THEJOKER

There ARE ALWAYS a few people trying to tear down what other people have worked for. Alweiss has never claimed to be perfect but I can tell you one thing , if you push hard enough you'll get the fight you were looking for! BH

JROMY

All said and done, I have never really followed the race teams since I was a lot younger and watching Gentry, Gus Anastacio, etc. I watched Don Johnson, Chuck Norris, etc. etc. but honestly, they raced. All this finger pointing now, etc. is hard to take seriously. I can honestly say that if you ask me about a real offshore racer, I could never even name someone that currently races - I just don' t think of them as racers. They have tons of money and whoever has the most has the fastest Skater. Honestly, who cares anymore. For example - even if I won a measly $ 3 million dollar lottery, I could easily have the fastest boat. Give me a Skater with Sterlings- I would run with the Bacardi boat ...except I would have nitrous (or whatever) and would smoke everyone. I'll provide the boat, I guarantee there is a driver and throttleman available! I have the utmost respect for all these guys, but let's go back to real racing. You run OFFSHORE, you run for a long distance, you might hit a floating log in the Mississippi, who knows. No more chasing bouys. Bouys are for sailboats. Anyone can go around them in circles.

John B

JROMY,
I watched the old guys too. The APBA racing today is much better than the old days! Your comments about $ used to be true. It always helps, but today you need setup and co-hones, because the equipment you run is strictly controlled. This is what Mike and the LLC brought to the sport. You can't please all the people all the time!

ModMachine

Mike A.
Thank you for all you've done for us.Many really do appreciate it.Dont let others jealousy stop you from forging ahead.

cuda

From my point of view as just a fan with no vested interest, I don't need all those questions answered.

I had only two.
Where are the Apba WC races going to be held, and when.

I believe those have been answered. There may be a handful of people on the board who need to know every last detail as why something is a certain way. It's kind of like making sausage I guess, it's better if you don't watch.

ModMachine

Thats funny

DebbieRacer

Mike and Lee,
Please Mike and Lee for the Racers and Sponsors could you please work together you need to understand the Racers and all the Sponsors are upset and walking out.The Racers are losing sponsors and they are really upset with all the changes. Please lets see if we can have a meeting in Ft. Lauderdale or St. Pete. As President of OPBRA I will try to see if we can in some way mend the fences let's not lose any race teams or sponsors we need to all stay strong and together for the love of racing
Thank you
Debbie Fleischman/ OPBRA President

gary nichols

I believe there is a giant rat or two in this woodpile who either have personal vendatas or would like offshore racing cease to exist.If it was'nt for Micheal and John Carbonell there would'nt racing right now or television of these events.Lets go forward!The last I recall the LAST PERFECT PERSON LEFT 2000 YEARS AGO-I think he was a carpenter not a boat racer!

DebbieRacer

Please you all need to get along for the Racers and Sponsors. We will all lose if you do not get along and you start changing the race sites and rules the Racers will bail out and get feed up. Please we all need to work together.We all have sponsors that where sold on Corpis Christi, Bahama's, Tampa Bay and Key West
Please for this year get together for the racers let's work it out.
Thank you,
Debbie Fleischman/OPBRA President

Shane

Mike,

First, please re-evaluate your above statement. Most of my posts are NOT about APBA. I have nearly 5000 posts and I would be willing to bet that less than 5 to 10% of them specifically address APBA. If you find otherwise, I will gladly stand corrected. Furthermore, I have been a member of OSO since its infancy, however I chose at that time to not become a Charter member. Please see my member number. When did you join? I comment and participate in everything from Poker Run discussions, to political topics, to technical assistance and more. You may note that typically I speak about what I know and have no apprehension about calling a spade a spade. As stated earlier, when I am wrong I admit it and take my lumps when appropriate. However, I think if you review my comments/questions about APBA you will see that I have not bashed them, only asked the "tough questions". As for my experience, I began my racing career in motocross and snowmobiles, and attained the professional level. Keep in mind in those disciplines, to become a professional you have to earn the priviledge to obtain a pro license. The decision to award you such a license is predicated on your past success and your ability, determined by a panel via an application process. You simply do not have to pay an equipment and membership fee, pass a DOT or FAA physical and show up at the race as is the case in offshore. I have raced APBA, USO, SBI etc. I have many wins under my belt and with the exception of 3 races (2 we broke the other we ran out of fuel, none of these occurrences happened in the Pro-Stock boat) I have never finished worse than third. I have raced and won in Shadow Cats against boats that are/were far more expensive, years newer and technologically advanced. Obviously, winning in a boat that was 20 years old speaks for itself. Additionally, I have raced Sutphen's, Active Thunders and Velocity's. I have raced the Old Pro-Stock class, now Super Cat Light Outboard, the old B Class and Factory 2. I have won from the front and come from the rear, I have stuffed and nearly been killed and I have come close to going over more than once. At this time I am not a member, racing or otherwise of any racing sanctioning body, however, I maintain friendships with people who are. I am a member of several powerboat /poker run clubs. I raced in Key West when it was truly a World Championship event, when USO, APBA and SBI all competed together against one another for ONE Championship. I have also competed when there were several different World Championships, which I believe is ridiculous. How many Superbowls and World Series are there? Currently, I enjoy Poker Runs and Fun Runs. I am married, have ayellow lab named Zoe, 3 snowmobiles, 2 PWC's, a Skater, a Formula and I am lieutenant of my local volunteer fire department. I am a member of the Glens Falls Kiwanis Club, and a past member of the business outreach committee, mayor's office, city of Glens Falls. I am an Investment Realtions Officer with Ayco Asset Management, a division of Goldman Sachs. I hold my series 7, 63, 65 and life licenses and am a Registered Investment Advisor. I hope this qualifies me to ask the tough questions and participate in the thread.

I too know very little about yourself. I am sorry for your troubles with regard to your leg. Your drive and ambition, in conjunction with your tenacity are admirable. Have you ever raced? Are you a member of a sanctioning body? I would like to know who you are in more depth as you always seem to support APBA regardless of the circumstance. Blind faith in my eyes is a dangerous proposition. Keep in mind that this is an open forum and many of us have paid to post here. Additionally, if sanctioning bodies are going to come on here and use forums such as OSO to promote their business, make specific promises (i.e. the schedule is set in stone and there will be no further changes), and they are funded with members dues, is it not fair that we can pose these questions? Or, should we just take what they say as gospel? Over promising and under delivering are extremely dangerous business practices. Be careful, this may become a slippery slope. Please note, in my questions, I specifically stated that I was simply asking questions, not insinuating, bashing or blindly following either side. Also note, that not ONE of those questions were ever addressed. These same questions were posted on several threads to which the APBA LLC and or its representatives posted multiple times. Does this not at least cause you some element of concern as to why these questions were simply overlooked and not addressed? I would think that if there was no basis in fact with regard to the same, that APBA LLC and or its representatives would have made specific mention of such as they would clearly want to clarify any misunderstanding that may be circulating. Again, please note that I asked these same questions in a respectful manner. I will always tell it as I see it whether people like it or not. That is just me.

The questions I asked to which you are commenting I felt are pertinant to the subject at hand. Mr. Allweiss claims here on OSO that "we" I am assuming that includes himself, have invested much of their own money into offshore racing and that they have lost money. However, on another message board he has made no bones about the fact he draws a signifcant six figure income from the LLC. Seems to me that it is difficult to have it both ways. If you do some research on the topic of the LLC making money at the business of sanctioning races, I CLEARLY stood behind them. I specifically stated that it was their business and they simply have a right to do so. They are not running a philanthropic organization. So again, my posts have NOT been mostly in opposition to or against APBA. I have stayed neutral and called a spade a spade. Please be more careful when drawing such conclusions. I agree that there are others that clearly have an axe to grind or an ulterior motive. Such is not the case with myself.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery and as stated before, I hope that this most unfortunate of circumstances will be resolved soon, and to the benefit of the racers, sponsors and fans alike.