Good letter from Matthew Sayle in the local paper today, supporting the TT and pointing out that the majority of Manx people support it, and that it brings in a large amount of income to the Island.
Good man, Matty!

thewitch Wrote:Good letter from Matthew Sayle in the local paper today, supporting the TT and pointing out that the majority of Manx people support it, and that it brings in a large amount of income to the Island.
Good man, Matty!

Is there a link to this article

Afraid not, as it's a letter in the paper paper, if you know what I mean!

You mean this one? :-

FROM: MATTHEW SAYLE, Ballaugh.

I READ the views of Tim Reynolds and thought I had to reply as a TT Rider, MGP marshal and Manxman.
The Isle of Man needs the TT.
I think that over the last 20 years we have given up on tourism in the Island and it is my belief that we have very little to offer tourists.
Mr Reynolds remarks, quote, 'the Manx sanction this event'. Yes we do and have done for 100 years. You people who don't want the TT are a minority.
In the paper a few months ago there were reports of £50 million revenue brought in by the TT.
Now where are the government going to re-coup this £50 million from if we get rid of the TT. In two weeks this is a fantastic amount.
If you had an Island-wide vote everyone would say yes it's dangerous but a vote of approval would win outright.
The people who don't want the TT are a minority and need to look at the bigger picture. I would not be able to afford my taxes going up if the government needed to recoup money lost with no TT.
How about the rest of you?


From iomonline.

Matty`s reply was ok but you have to look at both sides. I love my bike racing and the TT, been involved and during that time never noticed all the hastle. Now that Im now longer involved I find the whole thing a stress, having to get lads to and from work every day for a fortnight is sheer hell and costly. And it must be the same for other firms too.

FC Wrote:Matty`s reply was ok but you have to look at both sides. I love my bike racing and the TT, been involved and during that time never noticed all the hastle. Now that Im now longer involved I find the whole thing a stress, having to get lads to and from work every day for a fortnight is sheer hell and costly. And it must be the same for other firms too.

Maybe you should get involved again, Colin, and get rid of the stress!

Tel Wrote:You mean this one? :-

FROM: MATTHEW SAYLE, Ballaugh.

I READ the views of Tim Reynolds and thought I had to reply as a TT Rider, MGP marshal and Manxman.
The Isle of Man needs the TT.
I think that over the last 20 years we have given up on tourism in the Island and it is my belief that we have very little to offer tourists.
Mr Reynolds remarks, quote, 'the Manx sanction this event'. Yes we do and have done for 100 years. You people who don't want the TT are a minority.
In the paper a few months ago there were reports of £50 million revenue brought in by the TT.
Now where are the government going to re-coup this £50 million from if we get rid of the TT. In two weeks this is a fantastic amount.
If you had an Island-wide vote everyone would say yes it's dangerous but a vote of approval would win outright.
The people who don't want the TT are a minority and need to look at the bigger picture. I would not be able to afford my taxes going up if the government needed to recoup money lost with no TT.
How about the rest of you?


From iomonline.

That IS a great reply!
Well done Matty for putting the real Manx case.
As a Sulby Glen Hotel regular for many years, I am proud to know
the Sayle family. You are a credit to the Island

AS MATTY SAYS TT BRINGS LOTS OF MONEY IN IF TT WAS NOT HELD PEOPLE ON ISLAND
WOULD SEE A CHANGE TOO THERE TAX AND NO TWO CARS NEARLY TOO EACH HOUSEHOLD

I agree it's a good reply, but there is no getting away from the fact that a lot of people on the Island are indifferent to the TT without being hostile towards it. They do suffer quite a huge inconvenience for very little personal benefit. The majority having moved here to work in the finance and online gaming industry would be little effected by the losses to the Islands business revenue.The money doesn't all go into the governments coffers, just the taxation of the £50m, the people hardest hit would be hoteliers and catering if the TT were to dissappear

The opportunity here is to get these people involved in some way, not nessecarily marshalling, which is a job for enthiusiastic people, but more passively to encourage their support for the future. They then may wish to progress to more active roles.

I firmly believe that the TT and MGP are events that bring the Island community together and are more than just run for profit.

I just done a survey of the residents where I live and asked the following questions.

1.Should the TT and MGP continue.

2.Are you put out by the TT/MGP

3.Is the TT/MGP value for money to the IOM.

Out of 17 residents who answered out of 20 this is the result

Q1. 12 No. 3 Yes 2 Not bothered

Q2. 17 yes

Q3. 12 No 5 not sure.

Oh, dear, Colin, you need to move house... down here to Castletown...just thought... is Castletown ready for that??

Think Colin needs a new island as they say theres always the ferry!!

Helen, just a thought how about you or any other member doing the same survey.

Hi Colin,

You have to stop hanging out with those people at the old folk's home. ;-)

How are they doing? Can they remember what the TT actually is or do they think it a bunch of noisy hooligans passing their windows. Ummm that actually is the TT ... oh well ....

Or is it the Ex-pat group meeting on how to make the Isle of Man and large green area just as quiet as they think it should be ......... forget the locals and the people who love the Island.... Sorry FC but 17 people just doesn't qualify as a survey.

DCLUCIE Wrote:Hi Colin,

You have to stop hanging out with those people at the old folk's home. ;-)

How are they doing? Can they remember what the TT actually is or do they think it a bunch of noisy hooligans passing their windows. Ummm that actually is the TT ... oh well ....

Or is it the Ex-pat group meeting on how to make the Isle of Man and large green area just as quiet as they think it should be ......... forget the locals and the people who love the Island.... Sorry FC but 17 people just doesn't qualify as a survey.

Maybe not, but we ignore this at our peril. Without the goodwill of the voting population the TT will cease to be.

You only have to ask anyone who followed the inquest into the 26th incident who isn't directly involved with the sport and you'll find a lot of support for finishing with it all. We are all supporters through and through, but if you step outside of our world you'll find a whole different set of opinions.

And yet, I spoke to an elderly couple (al beit only the one couple at random) at Ramsey a couple of years ago and asked their honest opinion. They had absolutely no problems, looked forward to and loved the events. However they said their neighbours (come overs I think you call them) chose that time of the year to go away for their annual holidays so it really didn't bother them either. Maybe it is time for us to have casual chats with people we meet (not necessarily m/c fans) and get some sort of idea how the genuine locals feel.
Jan

20 years ago the general traffic problem did not exist,but now its a nightmare,locals and the stopovers are having to wait in traffic for up to an hour every morning just to get to work. Yes some will say its the norm in the uk but we are not in the UK and a lot of people moved to the Island for a quiet life and to get away from the traffic problems they have endured for years. If your running a bussiness that employs staff time is money and to have staff sat in traffic or cant get to their jobs or delliver goods then it a big problem. For years the building trade closed down during TT not any more, have we not seen the increase in accidents involving construction traffic during the TT period. As i said earlier at one time I was involved will the racing, most of the time spent at the paddock so did not see most of the traffic problems. I employ staff and gone are the days when i used to shut down at TT and you cant force your staff to take the time off. Having staff stuck in traffic or unable to get to the suppliers for materials cost money, you also have to pay your staff if they are stuck in at a job due to the races. The TT has many problems today and I dont have the answers and I doubt many do.
Only yesterdat Manx Radio reported that time was running out for his years TT in terms of getting all matters in place, one being resolving the problem of the DOT staff who man all the rope areas ect, they have still to resolve the legal problems that the Moyle report heaped upon them and its department.(enqiry still to be concluded)
Its time to wake up and smell the coffee so to speak with the TT, most of us supporters of the TT/MDP have tunnel vission regarding the races and cant see the broader picture. Mr Moyle report has put the races in danger, and any one mistake this year by any one person or department can put an end to them. the time between the release of his report and the start of the TT is short and all involved are rushing about trying to rectify some of the problems his report gave.
Im sure that the team working behind the scenes at the TT are putting every effort in to protect the races and we all hope they succeed.
Helen mentioned that those she spoke to down the south of the Island have no problem with the TT/MGP, sorry Helen the South of the Island only wakes up in July

I think as individuals there is very little we can do other than to try and convert people we meet into at least passive fans. But in general there is an educational job to be done by getting people to appreciate the history of the event and what it means in this day and age to be able to run a race such as this at all.

Arguing and trying to defend the indefencible just weakens our case with 'non believers' and they go away with the idea that we are at best ignorant and at worst completely stupid. Pointing out the human achievement and the excitement given to supporters negate a lot of the downside.

The inconvenience will be a hard one to deal with, but turning people into supporters of the event will go a long way to negating this.

Perhaps we really should be looking at a short circuit to run world class events in conjunction with a smaller TT festival to ensure that we do not lose everything in it's entirety in one fell swoop?

http://www.manx.net/poll/ShowPoll.asp?SurveyID=77

What should be done is work with the schools more, its OK having these press launches, they are for the existing fans and media. Having riders and teams at all the schools an an early stage well before the TT will work better. The kids could have compititions arranged and also have thier own riders, someone to follow, example School No 1 could be called the Finnigan team and so on. We ran a similar thing with Gary Carswell and Joakim Karlson at our local school a couple of years back and it proved to be a great success, We donated a load of TT tee shirts, hats for various compititions which were judged by the riders at a later date. We had the bikes in the classrooms for all to view close up and have pictures taken. Since then we have been asked to do it again and some of the parents have said that the day left an impression on the kids, who now want to go and watch the races.
This is the way to go, get the kids involved and the parents will follow.