Time for a major re-think

[Adam Younger]

Thought I would put a few ideas down on here - seems a far friendlier site and hopefully won't get too much criticism / negative posting.

Clearly somethings are seriosly wrong in the sport of powerboating - and having been around racing for many years and love the sport I find it really depressing to see where things are going. I think it is time for a major re-work from the top down - times change and as much as it maybe not always be what we want - it is a fact and our sport needs to move with the times, organisers / promoters need to recognise this and put aside their own interests / preferred classes and come up with a clear plan of action in the sort, medium and long term.

My thoughts would be along the following - and will apologies for any offence given to any classes - nothing personal but time to face reality!

[Adam Younger]

On an International level

Class 1
We need the top class - but it is out of tune with the world today. It should not be necessary to have 16 litres of petrol power ot go racing. Reduce the limits (formula gp racing has many times!) and bring the lengths of the boats down. Speeds should come down to a more manageable 130 mph or so and boats will be more spectacular. Costs would come down and hopefully fleets would increase in size. If anyone remebers the last Victory class 2 cat - a fleet of such craft would be very worthy of being class 1. But at the moment class 1 is not providing good enough racing, not enough boats etc.

Class 2
This needs to be a combination of 3S, 3D and old class 2. Basically A twin engined outboard class, but with allowance to run inboards or single engine rigs. 3S is going to have to change with enviromental issues anyway, 3D has all but gone and class two is history. A good opportunity to make a new class.

Class 3
In effect 3C, or 3 litre. Probably the most important international class and give it a strong identity.

Class 4
A combination of the existing 3B and 3A classes. Agan needs sorting out in terms of engine / boat sizes in view of modern engines etc.

P1
Looking good at this time - but sort out those ridiculous speed limits!

RIBS
Base class / engine sizes around class 1,2,3,4 - so that boats can cross over into other classes if need be.

One Designs
Honda is obviously the great success - and some others less so. I think care needs to be taken not to have too many classes.

[Adam Younger]

On a National level

There will be many other classes being run on national levels only. Not always the greatest solution as we have too many classes as it is. I think we need to find ways of getting these to combine and then run in more countries - even if it does mean making changes / compromises. Overall more international racing and less classes.

For example
The 150hp classes being run in Sweden look to be a good initiative. On the face of it not a million miles away from the boats being run bu OCR. A chance to make a single class?

Can also see clubs combining more, for example it seems ridiculous that in the UK we have OCR and 3C running with very small fleets and separately. Clubs need to joing forces and find a way of working together and sharing costs and boosting events with more boats - or they will not survive!

One design classes such Honda to be encouraged to help the sport more in terms of providing something for the other classes.


Time to put aside past differences and preferences and look to the future. Something needs to be done!

[Ben Mazur]

Looks like I should actually try to get some cogent thoughts together (increasingly difficult for me) Adam. Will try to do it tonight after work.

You are right though. Some re-thinking is in order.

[kiwiracer]

Class 2 could be a class based around twin outboards, 300XS, 300HPDI, 300 Suzuki, E-tec

Plenty of choice there, and a lot of 30ft outboard cats around for them to go on

[ciao]

I am waiting for info I requested from Scandinavia before I make my point!

[Adam Younger]

Class 2 could be a class based around twin outboards, 300XS, 300HPDI, 300 Suzuki, E-tec

Plenty of choice there, and a lot of 30ft outboard cats around for them to go on

Like the sound of that - would be a good basis for other classes mechanically as well such as the largest RIB class over here.

Certainly needs classes where there are engine options and the chance to increase the number of people racing nationally and on the international stage too.

[ciao]

With regard to Class 3C /Class 3 225 I wonder if the best way to go would be to run a dedicated european series similar to that of P1?

At the moment we have aprox 10 3c boats, the Italians aprox 11 3c and Norway, Sweden and Finland aprox 25 3c.

Turkey run their Class 3 225 series and run 6 or 7 boats, (with a few Scandinavians)

Events (ie 2 heats) could be run in Britain, Italy, Scandinavia and Turkey.

Venues could then be "cherry picked" by the overall organiser, ie. those places that want them!

Surely this 8 heat would be well supported and above all mean something!

Perhaps Dragon could enlighten us to the "logistics side" of Extremeboat.com in europe?

[Ben Mazur]

Thanks for the compliment regarding our friendlier website. As they used to say on the old Avis commercials “we try harder”.

I think we must finally realize that powerboat racing is and unfortunately always will be a specialized-non mainstream sport. We all love it and want to see it prosper but it will never vie with NASCAR or the World Cup to capture the imagination of the worldwide public. Having said that however, I agree that many things can be done to make powerboat racing a more vibrant and successful sport.

On an International level

Internationally, the top class, Class I is an absolute necessity. Not to sound funny or condescending but the smaller classes will always need something to aspire to.

16 litre petrol engines are probably a good choice for Class 1 but perhaps a horsepower limit could be imposed. I.E. 525 hp per engine as they run in the Super Cat Lite series here in the States. These would be less expensive less stressed engines and the boats could be smaller. I am not advocating a single engine manufacturer but would invite all and dyno test for horsepower at selected events to ensure compliance.

Class 2
Totally agree with your proposal for Class 2

Class 3 At the risk of making myself very unpopular, I’m not sure where Class 3 fits in the big picture. Excellent racing, very dedicated racers and unfortunately no one seems to notice.

P1
As you have said, P1 looks good and at least someone is promoting our sport professionally but dam’n, that was a silly conclusion to the first race at Cowes.

RIBS
RIBS will I think remain a purely European phenomenon. I see no chance of a racing series here in the States as RIBS are considered (rightly or wrongly) tenders for other boats.

Finally, just as a talking point, how should a World Championship be conducted. Should it be the results of races from around the world as it was done in the past or should it be decided at one event that has designated itself as the World Championship venue? Is the Class 1 championship actually a world championship or a European and Middle Eastern championship? What about the “Worlds” at Key West or even Destin.

[Dragon]

Perhaps Dragon could enlighten us to the "logistics side" of Extremeboat.com in europe?

Logistics is by far the biggest cost, but mainly because, due to weight we have to use a lorry rather than a car/van and trailer

Costs for us at least are Driver (which you wouldn't need with a smaller boat), Diesel for the lorry (cheaper if a car of van), Ferries ... again cheaper if not a lorry, but going to Malta costs about 3,000 euros just in Ferries and road tolls ... again chaper with car/van and trailer

We budget £7,000 to £10,000 in transportation for the further venues such as Malta, Italy and Portugal. When we used to tow to places like Gibralter, it was more like £1,000 if you allow for fuel, Ferry and possibly an overnight stay in a hotel during the journey. Then whatever the racing costs are.

£1,000 per venue abroad feels about right, but haven't done it without a lorry for a while? Perhaps anyone who has raced recently in the C3 2-litre Europeans could comment?