Hydroplane Racing is Exciting When Fans are Smart

It is truly a testament to a sport when fans have intelligent perspectives and question the status quo.  It’s one thing to consume information about an interest, but it is quite another to challenge traditional wisdom and “urge” leaders to advance the sport.

After two excellent comments posed by Ron Netzley and Tim Matyn to the post, “Annual Awards – Fun Event, But Long Way to Go,” it seemed appropriate not to just comment on their comments, but to extend the perspective of that conversation in another post.  Messrs. Netzley and Matyn pose the perfect questions that could be summed up this way: regardless of the strength and draw of a sport, its future can be brought into question when small missteps begin to have cascading impacts.

Their observations include asking about the impact to the sport if three teams don’t race and the challenge posed to fans when they can’t see the future in the form of a simple schedule not posted.  Thank you, gentlemen.  Please allow me to expand on your thinking.

Even though Ted Porter announced he’s leaving the sport, his display boats have continued to make the Eastern boat show circuit, and he was at the Awards Banquet and annual meetings. Maybe that’s a result of previously existing contracts, or an effort to “market” the inventory, but nevertheless, it seems to raise at least some questions about his true future plans.  In some regard though, it is nice to see the continued display of equipment in public.

His appearances and short remarks during the Awards Banquet seemed deliberately vague. Mr. Netzley suggests it may get boring with a reduced field and I tend to agree – the more, the merrier!  However, the impact may not be as bad as the two of us believe.  The field may be rejuvenated even if the 5 & 7 don’t run (the 57 has yet to be a serious contender), because other teams are re-tooling and modifying to become more competitive.

We already know of at least one team (the 9) returning to the field, doing a major re-build of the hull, and intending to run the full circuit. The 17’s improvement during the 2011 season can’t be overlooked, and they were in a strong “high points” position up through San Diego.

As to whether there are “buyers” for Ted’s equipment, the answer is likely yes, but only the real insiders would know that since potential deals have not been publicly discussed so far. So, if we were to place the Swami into fortune telling service, is it possible that buyers could step up for one or two of Ted’s boats?  The potential for new owners to remain in the hunt will depend a lot on crews and drivers recruited to run them. Just having good equipment doesn’t guarantee they will be competitive, of course.  But that’s a helluva great place to start!

The quality of the competition will not likely suffer significantly, and could actually improve a bit this coming season.  One thing’s for sure: the quality of the fan base remains high with what we’ve seen for comments on Unlimited Hydroplane Racing.