left side.

[ricochet112]

Does it matter ?

Nope. I have no idea how big NBRA is and was curious is all.

[ram95]

Nbra

Nope. I have no idea how big NBRA is and was curious is all.

I'm not sure of the size either, but looking at the U-tube videos, etc, they seem to have decent number of boats at events.

Also, for what it's worth, sitting here looking at my copy of the NBRA Rulebook, it says here that:

Racing membership is $80 except Novice which is $35
Racing Club membership: $60
Sanction Fee: $100 (championships and record sanctions $150).
Short Course for Record: minimum 2.25 miles.
Long course for Record: 3 miles.
Cost to insure the event: Approximately $1200

Alex

[kampenracing]

Nbra

I don't know the total number of members, but you can count on at every race almost if not more than full fields, especially in the 4 cylinder classes both hydro and runabout.

[Ray SMBC]

I'm one of the old racers (Southern Md Boat Club) from 60's to mid 70's era. "back in the day" we would race every weekend, from mid / late April into Oct. We would travel, as a club, from NY to Fla. somewhere east of the Miss. River there would be a race every weekend. If you check the old record books you can see how many races there were. Seems like we would race 28 to 32 races per year.
In my opinion, this new generation just isn't interested in boat racing. They're into stick-n-ball sports. They're all "watchers & wanta-be's." And then you have racing, whatever type you like, stick-n-ball don't mix well with racing. For me you should get the $$$ only if you win. Then there's the 60 minute football game that takes 3.5 to 4 hours to play. No "time outs" "instant re-plays" in racing.
I've raced, boats, cars and motorcycles. There's nothing like boat racing, with it's moving track / course changing every foot, boat bouncing around, water hitting you at race speed. Love it, miss it!!
Ray Wood

[ram95]

Stick-n-ball

Hello Ray...
"First post" on HR....Glad to see you're still interested. Kids are gonna be kids. You and I didn't have a cell-phone vibrating in our pants when we were making sling-shots using a good branch and some stolen surgical tubing and the tongue out of an old wore-out shoe for a pocket. Yeah... we'd bust a few windows now and then... by mistake... and kill a bird or two...on purpose. And, city kids would play stickball in the street. Some of us would pal up with somebody and go race boats. The only thing vibrating inside my pants back then was...... yeah... you guessed it!! And, I remember some girls who had the same issues... they just didn't sport 'tramp-stamp' tattoo's on their butt.

So Ray.... ole buddy.... it's clearly ALL OUR FAULT!! It's our brats that invented the cell-phone.... dipstick Al Gore invented the internet (huh??) and the rest is just history.

Meantime, APBA is mired with a dumptruck full of minutia..(that's the equivalent of what bulls drop on the ground). and NBRA is comprised of a lot of 'good-ole-boys & girls' and kids and jusss havin a good time, keeping costs down. Hard to do in our minutae-driven society.

However... I will say that recently, the Stock Outboard Chairman is a breath of fresh air and he has provided positive direction to our sport of kneeldown and laydown racing. And even more incredibly.... the BOD appears to be listening.

So RAY... if I may say.... DUDE..... keep the faith.
))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Alex
The Mad Russian 12A & 8A DSH & 850MH
Rockon!

[Jack Stotts]

I don't know the number of NBRA drivers but the 119 entries at the upcoming race in Alexandria, LA gives you a pretty good idea of the size and level of interest. Besides, we have a good time with very little time spent arguing over rules and who shot who. Jack

[raceright]

Stay Tuned

[Smitty]

Looking at the first several posts on this thread, it appears that some are understandably put-out that this technical and highly interesting (to us) sport gets far less public notice and respect than a lot of far simpler sports. One idea suggested in Tomtall's long answer was to try to set up races in big metropolitan areas with lots of potential spectators. If outboard racing thereby began to get big-city sports media respect, presumably good things should follow (more races, big purses, fame and glory).

Tom could be right about this, but I wonder. Sure, if outboarders were following a circuit that included NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Wash. DC, and such, while overseas counterparts were holding big races in Paris, Berlin, London, and the like, well yes, the talking heads on the sports networks would be forced to take outboarding seriously, just as they were forced, decades ago, to take notice of NASCAR racing because of the size of the crowds and the amount of money involved.

But apart from the question of whether lining up big-city races is realistic, is it even desirable? Seattle used to have hugely popular races on Green Lake, a gem of a race site squarely in the center of the city. But when you hold a race in a big city, you have to jump through big-city hoops. First the joggers complained that the races interfered with their exercise. The granny-ladies complained that they got headaches from the noise. The greenies complained that there might be water pollution. The nearby Seattle Zoo said their tiger cub died from the stress of the noise (though big trucks climb a long upgrade right next to the zoo every day, oh and tiger cubs frequently die in zoos around the world). The city, always worried about S A F E T Y (and lawsuits), stopped allowing spectators into the pit area, which is cutting out a major part of the fun of being at a boat race (having spectators restricted to grandstands is a very poor situation). Finally the Greenlake race just had so many attendant hassles that it was terminated.

Compare that with a little-town race . . . where the local folk AND the city fathers LOVE having you show up. Mossyrock, WA, 1968: I have an A Konig sitting on my Marchetti in the pits, with spectators happily wandering around us. An old guy wearing bib overalls has been staring at my motor's early Konig bounce-pipes (Reg 10 for expansion chambers) from several angles. Finally he sidles up to me and earnestly asks, "Is this some kinda rocket engine?" Don't I wish! In another part of the pits, the town sheriff is taking in the scene with considerable satisfaction. Someone from the town comes up to him and reports that Mrs. Beasley has phoned three times complaining about the noise. "That right?," drawls the sheriff with utter lack of concern. "Miz Beasley? Well . . . maybe ah'll see if I can cite her fer somethin'!"

Seattle once had several in-city races: Green Lake, Vasa Park, Idlewood, Alexander Beach, the Slough race. All gone now, the last close race being Silver Lake in very nearby south Everett. Maybe trying to do a city race is just too much hassle any more. Driving long distances to run two four-lap heats on a short course, paying a substantial entry fee (and a more substantial vehicle fuel bill) to run for no prize money is a bigger expenditure of time and funds than it was in the Sixties. But in most other respects, those small-town races are (anyway, were) more fun. In what big-city race does the local grange put on a Sunday morning breakfast buffet, with proud town fathers walking around encouraging you to get seconds?

The obvious problem is in making it possible for today's racer to defray the costs of building his outfit, buying good safety gear, and getting it all to a distant race site with $4 a gallon gasolene. Big-ticket sponsors of racers or events might not get excited about racing held in a town of 1200 people in a five-mile radius. This would seem to be the issue in need of more PR-savvy minds than mine.