The tread asking about types of racing got me thinking so I thought I would throw it out there. 
Car racing has gone a long way with series races and spec classes and the outboard guys seem to have joined in the game but there has been a real reluctance in the inboard ranks aside from APBA Hydro classes.

Here is my idea... Two classes.

PRJ (Personal Racing Jetboats).  16' mod V sealed injected small blocks basically stock running on pump gas. Run 10 miles with traditional APBA 5 minute countdown starts. Set it up like Legend cars, one hull type, one sealed motor, one pump spec. This would be an inexpensive Breeder class. I would hope to get a turn key boat to cost +- $25k.

PJ (Pro Jet).  Open hull designs, single motors up to 512CI, Aluminum blocks ok, alcohol ( promote "green" racing), canopies (promote "safe" racing), open pump designs. Run 100 miles with APBA 5 minute starts. Pit stop refueling. More like world of outlaw cars with pit stops. Run a circuit of say 10 races a year. This would be a true pro class capable of having TV coverage (hence the length) with sponsorship capabilities.

Any comments?

imagine crashes in the pits! 
sounds like a great idea.
Another class:  PFRJ (Personal Family Racing Jetboat, must be your weekend family boat!)

Throw all the "stones" you want but my entire family would really appreciate some type of noise limits. 

Noise is an issue especially if we could identify enough "urban" sites to put races on (thinking of Town Lake, Austin TX or Tempe AZ or on the river downtown Chicago).  I would see no problem with the spec class to have through hull wet headers. Pro Jet ether needs the noise or maybe make it a turbo class?

I think you on to something there.

I crew'd for and raced in the ASA Speed Truck Challenge ( www.speedtruck.com ) using sealed "spec" engines.  I for one think that it makes since to have a spec class. 

The unfortunate part of a spec engine class is that the guys with resources will buy and dyno multiple engines to get the one or two that are better then sell off the rest to the other guys.

The other issue is going to be that every hull will need to be blue-printed to verify consistancy or the under performing guy will be trying to blame the hull (because he won't admit it's the driver).

Good luck

what team did you pit for? i used to pit for asa speed trucks too!

This is overall IMO a good idea..I like it.  The sprint boat guys may be a good place to start, they are always looking for ways to promote the sport and they sort of already have a "closed course" venue. May be able to pick their brains and get an idea of how to get started.

The biggest problem I see is "yellows" legend cars are a lot different than a boat, in way more ways than one, fueling in the water, no matter what fuel your using will not fly at most locations, especially in Cali. Also this type of racing at any length will have longevity issues, spec motors or not, there is a "crate motor" class in the Whitewater Marathon game, both a BB and a SB class, you would think the boats would be pretty closely matched, but the opposite is true, you would have to moniter/police this very hard, that takes many people to accomplish, so the dedication level would have to be very high.

I would love to see something like this take off, but honestly right now given the state of the economy and your main sponsor base being on the verge of bancruptcy, I would not hold my breath, hell even NASCAR is hurting financially..


Good luck!

GT

I agee about the economy and this would not be the best time to debut something like this, but if this was to happen this is the time to plan and design it. Costs to design and build a buch of boats is comming down. and slow times are when people want some good entertainment.  The time to spring this is when the economy is coming out of the pit. The guys who spend thousends to have a family boat and a race boat or have a fourteen year old who wants to race, this could be the cheepest way to do it. But like Legends it's main use would be a breeder class, and sealed engines would work. Licenced engine builders would have to build the motors within spec or loose credibility with his other clients. Now I have a question.  What would you guys say of a rental race boat going for say $500 per weekend? You show up and drive everything else is done. sound fair?

Now I have a question.  What would you guys say of a rental race boat going for say $500 per weekend? You show up and drive everything else is done. sound fair?

I think $500.00 per weekend is gonna be way to cheep considering what is going to be involved.

When we would rent out my truck it would go for between $2000.00-$4000.00 rental fee plus a $4000.00-$5000.00 crash deposit.  The fees would vary depending on where the race was (towing costs), how many days (Friday practice, Saturday race or Saturday only), and how many people were needed to support the vehicle (if you bring your own crew or come alone).

If you can supply a competitive boat at the water for $500.00 per race weekend I would be interested in running one.

when i was reading this it imediately came to mind that renting a boat like this could be a really good idea, getting joe shmoe some seat time is an awesome idea...however another way to bring profit is to make these joe shmoe to certify...meaning a place a business were they need to take a class and certify to drive them...i couldnt justify just some joe going there hoping in a race boat and takin off...the possibility of it ending up wrecked and what not...or god forbid hurting others is serious business...i think paying for the rental of the boat should exclude fuel and other such items...meaning you should make these boats run on 91 then they can bring their own and put it into a "spill proof" can...these were things that went through my mind...im all for it...it reminds me of richard petty experience amongst others...

A big part of the rental deal is going to be getting the boat to the water.  When we rented a truck the fee included delivery to the track and return to shop.  If you're renting a single boat, that is not as difficult as renting several at a time.  But, I don't think each renter is going to want to pick up at a shop and tow to the races them selves.

 

I would say we are a loooong way off at setting a rental price.

OK been having problems with pix's lately but I'll try to show you the first iteration of the PRJ boat.