Hi Ed and Gang
Yea this is ugly.. I still hold faith that K+B will some day join in on the fun and start to make motors again.
As for OS.. This comes right from GP. They have no intentions of discontinuing the OB. The TT is still available.
IMPBA is strong right now and dont let anybody tell you different.
I think the question is do we think that OB is the place for the new comer to join our hobby? Not sure, i think it is but this is not for sure. Most members believe that OBs are the way in.
If it is then we have done a $hitty job of helping them out. I mean that me myself has done and others a crappy job of this.
It use to be that the Villain was a one off. This did not help and at the time it was national champ. Bummer for the other guys..
We need to look at where it is that the new guys are coming from and then decide if this is OB style boats. If it is FE then make FE available to them. If it is Monos then make monos available to them. If its OBs then make OBs available to them. MOTORS, HULLS, PARTS.
It sucks that you have to know or b]ow someone to get the fast stuff. Get this stuff in the LHS, E- commerce and the like. Stop the one off or " your boat should be done in a year or so" stuff we have seen in the past.
I say that if we try to continue stock class OB racing then we need to speck a hull, make it available from at least 3 distributors and have the thing to the masses 180 days prior to the nats. I also think we should leave our motor rules alone. They work..
If you want the one off, super fast hard to get hull, that is made of space age, ultra light weight, super elastic plastic then we have a place for you and it is called MOD tunnel. I dont care if you have one of Andy’s piston and liners in one of CMB cases, with a Titan rod and a Rod G built crank, atop a home made PTO that makes sparks as the motor hits 40,000 rpm. We still have a place for you and it is called MOD tunnel.
Bottom line is tunnel the place for new comers to enter our hobby. If so then we need to GET MOTORS AND HULLS IN TO THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE SELLING THE STUFF TO THE NEW GUYS. If this is the LHS then so be it. If it is E-commerce then so be it.
I hope that more of you guys have ideas on this as im out of good ideas and would like to see your points of veiw.
Mike