While having a couple drinks at the local bar I had the pleasure of meeting a local go-fast bay boater. He proceeded to tell me over a beer of 5 that offshore racing requires no real skill and that it’s not even a real sport! Well let me tell you; the sheer will it takes to strap yourself into or onto boat that has 50 gallons plus of flammable fuel and engines that pump out upwards of 800hp in some cases much more than fly yourself over some of the nastiest waters at speeds in excess of 100mph while cranking into turns pulling G’s 3 times your own body weight while other boats are doing the same only a few feet away from you is not a “real sport” than you just don’t know what a real sport is.
Ernest Hemingway once said, “There are only three real sports in the world: bull fighting, mountain climbing and auto racing. All others are just games.” This talented writer of A Farewell to arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man Of The Sea must not have ever seen an Offshore Boat Race or he would have padded his list. But Hemingway’s point isn’t about one type of motorsports being superior to another; rather, it seeks to separate sports into hierarchy defined by element of risk involved.
Risk is what makes an Offshore boat racer different from Michael Jordan, Payton Manning, Alex Rodriquez or even Tiger Woods. As skilled of an athlete Tiger Woods is what’s the worst thing that could happen to him if he misses a chip shot? Fall and get grass stains on his 200 dollar plain pants? Tiger maybe 100% dedicated to his game of golf but without the element of risk, he is never as totally committed to the task as an Offshore racer is.
We’ve all seen in person or on video an Offshore racer make a very small mistake and pay a terrible price for an error that is the equivalent of Tiger shanking a shot into the bunker or Brady throwing an interception on 2 and goal. Danger is the invisible passenger with every Offshore racer and not just at the “Big Dollar” level.
Of course there are literally thousands of lady’s and gentleman that have climbed into a boat over the last 6 decades without suffering a scratch in the pursuit of speed, glory and that all elusive trophy. So next time someone tells you that Offshore requires no ‘Real Skill” ask then what “Real Risk” is involved in there sport, and if he says none; than it’s just a game.
Ernest Hemingway once said, “There are only three real sports in the world: bull fighting, mountain climbing and auto racing. All others are just games.” This talented writer of A Farewell to arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man Of The Sea must not have ever seen an Offshore Boat Race or he would have padded his list. But Hemingway’s point isn’t about one type of motorsports being superior to another; rather, it seeks to separate sports into hierarchy defined by element of risk involved.
Risk is what makes an Offshore boat racer different from Michael Jordan, Payton Manning, Alex Rodriquez or even Tiger Woods. As skilled of an athlete Tiger Woods is what’s the worst thing that could happen to him if he misses a chip shot? Fall and get grass stains on his 200 dollar plain pants? Tiger maybe 100% dedicated to his game of golf but without the element of risk, he is never as totally committed to the task as an Offshore racer is.
We’ve all seen in person or on video an Offshore racer make a very small mistake and pay a terrible price for an error that is the equivalent of Tiger shanking a shot into the bunker or Brady throwing an interception on 2 and goal. Danger is the invisible passenger with every Offshore racer and not just at the “Big Dollar” level.
Of course there are literally thousands of lady’s and gentleman that have climbed into a boat over the last 6 decades without suffering a scratch in the pursuit of speed, glory and that all elusive trophy. So next time someone tells you that Offshore requires no ‘Real Skill” ask then what “Real Risk” is involved in there sport, and if he says none; than it’s just a game.
