Lonan3 Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 My reasons for supporting the continuation of the TT are entirely selfish in that it's the most profitable two weeks of the year for the taxi trade. Although I am a Manxman and have lived here (virtually) all of my life so far, I do not consider the races to be a part of my 'heritage.' I look on them simply as a slightly-anachronistic and very dangerous tourist attraction. I would say, however, that if the island really looked upon it as a permanent fixture, there really ought to have been much greater provision made for those who need to travel inside/outside of the circuit. One pathetically inadequate 'access road' after nearly a hundred years of the mountain circuit doesn't really suggest that anyone is looking to maintain them into the distant future. Things have changed. It is no longer possible to simply 'shut up shop' because the races are running. International business requires manning 24 hours per day, 7 days a week which, in turn, means that thousands of residents still have to get to work during the festival. I am not decrying the festival, nor would I wish it to end, but it's supporters must realise that they cannot simply trample over everyone else's priorities by claiming it as 'our heritage.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 A lot more B&Bs and guesthouses are thus turned into apartments at most TT + MGP provide 4 weeks (probably less as MGP seems to be more of a 10 day or less event as I believe the TT is judging from comments of those I know providing accomodation) - car rallies I suggest, though mightily inconvenient, are at best 5 days and probably less . The previous owner of the Sefton (admittedly not B&B) pointed out that tho he could charge more for such peak periods they did not cover costs for the rest of the year - he needed more of a 70-80% loading and that the Island's emphasis on TT was useless for him. Fifteen years ago I could recall thousands (at least it appeared that way) lined up on the prom outside the Douglas B&B's - now many of those apartments are residential usually for the finance industry or service industries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millman Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Let's do a worst case scenario then - TT, MGP, S100, Manx rallies etc all disappear. A lot more B&Bs and guesthouses are thus turned into apartments, as they are un-economic to run as a business, and a lot of them rely on the motorsport events to cover their costs. Then legislation changes and the finance industry moves away or downscales (it could happen quite easily). What then for the island? The island is almost wholly dependent on the finance sector. If that should fail the having the fall back of a few guest houses isn't going to help matters. In fact it would be safer to say that the remaining hotels and guest houses depend on contractors and consultants working in the finance sector to stay afloat more so that a few individual events. It is widely understood with or without the TT the island would be completely screwed if the finance sector collapses. However I seriously doubt the loss of the TT would cause such wide spread damage. The wise thing would be for supporters of motor sport on the island to start investigate and lobby for custom facilities to be built so when the time comes (and I agree with Lost Login here that it will come) that road racing is no longer acceptable some form of event can still be held. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Ok, thats it then! Let's close the doors turn the lights out and have spuds n herring for tea!! Let's turn the dullest place on earth into an even duller place, because once the TT is gone, the MGP and the Rallies will go and so will a lot of people, me included! Good riddance you may say, but think about it, give me a list of things that may keep me here? I can't think of much! I have a number of questions for you Mr Power: 1. Have you ever been to Slough or Swindon? If so I think you will find that this isn't the dullest place on earth. 2.Have you numbers for these masses of people who will leave due to lack of the TT etc. or is it just you and possibly a couple of your mates? 3. Is the only other alternative to the TT eating spuds and herring in the dark, or are there other options? 4. Is the loss of you to the Island so critical that it is something we must fear? 5. Where are you going to move to, the central part of a race course at Brands Hatch I assume? I truly do fear your threat of leaving, I really do, so please allay my fears. Well, I see you were unable to answer my question, but I'll try and answer yours. 1. Yes, I have been to Slough and Swindon. I wasn't thinking of moving there but if I did, there is more going on within a fairly accessible area. 2. Of course I don't have numbers, but it would be a few more than just me and a couple of mates! 3. It seems that there is very little else to do as you were unable to suggest anything yourself! 4. The loss of me would mean very little to anyone, but there is very little other than the TT which distiguishes the Island from any other backwater. I feel that it is something which should be improved and developed into maybe a proper festival using a short circuit in conjunction with the Mountain circuit and used as a positive to promote the Island worldwide as a good place to do business. World Championship events would put us in the front rooms of people in every country in the world! 5. Where would I move to? Well 'The world is my lobster Rodney' I know other things are on offer on the Island, but in terms of 'passive' entertainment there is next to nothing. A couple of dodgy nightclubs, scruffy pubs.....errrr...can't think of much else. The motorsport on offer is 1st class and could be dramatically improved to truly world level. It's a way of life to me and to a lot more people than those disinterested may care to imagine. I am not unsympathetic to those people who have no time for the TT etc. But each to his own and this is truly a great and historic event. One of the oldest continuous sporting events and deserves to be recognised as such. It has been here through everyones living memory and to complain about it as though it is some great pain in the arse is I feel like wanting to live in Spain and complaining about the flamenco dancing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sausages Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 If you find the island so dull for 50 weeks of the year, you must live a pretty fucking miserable life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 If you find the island so dull for 50 weeks of the year, you must live a pretty fucking miserable life. I'm kept busy with motorsport and things which I do for the TT and MGP, so life is good! And I dont need to use bad language on a public forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sausages Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 A good, busy life in a dull place without swearing? Surely this can't be possible? You're a shining example to us all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Login Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 I am not unsympathetic to the TT but I do share some of Lonan3 points of view in that for an annual event which I presume is intending to be on going little seems to be done on the surface to take into account the change in demographics etc. Presently the TT seems to be treated as if in a self contained bubble rather than something is part of Island life and affets many people both postively & negatively. If that is not taken into account it will suffer. I apreciate that it is hard to complain about as it is not something that is not unknown about with regard to Island life. But again over time changing demographics have affected how it impacts on Island life. That has changed just as the TT has changed over the years. The lap record is no longer 50mph. Out of interest do you have a view on whether a time will ever be reached where the TT has reached the end of its sell by date. In that I do not mean that there is no interest in it but advances to bikes will overtake the course. Some already believe this and I remember arguments a few years ago on Radio TT etc that the big bikes were no longer suitable for the TT. More powerful bikes and ever rising speeds are not going to go away but unlike many motor racing circuits the TT course can not be greatly altered to take this into account. Do you think there will become a point where these are no longer compatable and if not why should the TT exempt from such concerns as over the years race tracks and events have closed due to similar reasoning. I am not unsympathetic to those people who have no time for the TT etc. But each to his own and this is truly a great and historic event. One of the oldest continuous sporting events and deserves to be recognised as such. It has been here through everyones living memory and to complain about it as though it is some great pain in the arse is I feel like wanting to live in Spain and complaining about the flamenco dancing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Old Git Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 I sat my O levels (yes, O levels, I am that old!) at St Ninians during the TT fortnight in 1976 and, although it stretches the memory, there was no impact as we sat the exams in Park Road during race or practice times. I think I sat mine in 1974 in Murray's Road. I remember walking home, feeling that was school finished with, and never went back to pick up the certificates. I'm doing something this year for TT week that I've never done before, and that is going away for TT week. Getting the hell out of it. My wife won't be coming though as it's her busiest time of the year and she'll probably be working all hours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 I am not unsympathetic to the TT but I do share some of Lonan3 points of view in that for an annual event which I presume is intending to be on going little seems to be done on the surface to take into account the change in demographics etc. Presently the TT seems to be treated as if in a self contained bubble rather than something is part of Island life and affets many people both postively & negatively. If that is not taken into account it will suffer. I apreciate that it is hard to complain about as it is not something that is not unknown about with regard to Island life. But again over time changing demographics have affected how it impacts on Island life. That has changed just as the TT has changed over the years. The lap record is no longer 50mph. Out of interest do you have a view on whether a time will ever be reached where the TT has reached the end of its sell by date. In that I do not mean that there is no interest in it but advances to bikes will overtake the course. Some already believe this and I remember arguments a few years ago on Radio TT etc that the big bikes were no longer suitable for the TT. More powerful bikes and ever rising speeds are not going to go away but unlike many motor racing circuits the TT course can not be greatly altered to take this into account. Do you think there will become a point where these are no longer compatable and if not why should the TT exempt from such concerns as over the years race tracks and events have closed due to similar reasoning. I am not unsympathetic to those people who have no time for the TT etc. But each to his own and this is truly a great and historic event. One of the oldest continuous sporting events and deserves to be recognised as such. It has been here through everyones living memory and to complain about it as though it is some great pain in the arse is I feel like wanting to live in Spain and complaining about the flamenco dancing! A good point! As far as machinery is concerned, I read recently that people were saying that the bikes were too fast for the circuit in the 1950's. This was when you had V8 Moto Guzzi's capable of 170mph on skinny tyres with flexible frames. The riders wore pudding basin helmets with very little protection and a few straw sacks were placed aroud the odd lamp post for comfort! The Bikes now are faster, yes, but c.200mph on state of the art tyres, suspension and frames. The personal safety equipment is very good these days and we have air fencing etc. The circuit has also been made safer in this period by positioning lamposts, fence posts etc at better positions. The bikes are road based and the race still provides the best test of machine and man as it always did! Due to the performance of some of these bikes, cornering speeds have I believe actually dropped leading to safer racing! (my opinion) I believe that the TT will survive, as it has no pretence of being a totally safe event and competitors aspire to ride the circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lectro Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 The wise thing would be for supporters of motor sport on the island to start investigate and lobby for custom facilities to be built so when the time comes (and I agree with Lost Login here that it will come) that road racing is no longer acceptable some form of event can still be held. Sensible suggestion. As with many others I'm pretty indifferent about the TT - mainly due to the fact that I have no interest in the racing, but mostly due to the fact that it's actually really boring now. It's the same shit different year - every year (I'm not commenting on the racing although I'm sure that's pretty much the same every year - I'm talking about the TT "festival"). The same overpriced funfair chav magnet, same wading through 2 feet of half empty plastic glasses of warm overpriced beer at Bushy's Tent to see the same guy doing the same stunts he did last year, same bikers doing doughnuts and blowouts, same godawful guy with a microphone yelling for the same slappers to get their tits out, the same German drunks on the roads, same f*cking Quill at the Villa.... Yawn. Please please please someone do something to change it (we're all not 17 year old piss heads or 40 something German bikers) and introduce something different and more fun - or put it out of it's misery. If as Millman suggests the TT evolved to have some custom facilities then perhaps the inconvenince could be condensed and minimised into a shorter period. A separate "festival" that appealed to more people could be also organised at a different date to encourage a more even arrival of people rather then the big bang it has become. If the bikers really want to the TT to continue into the future then it will have to evolve and move with the times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millman Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Actually Max Power I agree with the short circuit idea replacing the majority of road racing on the island. In fact I don't think you would find many people on the island who would disagree. The big question is that without the road racing would the TT have the same draw for the visiting bikers and therefore would it be viable? The sad fact is that the islands road are busier than ever and the number of people living here increases every year. No longer can you shut roads willy nilly and the island can cope. These road closures have a negative effect on certain businesses and the choas of TT week doesn't benefit the finance sector (the islands main source of income). Lost Login is right opposition to the TT is growing for both moral and practical reasons. I think it is highly unlikely to continue in its current form in years to come. The big question is will the government, the organisers, and the bikers be able to adapt the event so it can survive and prosper in the future, and you and the thousands of others don't have to move to Swindon (incidentally anyone who has tried to drive in or out of Swindon would know it is far from easy to get to anywhere from that dump). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
When Skies Are Grey Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 The wise thing would be for supporters of motor sport on the island to start investigate and lobby for custom facilities to be built so when the time comes (and I agree with Lost Login here that it will come) that road racing is no longer acceptable some form of event can still be held. How about a purpose built race circuit at Jurby for bikes, cars, open wheelers...oh hang on we have been here before and the great spare tyre swindle!! I wish it did come off though as then we could have the ability to attract international events, with mimimal road disruption and spread throughout the year. Not in my lifetime though...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 various posters keep referring to the TT course as a 'racetrack' - it ISN'T as it comprises the normal roads that many of us have to use - we have not seen any modernisation of the road in case it 'wrecks the racing line' - being public roads there are no easy ways of preventing the wanabees (just look again at that map of road deaths published as part of last year's campaign) on a road that anywhere else in Western Europe would be severely speed restricted and also have physical restrictive methods - we can't even have reflective studs to ease travel in the mist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 I don't think the finance industry is normally damaged by the TT? Perhaps there is a risk in this, the centenery event that there may be disruption, but you can't say that this will hit anyone as some sort of surprise. A bit of planning wouldn't go amiss, isn't this what these highly paid managers are employed for? Next year will probably return to normal. I have to admit that this is the first time I have ever heard of a successful local event being slated so much!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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