There's an excellent article in the latest Classic Racer magazine about the boycott of the TT following the sad events of 1972. It's strange that what seemed to sound the death knell of the races has actually led to them going from strength to strength. Long may they continue!

But in the sixties you would never have thought that there would ever be a boycott of the TT ust around the corner , so here we are on the crest of a wave just as they were in the sixties so begs the question could we ever have another boycott ?? remembering the drive to the boycott was the danger had become too great for the top riders and teams , so could the same happen again ?? and if it were to happen would it this time round be the final blow to racing on the beloved Mountain course ??


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For a boycott you'd need a majority of influence from riders who don't want to race on The TT Course .. thankfully I can't see that happening any time soon.

(14-12-2014, 05:24 PM)Steady the Edward Wrote: But in the sixties you would never have thought that there would ever be a boycott of the TT ust around the corner , so here we are on the crest of a wave just as they were in the sixties so begs the question could we ever have another boycott ?? remembering the drive to the boycott was the danger had become too great for the top riders and teams , so could the same happen again ?? and if it were to happen would it this time round be the final blow to racing on the beloved   Mountain course ??


.Edward i dont think it was ever to do with danger it was money or lack of it

(14-12-2014, 06:05 PM)Alfie Noakes Wrote: For a boycott you'd need a majority of influence from riders who don't want to race on The TT Course .. thankfully I can't see that happening any time soon.

I agree Alfie , looking at it now ,  but if god forbid we had a bad year with a multiple load of deaths among top riders as can happen, and the money had got tight could it not put a different light on things , 

we have all heard top riders say they know they may never come home again and have to have the grass cut and everything just so before they set off but the thrill of the danger and the big payday makes the risk worth taking , but if the payday was cut and the bikes too much to handle could a repeat of 73 not happen and take away the top men,  could we survive without the top names is all I ask  

god how I hate these long dark nights  

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Hey guys, less of the Meldrew doom n gloom, we're nearly in 2015 and as far as I know all the usual gang and suspects will be arriving on t'IoM for another TT sooner than you think - all revving it up and gagging for it. Happy Christmas / New year the lot of yer :o)

It's not so much doom n gloom as living in the real world and accept that we need to move with the times and always be on the look out for ways of preventing possible bad times , like the start order thread and Mad Sundays idea of 5sec gaps instead of 10 to make it harder for tailenders to get caught by the front runners , a good idea but would a 5 sec gap be enough on the start line , it would be a bit tight getting the next rider on to the line set up ready to launch , I am not sure it could be done perhaps some of the riders on here would have more ideas about that , but may be this would be better expanded on the starting order thread ,

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Eddy for what it's worth I feel the TT would survive an exodus of top riders, it has done in the past.
Top riders do attract sponsorship which is a much better scenario for the Manx government, but it doesn't stop a large number of tourists turning up - less of course, but fans have always turned up in fairly large numbers.

In the 90s MCN, concerned at the drought of top stars, did a survey on TT passengers about their preferences to improve the event. The overwhelming majority stated seeing the machinery side of things better supported (ie more top teams) was more important to them than seeing top stars turning up. I think one attracts the other and visa versa.

I'm sure the majority of one-off day trippers want to see top stars racing, but the average hedge anorak would probably still turn up if they weren't present. I'm not saying that is a good thing, just adding some information to your post. No one has to do the TT these days, the only person I can foresee doing a boycott in the near future is you.......... to be fair that's what I thought the thread was about :-).

Poetic qualities Will: "the average hedge anorak" quite like that!

It wasn't the danger that was the driving force for the boycott, it was the compulsion that riders felt to compete, either directly from their employers or in their own minds to support their championship ambitions.
The TT course was not especially dangerous when compared to plenty of other championship courses, Imatra as just one example. It's problem was that it took so long to learn. Nowadays newcomers spend months in advance learning their way, which just wasn't an option for riders competing in the world championships.
A boycott is not going to happen today, as long as safety standards are at least maintained, because all competitors are now truly willing participants.

(15-12-2014, 09:28 AM)Steady the Edward Wrote: It's not so much doom n gloom as living in the real world and accept that we need to move with the times and always be on the look out for ways of preventing possible bad times , like the start order thread and Mad Sundays idea of 5sec gaps instead of 10 to make it harder for tailenders to get caught by the front runners , a good idea but would a 5 sec gap be enough on the start line , it would be a bit tight getting the next rider on to the line set up ready to launch , I am not sure it could be done perhaps some of the riders on here would have more ideas about that , but may be this would be better expanded on the starting order thread ,

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Piece of cake Eddie. 2 lines, odds on the right, evens on the left, so each rider in each line gets 10 seconds to prepare, just as now.
Whether a 5 second gap is enough / desireable is a different question.
Doug

Yes that sounds good to me, as to the way it could be done, which as you say leaves the question would it be a good idea to make it harder for the front runners catch the tail enders ,

I think that it could be a good idea but would need to be done on a qualifying time start or what you are gaining by the front men not catching the slow riders will be lost in the extra bunching activity that would occur further down the field

No sorry Will I will not be doing a boycott, just selective participation for as long as I can manage. The restrictions being physical health financial ability and no Subaru's in sight in that order

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(15-12-2014, 11:37 AM)Amsterdam Wrote: Poetic qualities Will: "the average hedge anorak"  quite like that!

Had to look that one up on-line as it wasn't in my dictionary.  A British slang term.  Interesting.  Learn something new every day.

(15-12-2014, 08:29 PM)ooobaby Wrote:

(15-12-2014, 11:37 AM)Amsterdam Wrote: Poetic qualities Will: "the average hedge anorak"  quite like that!

Had to look that one up on-line as it wasn't in my dictionary.  A British slang term.  Interesting.  Learn something new every day.

Really now, which one? anorak, average or hedge ;-)

(15-12-2014, 10:13 PM)Amsterdam Wrote:

(15-12-2014, 08:29 PM)ooobaby Wrote:

(15-12-2014, 11:37 AM)Amsterdam Wrote: Poetic qualities Will: "the average hedge anorak"  quite like that!

Had to look that one up on-line as it wasn't in my dictionary.  A British slang term.  Interesting.  Learn something new every day.

Really now, which one? anorak, average or hedge ;-)

hedge ;-)

Hello Folks, just got here from "the other place" , only just found out it's  closed - wish I'd used this one before!

Anyway, re: boycott.  Difficult to see a boycott as such, I'm more concerned about the possibility of local opposition ,  particularly from "comeovers", many  in the offshore banking racket, raising their complaints to a crescendo that the IOMG couldn't ignore. 

Paranoid I spose, and I take the point about a high in the sixties, followed by  a low, to the current buoyant success of both events.

I'm uneasy about the way the MGP has been sidelined, and the "vulgarising" of the Classic side, so I wonder whether the MGP/ClassicTT 
will just get to be a bloated pastiche of real racing, and subsequently an easy target for the ban brigade, swiftly followed by opposition to the TT itself.

Just a thought, don't shoot me for thinking  the unthinkable



Dave

I too worry about the future of the events , take the Manx call it what you will when the big change was anounced it was said that it would take three to four years to evaluate the success or otherwise of the venture , now at the moment they are singing their praises of how well things are going increased visitor numbers and all that , well lets be honest they would shout that if they were trying to make a success of it , and I genuinely believe they are , but at the end of year four when they have to show the books will the increase be seen as cost effective , because the cost of staging the Classic has to be immense , I have been shot at many times for banging on about it all boiling down to the return on capital investment , and very sorry but it is the b and all for the future of everything TT / Manx just the same as any thing in life , and ok you can brush things under the carpet for so long , but eventually if it ain't right it will bite you in the a--s ,


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