Donzilla

I ran my 26 corsa got lapped broke after 9 and 1/2 laps and had a great time.
I will fix my boat and race the rest of the season regardless. I do see some changes I need to make for my boat and I can guarantee It (the boat) won't be there next year but I will with something different already in the works. Race what you brung I did and will and I am severly disadvantaged by size (the boat) in bigger water but don't forget anygiven day.
JIm

Peconic

As the Typhoon Historian, I went back to my records. Last year at the Maryland race, the Krazy Kubans were running their itty-bitty 24 foot Carrera in P5. For 4 laps, they were leading the complete P5 field, plus the complete P4 field, Typhoon's Kryptonite, Augies Flying Culture Club, everybody.

Then they broke. Which was the salvation for the other teams.

Come on, boyz. Run what you've brung. Take home what you get. All the Nutz (and possibly more) will be in AC, and we'll race wherever they put us, no moaning.

Fast Shafts

Peconic,
Don't you think that itty-bitty Carrera would have "broken out" if it had a GPS???

Peconic

We'll never know. The point is that in that race, an itty-bitty Carrera with one engine and two Nutz could spank the other guys. Let's have fun and let's race. Life is serious enough.

SHARKEY-IMAGES

Maybe not....The P-4's weren't as fast last year....

Rob M

So, inferring from some of the posts here, if a guy with a little boat wants to be competitive in P5 there are two choices:

1. Make sure his boat is capable of 80 mph to guarantee he can safely run 70 in race conditions or
2. Trade his boat in on a 28' Pantera and come up with the extra $.

Instead of offering "spec" classes like SOB which had 0 participants it would make a lot more sense to have a 25' and under class for all the smaller boats (without the more exotic power in the itty-bitty Carrera). How many small boats would show up at an event then? I would bet half a dozen or more. But yet there are provisions for classes like P2 where few boats ever show up. And then there is the issue with stepping down a class which ends up with the 100% legit (top speed, ideal conditions, 70 mph) smaller P5 boat being even less competitive. By competitive I don't necessarily mean winning, but rather to not be lapped repeatedly. There will always be some other crew and boat combo that has an edge.

1HYPER1

Look guys it is real simple,have a set of rules that are not flexible in any way shape or form like it was in the past like size,weight and cubic inches for every cat and v bottom class and that will level out the playing field,I here what all of you are saying and some is correct and some is not,Stroker is correct in one of his statements when he said he has to run Jay in a 40 Motion,when in reality he should be in a differant class wheather he admits it or not,one is a cat light and one is a super cat./PERIOD/.There are alot of boats that can be competitive in certain classes even though they are smaller for many differant reasons but that is rare in most cases,I have been around the sport for many years and I have seen it all but weather we all want to agree or not all of the rules I posted above will and is the only way to level the playing field,just as Mike A did with the APBA even though we all know that he handled certain things was not always the best at least we had fair competition.Stepping down a class and running smaller props is not racing in my opinion,racing is running flat out with the best set up for how ever many laps and may the best boat win not wondering if we went to fast and are we going to get penalized because that is BS,if you want to do the break out of your time thing go bracket drag racing because that is where it should stay,this sport should be about fair and even competition and nothing else,right know the OSS Boys have got the rules in place and the classes broken down the way they should be even though some of you might not agree, but how they are doing things is how it should be done and hopefully others will follow or join together.The Jersey boys as a group have done great things and I think you should be commended for it but I dont have to agree with the the rule book written in pencil and the GPS speeds because as you have seen in the past it does not and will never work 100 percent,because ther is no way to know who is laying back and who is not.Here is a real quick senario two 32 foot skaters runnind in the same class,both will run over 100 mph one has 525 efis and AND BRAVOS AND THE OTHER HAS 900 mERCRUISERS AND 6 DRIVES WHO WILL WIN RUFF OR FLAT CONDITIONS/DUH and I know that some will still say that would be fair but in reality it is not is it.

BRUCE SEROFF

Hyper1...You are missing the whole point. And Im tired of trying to explain it to you. There are way too many boats out there to fit into a specific class. Not everyone has 120k or 300k or more laying around to run the OSS classes. Yes they are on a level playing field. But what about all the other boats out there that dont fit into a specific class? Thats where P class comes in. Why cant every one just put together a boat that can run at the top at a specific class? Im not gonna go out and continue to run my boat balls to the wall to try to compete with a boat that is 10 feet bigger. I would do it against all the other Panteras, which is in P-5.

Quit your whining and run your boat in P-3. Lets see if you have what it takes. I dont care if you have been around Racing for years. This is today...that was yesterday. Its a new ERA. So lets rock!!!!

1waterboy1

The "run what you brung" P-Class(I hate that name) format is what it is, and as Bruce pointed out, allows boats that dont fit a "spec" class an opportunity to race.But I also agree with Hyper1 that more criteria is needed when it comes to class placement;length and horsepower certainly should be considerations that would level the playing field and make for more competitive racing.I know OPA is committed to keeping it at five classes; but a small boat class as suggested by Rob M. may not be a bad idea if there are enough boats to warrant it.As stated before,P5 really is not an "entry level" class in terms of the investment required to be competitive.You need a way to continue to attract new teams to the sport that hopefully will get hooked and move up in class over time.Many of the drivers and throttlemen that are currently racing in the upper classes started thier racing careers in a small boat class;many of them racing thier pleasure boats before investing in a true race boat.Just my opinion.

SMYTH1

guys there is really nothing to complain about. ther are 5 classes to chose from.pick one and buy or build a boat to run at the top of that class.24 footers are too small to be in the ocean.the other option is too go back to dollar racing where guys were spending 150,000 on a class boats or running 38 foot 110mph b boats.i've been there, it doesn't work.the only reason i can put my boat back out there is the gps format.i can run 3 different classes if i chose p4,p3,or even p2 in a flat race and just basically change setup.as long as i don't break out it's legal.there are a ton of good old race boats laying around that people can't give away.if your boat isn't competitive in a class then step up to a bigger boat.