Well, I attended a very interesting meeting over the weekend up in Ft. Wayne, IN. A guy by the name of Brad Collins is trying to put together a hot boat club in Indiana on a GRAND SCALE. For those who don't know, Brad Collins was the founder and former owner of "Mirage Boats of Texas." For those who don't know what a Mirage is, it is a light weight, kick a** tunnel boat that tore up Mod-Vp Racing for a while and now is highly competitive in the O/B drags. To say the least, Brad is very "connected" in the industry and now resides near Southbend, IN.
After attending the meeting, it became clear that Brad has a vision. It also became clear that he has the means to make his vision a reality. This isn't going to be a bunch of guys getting togehter a few times a year and terrorizing the water ways (not that there is anything wrong with that). Rather, the idea is to develop a performance oriented boat club (boats mainly smaller than 25', not that bigger boats can't attend) that is family oriented and highly organized. One event will be scheduled every month except December with cold month events being factory tours, or boat shows, swap meets, etc.
Brad's vision is to get a club going here in Indiana with the hopes that other regions might follow suit (ie: Wisconsin Chapter, or Texas Chapter, etc.). He is talking about a national club with possible backing from the APBA, as well as other performance oriented marine organizations. The idea is GRAND.
The main focus of the meeting held on Sunday was to throw around some ideas, talk about liability insurance, possible sponsors for events, officer election, etc. About 20 people showed for the first meeting. More expressed interest but could not make it for a variety of reasons. I anticipate more than 100 members without too much trouble in our first year.
For any of you interested in attending a meeting or finding out more, please post a message, I check the board frequently!
Reply With Quote
