Applause for the ABRA

I applaud the ABRA's decision to count the points from Detroit.

It's pretty simple. The Gold Cup is an APBA event. APBA went by its rulebook and the tradition of the Gold Cup in declaring it a no contest.

By APBA rules, the race didn't meet the minimum requirements
necessary to be declared a completed race. The APBA rules is that all four sets
of elimination heats must be completed for the race to be ruled
official.

ABRA, on the other hand, isn't bound by those same rules. ABRA went by its rulebook which let them count the points.

SOURCE: ABRAHydroplanes.com
High Points shall be awarded at all sanctioned regattas where a minimum field of three boats
crosses the starting line in heat one. The total points scored by each boat in
each sanctioned event shall be credited toward the National Boat
Championship.

Regardless of what team you root for, you have to respect the effort and dedication of the teams that went to Detroit and the conditions they raced under. If you could survive that and rack up some points, I think you ought to keep them... especially since the rules say you can!

I don't get what all the debate is about.... but then, isn't that half the fun of sports?

Paul Dughi
HydroInsider.com