Breaking News - Fastest Growing Sport

[raceright]

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.

Wow I think I'll sell everything loloolo
Eyes Eyes Eyes cities are as fickle as women (haha) when there leadership changes wellll try again. We (USTS) lost Hartford this year ,as they did not wish to absorb the costs of running a race. Libs in action--overtime for all
about 50 people from the cities on the payroll to run the race (totally over kill) POLITICS POLITICS
They did not see the value (new Mayor) They just want to have some help the less fortunate events (don't ask me more on this as I might wind up in jail)
If we paid them $5,000.00 they would have allowed us to run the race.

By all estimated last time we raced there they had a nice profit---now the mayor thinks its to much of a risk (huh).

But I have plans to race there again (took me and Mike and Dave 5 years to get back in--will race there again) I will also find other cities for the USTS as this is a must for USTS to prosper (notice i did not say survive thats easy)

Stay Tunnedddd

[stevegray]

Should'nt you call yourself RIGHT WING Racing

[raceright]

Should'nt you call yourself RIGHT WING Racing

Na Funny though ya I"M to the right of Gangus Kan thats for sure--ya see I read the constitution once and swore to up hold it against all enemies both foreign and domestic and have said this before we are good with the foreign just suck with the domestic,,,,No more please don't need any more red marks

Pat Wright

[krazy karl]

This last weekend I went testing but the weekend before I was in the shop working on my equipment with the TV on. It was a major network and the big sports event for the day came on. It was golf. Now that is about as exciting to watch as epoxy curing. So why does all the exciting stuff like sprint cars etc wind up on no name channels if at all. And boat racing, dare you to find any, maybe a drag boat race once in awhile.

At the lake where I was testing, Salt Springs, there were about 10 big dollar bass boats and one tinny with a 15 hp Evinrude on it. Guess which owner even gave my stuff a second look and came over to ask out my boats. Kind of goes to show that our stuff is just not relevant to what's on the water today, part of why we don't have the draw that we did at one time.

kk

p.s. I passed one of the lesser bass boats with my A runabout. That will show 'em.

[David Weaver]

I caught a s' load of fish in my youth with a john boat, a paddle and rod/reel. I bet that John boat never went over 3 MPH!!! I swam competitively, but never caught a fish swimming. But nothing compared to floating over the water with a flying start!! Fishing is great, swimming is great and boat racing is great.....racing and fishing are and should be completely disconnected. Two different sports.

[Ram4x4]

If I may be so bold....

First, I'm a complete rookie...I don't even have a boat yet...I just took my driver's course last Friday and a couple months prior to that I didn't even know what an A, B, C, or D class hydro was! I learned what they were because a few racers had their boats in my local mall on display...and to be honest, my first thought from a distance was "Wow, that's a pretty darn big R/C boat!".

I am no stranger to racing sports though. I grew up in Daytona Beach, FL, literally 10 minutes from the the Daytona International Speedway and plenty of short tracks in the area. I raced motocross for a number of years as well, but never could afford to get into drag racing, or short track racing (as much as I wanted to).

What has attracted me to APBA, beside the awesomely friendly and down to earth folks, is the much more affordable costs of the boat and equipment over practically any car, bike or quad set up.

I fully understand the desire to be sanctioned and to have a good organization, but the bottom line is, as it is for anything in the world today, is money. Money to buy equipment, trailers, to get to events, etc. As I understand it, there aren't any, or very little purses for winning (and that's ok with me), so there is no big sponsors, no TV coverage, little if any spectator interest.

Be careful what you ask for, you might get it.

How do you think the events will be if big sponsors came in, if purses started being handed out, etc? How will the local racers looking to have some fun feel when high dollar teams with the best equipment, and talent available starts stomping everyone at every race?

When you start throwing big $$ into motorsports, that's what happens. It happened to short track car racing and they attempted to mitigate it by starting 4-cylinder classes or other low-end stuff to try to appeal to the local guy looking for some fun. In the end, even those started getting dominated by any team with some money. Unless you had $$$ you couldn't even dream of being even slightly competitive.

If you dream of making a career out of racing something, then you need $$$, time and talent. If you are looking for something fun and competitive that's affordable for everyone, then be very careful with the type of exposure, sponsors, etc you attract.

Just my 0.02 worth.

[Black Sheep]

Maybe Kyle Bahl could add his recent experience with the race he put on a couple weeks back at Castle Rock Washington. I wasn't able to attend personally, but he had arranged a few inexpensive radio spots and gained quite a lot of spectators. Kyle, could you elaborate? Cost and efforts involved?

J-Dub

[Racerkyle20]

Maybe Kyle Bahl could add his recent experience with the race he put on a couple weeks back at Castle Rock Washington. I wasn't able to attend personally, but he had arranged a few inexpensive radio spots and gained quite a lot of spectators. Kyle, could you elaborate? Cost and efforts involved?

J-Dub

I'd be happy to! Castle Rock Washington is a relatively new race site in SW Washington State about 30 miles from Portland Oregon in the shadow of Mt. St. Helen's. The property we race on is a private resort. Camping, cabins, and a motel on the water. Very small ramp space, but when someone wants you (and this race site has now committed to a Second 2015 race date in September) then you deal with that small detail.

The property Manager was able to give me a couple of media numbers to call and see about radio ads and/or newspaper ads. I had asked him if he had any contacts in the area (I live 150 miles north of race) and he was able to find some for me pretty quick. I called the media outlet and was able to find a contact to help me. Pretty easy, all they asked was what was my budget! Knowing a little about radio ads from my experience last year as the co-race director for the Moses Lake Nationals I knew my budget would be small, but doable. I told her $300. She came back with a deal to match our (SOA) $300 and put 30 second radios ads on 2-3 FM/AM radio stations for a week leading up to the race. The media outlet also worked with the newspaper and sent out a reporter and camera person to the race on Saturday. They ended up interviewing me and a few other racers and had a story in the local paper the next day. I was pretty pleased with the ad and story and it's results. The race yielded approx 200-400 spectators for the weekend. Not bad for a "backyard" race.

What we also could have done and I missed out on this was getting me on the radio to pitch the event. This will be done for our next event down there. I did this for the Moses Lake event and thought it went well. Easy to get on the radio and talk boats for any boat racer.

It just takes a little time and a little effort. A few phone calls and it was done. Most race directors know this and most are willing to do it. I do see Len Miller and the Oklahoma boys are now putting up billboards to advertise their races, which is pretty cool!

Here's a link to the story mentioned above: http://tdn.com/news/local/hydroplane...50260cc79.html

[runabout333]

People like Kyle Bahl ,, Leonard Miller and MANY others have set the standard for advertising. Kudos to all of you.
Boat racing is for the odd ducks and that is not a bad thing. Blame my loyalty on my Grandfather who started racing in the mid 30's.
I will always do what I can to support the sport, either by building a gas tank for a given class or by being on the judges stand.
I had the luxury of being in Florida the first week-end of March of this year.. Drove from Ft. Myers to Lakeland to see that race.
Wow,, have never seen so many spectators!!! Wow,, again,,, got to watch classes that one only hears about. Yes,, it takes time to
put on a race when most of the boats entered the water using a crane,, but I did not care.. It was a boat race.. New guys like Ram 4 x 4
are hard to find,, but they are out there. All of you keep plugging away, as your efforts will be rewarded. I feel quite fortunate that
I have made a lot of friends being in boat racing,, and I hope they feel the same... You know who you are and whenever I get to see
you,, you will always get a smile and a hand shake as you are an elite group.