July 09: Everyone involved with this sport, be it a racer or a fan has
been
asking for unification for a long time and this seemed like a good time
to investigate
the possibilities. After several discussions with Ed Smith (Smitty) from
OPA we've
collectively come up with something that is very exciting and should
certainly help
move this sport in the right direction. OSS will replace the Kenner race
with a race
one week later in St Clair MI (Aug 1&2). This will be a joint race with
OPA run by
the Blue Water Offshore Racing Association. This will be an OPA and OSS
points
race. We expect to have 60 boats at this race. From there, we'll do
another joint
race in either Patchogue NY on Aug 22 & 23 or Point Pleasant NJ on Sept
12 - 13
to replace the Orange Beach Race. This will also be an OPA and OSS points
race.
Then on September 26 & 27 the Lake of the Ozarks will host the 2009 OSS
National Championship Race. This will be an OSS points race but not an
OPA points
race, however, some of the OPA teams will be joining us in LOTO to show
their
support of our collective race series. (This is not an OPA points race
only because
OPA has a race one week prior in Cambridge MD and some teams may not be
able
to do back to back races.) As a final race (Worlds to replace Jupiter FL)
OPA has
been invited back to Ocean City MD in Oct and they've invited OSS to
race there
too. Details will be worked out over the next few weeks and we'll keep
you
informed as to our progress. This race in Ocean City MD will be the final
race for
OPA and OSS in 2009.
For next year, we'll take the best of our collective race sites and make
a single
fantastic series with more than 50 boats at every event. We are
determined to
move down it for the betterment of offshore racing as a whole. We hope
you agree
and will support our efforts.
Ron Polli - OSS President
Ed Smith -- OPA President
-credit: oss/opa
