Shane

First off I will preface this by saying, this is yet another reason I have chosen to go poker running instead of continuing to race. I feel for all you racers out there and the frustrations you are facing. Your tenacity is admirable.

Now the idea! You know how some sanctioning bodies in the past have found that being litigious yields them results? WELL! What IF you racers read your membership contracts and see if there is any clause contained therein whereby you can recoup your losses from the sanctioning body for reservations made on races that did not materialize at the eleventh hour? I doubt there is such an opportunity, but it would sure pay to look into it. Maybe a taste of these sanctioning bodies own medicine, will teach them a thing or two about respect for those that put their hard earned dollars on the line to race, which in turn puts a healthy living on the table of the sanctioning body. Now mind you, I am NOT against the LLC or SBI or Tom and Jerry's offshore racing circuit making money. They certainly should not be asked to do all the work that it takes to run such an event for free. However, with the way in which things transpire around this sport, nothing is ever final until after the race is over and the teams are home, and even then things are often open for debate. If the sanctioning bodies expect you the racers, to adhere to multiple rules and regulations, conducts of behavior, etc., both on and off the race course, is it not only fair and honorable business practice for you to expect the same from them? It seems to me that there exists a substantial double standard here. You need to abide by a rule book that is subject to change at their discretion in which you the customer has no say, (i.e. weight penalties, engine specs etc) behave in a manner described and set forth by them, again with no input from the ones financing the organizations, AND you are EXPECTED to be present at certain festivities prior to and during the race weekend, where if you are NOT present you MAY forfeit any prize money, and then they the promoters and or sanctioning bodies may not even HOLD the event at said location. Furthermore, YOU the CUSTOMER, the one paying for this PRIVELEDGE of being subjected to such rediculous business practices, are then not even asked, but told, the venue has been moved and have to change your plans, the plans of those that volunteer to help you, and suffer the financial consequences of these changes. This sport has been around LONG enough, for these sanctioning bodies to establish venues and secure funding at least a year in advance, so that YOU the FUNDING SOURCE are not the victims of their piss poor planning. As was stated earlier, forget the close to shore races, the tight circles, the media coverage from time to time, the changing classes etc etc etc. How the HELL does anyone even THINK that they can take offshore racing to the next level without even having venues and funding solitified only a few weeks in advance of not just a local race, but the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS? Uh, hellllloooooooo! Don't forget, that most of these venues have hosted racers if not once, but often MANY TIMES in the past! There should be no big surpirses here folks. I realize from year to year minor things may in fact change, but not to the extent that these locations continually get added and deleted from the schedule. In my never to be humble opinion it is because of actions, or lack thereof such as this, that has been the single largest contributing factor to the FACT that most racers do NOT stay involved in offshore for more than a few years. Secondly, how can they expect you as racers to obtain and maintain sponsors, when these same sponsors make business decisions to support you based on demographics and an expected return on their investment, when the sanctioning body keeps changing the basis on which this same decision was made? Surely, there are a few racers that have stood the test of time, but the vast majority don't hang around long, and often times you wind up seeing them on the poker run circuit. Which of course has troubles of its own, but that is a topic for discussion on another day.

CAP071

I shoulda just booked Disney instead