2005 classes

[Adam Younger]

Anyone know what was sorted out for the RIB classes this season?

Also BIBOA has Isle of Man down as a full National round. I believe this may have now changed??

Thanks
Adam

[Adam Younger]

All very quiet on the RIB racing front?

[Pete7]

Yes and all predicted by Tony Lee-Elliott over a decade ago, when he informed the 1993 BIBOA AGM that if they didn't protect the smaller classes and allowed huge amounts of money to be thrown at some of the boats then the majority of "club" racers would simply melt away.

Pete

[Adam Younger]

For what its worth - in my opinion the mistake made with RIB racing was to allow race specials. I.E. boats built for racing that could not be used for general use as well.

If you want to build expensive race boats then there are already classes in existance - but the original concept of RIB racing was not based about this.

Off course you can not please everyone and there would be many who would disagree with my thoughts on this.

[Pete7]

Adam, no quite agree with you, a real shame as in the early days people would turn up and race anything, just for the fun. Prizes were "arranged" so nearly everyone got something to take home.

Pete

[Cookee]

I think the Isle of Man race is not going to happen - allegedly Honda came along and promised a bigger event - after that no-one answered the phone calls!


All the above is very second hand and should not be taken as gospel - all the usual disclaimers apply!

[Martin]

I feel it is a shame that the smaller classes are no longer supported. You would think that there would be a good number of people who would like a Rib for the odd race and cruise with the family.

However the very nature of racing leads us to push the edge of the envelope further and further in pursiance of a competitive edge and as a result the people without the budget fall behind.

But I suppose that in motor racing there is carting for starters......I think that there should be more basic races where people can just turn up and have a go (hardboats and ribs). Without more people starting in the smaller classes the already greatly reduced racing scene will shrink further

M

[The Jackeens]

Well said Martin!


Us

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by Martin

I feel it is a shame that the smaller classes are no longer supported. You would think that there would be a good number of people who would like a Rib for the odd race and cruise with the family.

However the very nature of racing leads us to push the edge of the envelope further and further in pursiance of a competitive edge and as a result the people without the budget fall behind.

But I suppose that in motor racing there is carting for starters......I think that there should be more basic races where people can just turn up and have a go (hardboats and ribs). Without more people starting in the smaller classes the already greatly reduced racing scene will shrink further

M

In addition to the forums here there is also a dedicated BIBOA forum on Boatmad: http://www.boatmadforum.co.uk/forumd...?s=&forumid=18 as well as one for the new Formula 200 class: http://www.boatmadforum.co.uk/forumd...?s=&forumid=14 which is designed to bring people back into the sport who don't have the latest race boats but want to try it out.

The smaller classes died in Offshore and Ribs because fewer and fewer people raced in those classes and they just wasted away to nothing.

I think it was because people moved up to bigger classes and there was not enough promotion of the sport in general to bring new people in with the smaller boats.

There are some very good people putting a lot of effort in for this season, and I hope that it will all pay off and be something to be proud to be part of!

[The Jackeens]

Even in our few trips to powerboat races it was great to see so many dedicated and cool peeps involved.

It must be beginning to send the right message to newbies.

Us