Round Britain 2008

[motorvator]

I think Mike should enlighten the powerboat world of what is actually going on.

If there is any truth in RYA personnel attempting to foul the race then they need to be put on notice that as a member I will require explanation from the top level. Indeed I have no doubt many of us will.

Having just read the latest RYA mag it is quite unacceptable that no mention of what could be the greatest powerboat race in recent history did not even get a mention. This I believe goes against there stated policy of representation of the sport.

Put some meat on the bones and I will let them know of my disgust.

[Pash 1]

Your A Member????

[Rupert Munro]

Out of interest could the event not be helped along by the WPPA or is that a non-starter

[TimB-C]

At the risk of getting my head bitten off how do you hope to quote "go high up"? puddifoot is head of powerboating and at the bottom of all this; and at the last minuite voted against Lord Beaverbrook for UIM President in Turkey so he could go for the general secreteries job!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and open the door for GM to take over the RYA job.................oh and John Read to become Vice P to "pass the envelope" Chulli.............

[TimB-C]

If you go with WPPA you end up with Rory P who I am very ashamed to say I mis-read and got to join the committee of UKOBA and he has back stabbed his way around ever since and got A G (HIM) forced out ..
So would be jumping out of the fire into the volcano

[Jon Fuller]

I'm not sure of what's going on here, but have heard that puddifoot has stated that anyone who takes part in the RB08, if it runs without connection to them, will be banned from having a RYA racing licence for LIFE!
Just exactly how much of a biggoted religon is the RYA? And who the hell does he think he is. That is the most outrageous statement I've ever heard. 'If you're not in our club, you can rot in hell'. It absolutely stinks!

Nice.

If all this is true, I would be the first to vote for dropping the licenced bandits from southampton like a stone, run the RB independantly, exclude all those who tried to sabotage it from entering and be done with it, their loss.

With the state of offshore in this country, being excluded from holding a rya licence in future really doesn't seem that much of a hardship to me... who would it really effect? Honda? they could go it alone. P1, get a foriegn licence, it'd probably be better anyway.

Absolutey unbelievable.

BTW, glad to see you used a line or two from my email.

[Rupert Munro]

Would there not be a legal standpoint on refusing to give licenses just due to taking part in another event?

[Taz]

Well i admit that i havent paid my fees today and am aware i will incur a 10% fee. Im not proud of this but after my sponsor has fallen out at the last minute i have been left in the shit. Some people aware im no messer after spending a fortune building a boat for this event and dead serious. I have another bite on the rope and am tying down a deal. Ive lost my wife thru this race and a small fortune but havent got all the funds unless a sposor steps in. I will race next year

[TimB-C]

Taz, I believe that ML will appreciate your being honest, which is more than are being

[motorvator]

Originally Posted by Pash 1

Your A Member????

Yup and I guess there's quite a few more here.

So if we have some facts I would sugest we all take our discussion regarding it here

http://www.rya.org.uk/RYAForum/Forum28-1.aspx

And for the record here is their policy statement

http://www.rya.org.uk/AboutRYA/policiesobjectives/

so if anything that is happening is not in line with this then yes we take it up with the top man, not some elected member who a number of people believe unworthy of election. And then demand an answer from that level not a sub committee

Basically the organisation is there to serve our (boaters) interests and if it's not then questions need answering.

[Ben]

This is stunning and most unwelcome news. It beggars belief ,if true, that there are those who would wish to sabotage the greatest and probably the last truly memorable British powerboating event.

Having given great consideration over the past few hours since reading these last few posts and not arriving at a response that I considered appropriate nor well reasoned, I fortunately came upon some messages posted on other websites that far more eloquently portray what I would have tried to say.

Regarding the RYA generally (written in 2003)

What benefit is derived from association with the RYA? The obvious answers are affiliation with the UIM and some forlorn notion of legitimacy. Surely, with the number of offshore craft racing in the UK we should be dictating to them, not the reverse. According to PB1 2003 it will cost the average racer approximately £200 for his or her licence plus £55 to renew a measurement certificate and this outlay of £255. does not even include RYA membership. RYA personal membership is currently £25 - £28 and includes a multitude of benefits (look to their website for a full list). The sailors pay less than £30 and get everything. Offshore racers pay ten times that and we get the powerboat racing manager going to New Zealand to try out jet boats. Oh well, it’s only money (ours) and was probably a fun trip.

The new classes set out by the RYA are interesting. Formula 1, 2, and 3 could be workable. Similar boats of similar power having a good tussle. Formula X however is remarkably ill conceived. Unlimited ribs versus Touring boats. It seems inconceivable that the owner of an Extreme 26 with 425hp would want to go head to head with something like ‘The Big Rib’ (ex Roger Fletcher 40’ Techno with close to 2000 total horsepower) but alas, they are in the same class. Admitedly, I have a vested interest (I spent the better part of a year, 1995. getting the touring class underway- hundreds of phone calls, mailings, numerous meetings RYA and otherwise and all of this as an unpaid volunteer and at my expense. Am I incorrect in thinking that since the rubber boat boys came to power that there has been a marked shift to their rules?

We are simultaneously the cash cows and the black sheep of the RYA. A quote from Abraham Lincoln regarding the Confederacy springs to mind, “It’s like holding a wolf by the ears, you don’t like it but you dare not let go”. This is an apt description of how the RYA regards powerboat racing. Get away from the RYA, they are an irrelevance.

The RYA Powerboat Racing Manager

The workings of the RYA certainly appear at times to be mysterious.

It is my understanding that when the RYA Powerboat Racing Manager's position was about to become vacant in around 2001/2 there was considerable interest and a number of applicants (some who seemed very qualified) put their names forward. Only two of those who had an interest in the position were called for an interview. One of those deemed not to be worthy of an interview in the infinite wisdom of the RYA is currently the GB WPPA Council representative as well as a member of its Race Management Committee and is responsible for WPPA racing rules.

Of the two applicants that were interviewed, applicant A had considerable experience organising powerboat races in the UK and securing sponsorship. I'm led to believe letters of reference from most areas of the sport were received by the RYA recommending applicant A for the soon to be vacated Powerboat Racing Mangager's position. Competitors from Classes 1, 2 and 3 and ProVee all wrote letters to the RYA in support of his application as well as boating journalists and venue representatives amongst others. Applicant A was very pleased to have received a copy of a letter sent to the RYA (supporting his application) from Tim Powell with whom he had worked closely in the 1990's when he (applicant A) was running the largest offshore powerboat racing organisation in the UK.

This is only hearsay of course but applicant B's qualifications were commonly known to be confined to a bit of racing and operating a failed motorboat school operating on the Thames.

Sensibly, applicant B got the job. We are not sure what happened to applicant A but rumour has it that he left the country.

[hunton69]

From a team that has never raced before. Been spectators of the Cowes weekend for 25 years

We entered RB8 as it should be the greatest off shore powerboat race in the world. I have personally sank 95K into a boat and we estimate 25-30 K to run the event. ( i earn 50K a year ) we would love a sponser but don't expect one. Boatmad is brilliant but the politics involved saddens me. I have no idea how the RYA operate, i was told at the original meeting they would make licence etc as easy as possible i believed them. Mike and his team have worked there butt off, it was always going to be a gamble due to the logistics.
If its personallities that prevents this race from taking place may i say a BIG BIG THANK YOU I am now skint and my dream of taking part in The greatest race sunk.

We will however be in Portsmouth on the 21 June 2008 Race or no race.

The Bandit Team.

Should of entered the Paris - Dakar

[TimB-C]

Brilliantly eloquent as usual Ben....................
Hunton you are showing true spirit, you will NOT be alone on the
21st.............RYA or no RYA it WILL happen.

[Jon Fuller]

Ben, what Tim said.

Barry, it pains me to say it, but that's a good post.
We too will be there, whatever. And I suspect that goes for the majority entered in this event. though I would say, RYA, or no RYA, rather than Race, or no Race.

The rest can feck off.

I call Mike Lloyd to exclude anyone from this race who has been a part of this attempted disrailment / Coup, those types are not needed in the club and I suspect, without exception, the group is made up of people running 'existing boats', who haven't commited any money or time to a dedicated craft for RB08, so they have nothing to lose. Nice.

Jon Fuller

[Adam]

Totally beyond me how a sport can get itself in such a mess.

Obviously a lot of people care about racing - but so much 'rumour' and 'counter-rumour' going round. Just about all of which is not helping. Certainly not helping new competitors to racing - and I would imagine that many must have had confidence hit badly.

Personally I wish Mike all the best with the race and hope all goes ahead as planned - I'm sure there are still things to be sorted out, but all is possible.

Would be much better if we heard more 'facts' from all sides.

[racefan]

Originally Posted by Adam

Totally beyond me how a sport can get itself in such a mess.

I don't think it has happened over night. The rot set in many years ago. What I don't understand is how so many people can criticise the RYA, and in particular that dynamic duo of Puddifoot and his puppet Manchester, but not do anything about it.

Put your complaints in writing, to both the RYA and your local club. ORDA claims to be a drivers club, so how about getting them to get up off their arses and represent.

As for refusing a licence to anyone who races in an unaffilliated race, bullshit.

Puddifoot, turn the fecking light on and see what's happening around you, the sport in it's current form is more or less finished, you ruined BIBOA, now you've set your sights on destroying offshore!

Bring back UKOBA, all is forgiven.

[flightracingteam]

Morning Guys

Ok there is a lot of rumour again flying about on this forum, haven't got a clue where it is all coming from.

One or Two points for you to be going on with.

Firstly the Offshore racing committee has had no input into The Round Britain, in fact most of the time we have felt like a mushroom you know fed the soft smelly stuff and kept in the dark.

The only meeting that i have been involved in was the meeting with reference to the safety rules.

Secondly to the best of my knowledge no One has applied for the Round Britain licence so how can they have been refused One. Just for the record the only reason for a licence application to be refused would be on medical grounds ie they did not pass a medical or have no boating experience and require some more training to take part.

As for the Beaverbrook issue i state again the vote was not changed.

As for me being a puppet anyone who knows me knows that really is not true, as i will argue my corner uphill and down dale weather it makes me friends or not.

[TimB-C]

Yeah right

[Cookee]

Just got off the phone to JP - I had to call him about a cheque - long story ............ Anyway, I asked him about the above comments and I got a few answers, (don't shoot the messenger!).

He denies any plot to take over the event, and fully supports ML and the race, there will be no problem with the race licenses, and they are doing everything they can to make it as easy as possible for new competitors to get one (see below). It seems that the December date was a cut-off only as far as the 10% surcharge is concerned, and the next one is in February which will be a 25% surcharge which will certainly sort the men from the boys!

The people who have not paid for their own reasons, are still (as far as he knows and he is one of them) entered and intending to pay, and are prepared to suffer the 10% surcharge - I would imagine that there will be a big rush of cheques at the next date which is sometime in February.


The license situation is as follows for those that are interested:

£200 for the full event, 2 required per boat. They will be issued to existing license holders that qualify. Non license holders may get one by having a day skippers ticket + the relevant experience + a question and answer with the RYA much as you have to do when you first start racing. The other requirements for all are a Sea Survival course and a VHF license. There is a sliding scale down to a crew member not in charge of the boat doing one leg for £60. Edit - of course everyone will need a medical!

There will be an official statement on the RYA site about the race as well - the only reason I have put this on here is to try and help to reassure anyone reading this and thinking that the event is all going wonky, and I hope that the above allays any fears - if in doubt talk to ML or JP direct!

[hunton69]

The people who have not paid for their own reasons, are still (as far as he knows and he is one of them) entered and intending to pay, and are prepared to suffer the 10% surcharge - I would imagine that there will be a big rush of cheques at the next date which is sometime in February

.


My understanding of 50% of the entry fee being paid 7 months before the event is:

1: The organisers know how much money they have to put the event on

2: How many entrants are totally commited to this event, lets face it if a major sponser came along and Mike promised 70 boats but only 25 turn up the sponsership deal would probable collapse.

3: Any reserve entries would have time to rig a boat.

So what hope is there if members on the commitee or organisation have not paid.