Considerable Qatar Competition – Not Just Unlimited Hydroplanes

Qatar NewsQatar is all over Unlimited Hydroplane Racing news these days.  Boats have traveled, boats have arrived, boats are getting ready to race.  It’s no secret in the racing community that international expansion is nibbling at the sport’s heels.  It’s good for the sport – it’s bad for the sport – many opinions are held and that is fine.  No answer is clear at this point.

While there is much discussion about international expansion, there is one aspect of that conversation that has not yet been addressed:

“How will the competition compete?”

Huh?

My point is that Qatar is a vibrant region with significant financial resources.  That’s good.  As a result, Qatar seems to draw a significant quantity of sports with which Unlimited Hydroplane Racing may need to compete.  That’s not necessarily bad, but it does warrant a discussion.

There’s an old adage that says, “you don’t want to eat at a restaurant with an empty parking lot.”  If it’s busy, it’s good.  If it’s not… well, like we’re doing here, it should be questioned.

It is also said that a new business venture should look for existing business activity in their niche.  Just because they aren’t the first to market doesn’t mean there isn’t value in starting the business.  Having significant business activity already underway indicates support for the business model.  Having significant sports activity in Qatar already may be great!


Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying racing in Qatar is bad.  Not at all.  My question stems from the Google News image used as the main focal point of this article.  While Mr. Villwock and the Spirit of Qatar is prominent in the digest of the item, the story at SportsFeatures.com has a considerable amount of sports recap for 2012.

However, the mention is 2/3 of the way through the story, in July of the 2012 recap and it references the Spirit of Qatar’s win in Detroit:

“Dave Villwock, in the U-1 Spirit of Qatar, claims a second successive victory, at the APBA Gold Cup on Detroit River.”

Ok, back to my point with a simple question:

Will Unlimited Hydroplane Racing in Qatar continue to be prominent or will it just be another item in a very long list of news reports when 2013 is recapped?

Dave


Share with your friends!

One thought on “Considerable Qatar Competition – Not Just Unlimited Hydroplanes

  • January 2, 2013 at 9:05 AM
    Permalink

    MONEY MONEY MONEY!!! That’s what H1 makes going oversees. The only problem I see with this type of expansion is “TIME”. It takes forever to get these boats anywhere on a ship. Until they start transporting them again by air, expansion in this country will grind to a halt because there won’t be any open dates available, accounting for the oversees time constraints. The Guard used to fly the boats around, but that would be difficult these days. Improving the timing is critical. Frantz

Comments are closed.