Tony,
I am sorry to say you are most uninformed. In order for a race we put on to break even it takes about 125 boats to do that, not 200+. We do not have any expectations that any Grand Prix race will attract that number of entries. Besides the GP races are limited to 150 boat entries and that began this year. If you look carefully at the race class entries, you will find 8, not 5, classes that do not have the 3 boat minimum. They are Thunderboat, Crackerbox, LSG Sport Hydro, Jersey Skiff, Scale, Open Hydro, Open Offshore, & P Limited Rigger. That is a group of gas, nitro, FE and mixed classes. Hardly what you allege. If you drop these classes then 11 entries will have to be refunded and we go from 86 entries to 75. It is not economically feasible with that number and we cannot host races and lose money on them. In addition, some racers may drop from the race as their chosen classes may be among those that are dropped.
As for the funding, in the past 3 years the CMB has INVESTED $4,000 in the safety fence for the lake, and that was after spending $600 for the recommended close mesh plastic safety fence that did not last 2 years. Last year we spent $1,000 to get our lake surveyed for time and record trials. We expanded the drivers stand from 20' to 32' for a cost of $1,200. We bought a used chase boat motor 2 years ago for $600 and someone broke it this spring - beyond economical repair. We bought a new PA system, and a new race clock 3 months ago for over $2,000. Last month we bought a new chase boat and motor for over $3,000. The other ones were leaking and continually sinking and nearly ruining the engines. We used the race proceeds from the past 2 years to make these purchases and have absolutely cleaned out our bank account. There is nothing remaining, period. The club officers made the commitment years ago to reinvest the funds from the races into our facilities and we have done that. We believe that the CMB club, it's members, and our race patrons for ALL the races we host deserve the best we can provide and we do exactly that. The CMB does not deserve the accusations you are throwing - you are grossly mis-informed.
If the racers want the race to continue, get your race buddies and others to enter it this week so we can at least break even for the race. That is all we are asking, nothing more, and that is most prudent. Take it upon yourself to promote the race instead of slamming the CMB club.
Take care my friend and please call me if you want to talk about this please stop slamming John and the CMB Club as a whole.
