Quote:
Originally posted by RHINO
as for tricky wanting to race against cookee dont you think you have done enough damage to v24 by stirring things up.
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Rhino, you have missed the whole point.
( actually I dont understand how my wanting to race against Cookee stirs things up and damages V24?)
Most people want to race their boats, and not get involved in the crap and politics surrounding each event.
To do so they need to know without doubt that they will have a place to park their boat, that they will be able to launch their boat, and that the race will occur. Once the race is underway most people want to ensure that the rules under which they race will be respected by all competitors, and that they can have a fair race.
Moast people racing do so as a hobby. Their disposable income goes towards their boat and racing, not their companies advertising budget.
Most people dont want to be ripped off, or feel that they are being ripped off.
Most people do not think that we have this.
This season 2005 I tried to get V24 boats into racing. At the end of last season there were TWO boats who were definatel going to run in the series. At the end we managed to get five boats. ( not that it mattered with the Cowes cockup )
Clubs - such as yours - did not help either, with threats to cancell the races if a guaranteed number of entrants were not provided. The knock on effect was the sale of three of the boats to Sweden ( where the clubs there ran an entire race series for four boats - without any complaints! ) Additionally FOUR other boat owners did not apply for National Licences as the 'payback' for buying the Licence at the begining of the year was that only Ramsgate promiced a race no matter how many boats entered.
The costs of gearing up for a season is high. Without a number of races guaranteed the amortisation of these costs over several races makes the cost of each race too high to be worthwhile.
Last year I only managed to complete THREE national races. Only FOUR races actually existed in any way to allow points to be given. This is a complete waste of money spent gearing up for the year. Those people who decided not to buy National Licences for V24 2005 season were correct.
If there are not enough boats to make a proper race ( ie more than 8 boats ) - why not join together the similarly classed boats, like cookee and myself. Our boats ability to beat the other would be sea state dependant. If should be interesting over a season to see what happens, and there would be at least 8 boats in the race.
Oh, and if you do decide to join up the races, you can charge us all the same entrance fee. The premium on the V24's is not really required is it? The RYA have said ( and I have it in writing ) that the clubs set the entrance fees, *not* the RYA, so you have the choice to charge us the same fee, and not charge extra for the V24's.
Things are actually very very simple.
The RYA needs to produce a race calender, a rule book and provide this *BEFORE* the 2006 year starts. This will allow people to plan to participate in the racing season.
The clubs need to decide if they are going to offer the race *before* 2006 starts, so the compeditors can decide if it worth the expence to gear up for the season.
Once the season is underway, it has to be kept fair.
Not a lot to ask IMO.
Threats and bully boy tactics do not work. Most racers are grown up men, who have a bit of spare money. Treating them like naughty boys who you can threaten and rip off financially will result in them simply leaving the sport.
There is a reason why powerboat racing is dead in the UK. And it is *not* because I object to things that I consider to be wrong or unfair!