K-boat news!

[mcfrance]

Originally Posted by JSSK88
...It would be nice to have an organization capable of promoting circle boat racing unlike the APBA who puts promoting safety equipment ahead of promoting the sport.
What sport is there to promote if the racers are dead? This is one of the most stupid statements I have ever heard or read.

[FlatStupid]

Without getting too uppity here. I think safety is the issue here. It's one thing to go and lay down a buckforty pass in a thirty year old hull. ( not that isnt way ballsy!) It's entirely another matter to go run 18 to 20 4 lap RACES a year with 4 to 6 other boats in the water! Let somebody else get hurt in one of these boats and see how long the line is to promote them. We have to make it as safe as possible or all will be lost as far as the racing end of it goes! Is a capsule the end all, be all, probably not, but it's a place to start. Just my opinion and we all know about those. BUT the discussion is great and yes BB kept the K'S alive!

[Moneypitt]

I think the rule change was based on factual statistics. I don't think they are promoting safety over boat count, I agree with Duff that the K flats are unfairly singled out when compared to the other flatbottom classes. I don't buy the idea about the lap times being equal to the SS and PS boats because I have eyes and can see the difference in straightaway speeds. That said, I still think there could be some sort of compromise, a shorter front/back straight, 5 laps instead of 4 to cover the same distance, blower OD restrictions like the GNs, etc. I don't think anyone here is discounting safety, maybe just venting a little with a poor choice of words................MP

[downunder race fan]

guys i have a solution to all your problems ! just pack all those non capsule k- boats onto a big boat bound for AUSTRALIA ,bring all your friends and come racing downunder ! No capsule rule,no cubic inch limit,no blower limits PSI/rootes/ whipple who cares .flat bottom/v-bottom it dont matter . no length limit ,no fuel rule, Turbos ? bring em on ! want the chance to race against GP hydros and F1 outboards all in the one race ? guys come on down the weathers great , the women are hot ,and the Beers the best you will ever get !! The place to be is a little town called Taree NSW about 3hr drive north of Sydney, for the EASTER POWERBOAT CLASSIC. so guys pack em up and head downunder we would love to have you and your boats. did i mention how good the beer is ??

[Moneypitt]

D U R F.........Now that is a pleasure to read. What a great idea, head down under to race anything and everything in bitchen weather, very few if any rules, hotest women, liberal bikini laws, and the beer, he did say beer... I would do it in a heart beat right after I hit the lottery. MP

[DAVEY B]

guys i have a solution to all your problems ! just pack all those non capsule k- boats onto a big boat bound for AUSTRALIA ,bring all your friends and come racing downunder ! No capsule rule,no cubic inch limit,no blower limits PSI/rootes/ whipple who cares .flat bottom/v-bottom it dont matter . no length limit ,no fuel rule, Turbos ? bring em on ! want the chance to race against GP hydros and F1 outboards all in the one race ? guys come on down the weathers great , the women are hot ,and the Beers the best you will ever get !! The place to be is a little town called Taree NSW about 3hr drive north of Sydney, for the EASTER POWERBOAT CLASSIC. so guys pack em up and head downunder we would love to have you and your boats. did i mention how good the beer is ??
Went there 3 years ago and had a great time. The people where great! We went to Dargle and Melburn and had a great time watching the BAD boats and 6.ol unlimited. Love to go again just don't like sitting 15 hrs. on a plane. :cry:

[Stab-n-Steer]

guys i have a solution to all your problems ! just pack all those non capsule k- boats onto a big boat bound for AUSTRALIA ,bring all your friends and come racing downunder ! No capsule rule,no cubic inch limit,no blower limits PSI/rootes/ whipple who cares .flat bottom/v-bottom it dont matter . no length limit ,no fuel rule, Turbos ? bring em on ! want the chance to race against GP hydros and F1 outboards all in the one race ? guys come on down the weathers great , the women are hot ,and the Beers the best you will ever get !! The place to be is a little town called Taree NSW about 3hr drive north of Sydney, for the EASTER POWERBOAT CLASSIC. so guys pack em up and head downunder we would love to have you and your boats. did i mention how good the beer is ??
Downunder,
Sign me up! How about throwing in some crackers for good measure? I went "downunder" a few times in the late eighties to race sprint cars with Jeff Gordon and his dad. You guys know how to host a party!!! The women ARE hot and the guys are "men's men". Best of all, you Aussie's like Americans. I've never had so much fun in my life! Drank a tanker load of Swan Lager and forgot to sleep the whole time I was there... Jeff was just 15 the first trip in '87. Danny "The Dude" Lasoski, Jimmy Sills and me took him to the nude beach without his Dad's knowledge. I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head! We still laugh about that today...
S&S

[downunder race fan]

Start buying those lottery tickets guys , i will organise the women ,the beer and the boats just get down here !! This Easter will be a huge race meeting 10 gp hydros,15 or more BAD boats and full fields of 6 litre injected and 6 litre carb boats,nostalgia hydros the list goes on ! 90mph to 180mph action and the only thing better than the beer is the BUNDABERG RUM !!
remember the exchange rate $ 1.00 US is about $1.25 AUS so you guys actually make money just by flying down here ! ya cant get a better deal than that.

[Moneypitt]

Ross has enlightened the BRF board with some news about the non capped Ks returning to APBA competition. I'm sure he'll post it over here as well, but just let me say YEEEEEEEEE HAAAAWWWWWWWW..............Welcome back from Ft Lauderdale Ross......................Ray

[rossdbos]

To all:
The K issue that Duff raised at that IRC meeting Ft. Lauderdale was with the support of myself, Dave Rankin, Jeff Wooton, Mark Maier(sp?) (Burley, ID Chair) and believe it or not Bob Wartinger (the Safety authority for APBA himself). We presented a concise business plan/roadmap to get to full encapsulation and put restrictions on the open cockpit K's (a modified IHBA rule)- max 470 c.i. with max 8-71 blowers, drivers must wear Kevlar suits. These measures do not apply to the encapsulated K's. After the proposal was massaged and reworked it was presented on Saturday Morning to the commission and it was voted in by 12 or 13 to 4 vote. Now, it has to go before the APBA BOD but if this is adopted it will go into effect immediately and I will have them on at March Bakersfield, April Parker and Long Beach in August. Some good news, on the West Coast, Tony Scarlata has built one (an encapsulated K), and another one imported from the East Coast (Pat Eason's) is here and may be participating and I'm told others are leaning that way. Clearly the issue of forced mandate only drove the K boats out of APBA over to either the NKRA or IHBA. Regardless, the IRC was reminded of it's primary duty to "promote and grow the sport of boat racing" in a safe and effective manner. The K's have a better track record than some of the other Inboard Flatbottom classes but the K's were the "sacrificial lamb" a few years ago when the SS and Pro Stock mandate was overturned. As a capsule driver myself I would love to see every boat over 85 mph be encapsulated but alas that is just my opinion and has no bearing on this or any inboard business. If the rules are adopted, and we should know within a week or so, half the battle is over and the open cockpit K's will be back however this class will be heavily monitored with reports that I, Dave Rankin, Mike Allen and Duff Daily have to report on and send in after every APBA K event to the IRC. If it looks like too much exposed liability the IRC has the ability to "pull the plug". The future rests on the BOD and then the driver's themselves. IHBA has been successful and their data proves it. The K's are a great crowd pleaser let's all work to make it better, safer and more exciting!
Sincerely,
Ross Wallach, SCSC/RPM RACING ENT.