Isle of Wight TT

[winnie]

1 hour ago, wanderer said:

I did wonder how locals felt about tourism , The IOW gets a lot , probably pees off some who live there but not the business owners , as you say a balancing act. My mother lives in Peel and that can get pretty busy even without tourists currently.

If the iom was as close to England as the iow, it would be swamped with tourists, and I'd think it would loose a part of its charm. The TT and manx are brilliant for atmosphere, but not every week of the summer.

 

[wanderer]

I feel the same , but am only an occasional visitor , not a resident.

[ManxTaxPayer]

Oh. That was short lived then. Too dangerous for the Isle of Wight. Knowing the risks obviously doesn't carry much weight there.

 

IOW Diamond Races Reportedly Scrapped

 

"The proposed Diamond races which were due to take place in the Isle of Wight have been scrapped.

They were expected to run annually each October but a journalist on the Island claims the organisers have now decided against operating the Isle of Man TT-style event.   

A separate road race is still scheduled for April next year with proposals currently at the public consultation stage.

Isle of Wight Radio Journalist, Iona Stewart-Richardson, says she's been told the Diamond races were dropped because of safety concerns"

[Barlow]

Steve Hislop's book was called "You Couldn't Do It Now" for a reason.

[ManxTaxPayer]

It's incredible that the Isle of Wight would give up on such a lucrative gold mine so easily. 

[Max Power]

9 minutes ago, ManxTaxPayer said:

It's incredible that the Isle of Wight would give up on such a lucrative gold mine so easily. 

I don't think it would be as lucrative as the TT, there is no history attached to it, or any real expectation of what you would get. I may be wrong of course.

[Barlow]

8 minutes ago, ManxTaxPayer said:

It's incredible that the Isle of Wight would give up on such a lucrative gold mine so easily. 

The Isle of Wight would simply become a by-word for motorcycle deaths. A pariah county of the UK. 

The Isle of Man has shouldered any such adversities for a century, and has many other idiosyncrasies and charms to dilute the TT epithet.

But aye, You Couldn't Do It Now.

I wonder how much was lost in the venture. And did any of the Isle of Man Government employed and funded TT boys get their fingers badly burned I wonder.

[ManxTaxPayer]

That must be it. You just can't put a price on attached history. 

[ManxTaxPayer]

1 hour ago, Barlow said:

But aye, You Couldn't Do It Now.

But nay, You Wouldn't Do It Now. 

[Barlow]

1 hour ago, ManxTaxPayer said:

But nay, You Wouldn't Do It Now. 

Sorry to prolong the point, but I feel it is valid.

You are exactly right. Surely only desperate fools who have been hoodwinked by people who are equally as foolish.

Who would try and do such a thing now?

I feel I am spouting with hindsight and should have made these thoughts at the start of the thread but I gave Isle of Wight the benefit of the doubt.

This scheme should have been kept for discussion for aging has-been bikers after they have had a few pints in the pub and run out of other stuff to talk about to amuse themselves. Unfortunately there must have been people involved with rose-tinted beer flecked spectacles and spoke confidently about something that was way beyond their capability of knowledge and understanding.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Barlow

[joebean]

There is no doubt that if the IOM Government was given a proposal to start road racing here now, rather than in 1907, the idea would not be given much credibility or traction. The risks are too great and the task of trying to organise the event from scratch just too onerous. It has become part of what the Island does and residents and businesses have no memory of days before TT/MGP and generally work around it. introducing that acceptance into an Island culture is a big, big ask. 

Of course the risk and consequences of that risk are now largely accepted by our Government and people. The fact that riders and visitors will die in violent and traumatic circumstances is an accepted part of earning the tourism £. Whether that is a good or bad thing is open to debate, but it would be a very difficult debate to start elsewhere. I'm not surprised that caution has become the preferred route on the IoW. 

[AlanShimmin]

20 hours ago, ManxTaxPayer said:

It's incredible that the Isle of Wight would give up on such a lucrative gold mine so easily. 

Fool's Gold

[Max Power]

14 hours ago, joebean said:

There is no doubt that if the IOM Government was given a proposal to start road racing here now, rather than in 1907, the idea would not be given much credibility or traction. The risks are too great and the task of trying to organise the event from scratch just too onerous. It has become part of what the Island does and residents and businesses have no memory of days before TT/MGP and generally work around it. introducing that acceptance into an Island culture is a big, big ask. 

Of course the risk and consequences of that risk are now largely accepted by our Government and people. The fact that riders and visitors will die in violent and traumatic circumstances is an accepted part of earning the tourism £. Whether that is a good or bad thing is open to debate, but it would be a very difficult debate to start elsewhere. I'm not surprised that caution has become the preferred route on the IoW. 

I've often said this in conversation, if it were suggested now, even die hard motorcycle fans would think it was madness. The manifold systems required to run the races have evolved over more than a century, but imagine beginning with a clean sheet of paper! When you look behind the scenes, it's actually quite impressive how the multiple teams blend together. Even now, starting again with a new and inexperienced team would be very difficult with all of the nuances of the island and the course.

 

[Barlow]

51 minutes ago, Max Power said:

I've often said this in conversation, if it were suggested now, even die hard motorcycle fans would think it was madness. The manifold systems required to run the races have evolved over more than a century, but imagine beginning with a clean sheet of paper! When you look behind the scenes, it's actually quite impressive how the multiple teams blend together. Even now, starting again with a new and inexperienced team would be very difficult with all of the nuances of the island and the course.

 

You have too many people who think they are Mr TT. Fair enough some are in highly paid jobs with responsibility, but what those people don't realise is that they are actually no more important than say the landlady of the B&B that has taken in visitors for the past 50 years, or the guy running the burger van, or the pub, the T shirt seller, or the guy directing traffic in the grandstand car park. The bobby on the Promenade beat, or the medic, or the early morning street cleaner. And so on and so on. And that's without mentioning the racing itself. The TT is massive and we are all part of its evolution. Even the people who 'accept' that their 5 minute journey into work may take an hour or more during TT.

The Isle of Man TT has been running long enough to be able to adapt. There have been various adversities over the years. Eg, how many thousand bed spaces were lost in Douglas in the 1990s? So homestay was gradually introduced (its now the norm?) along with modern campsite accommodation. 

The Isle of Wight TT was a potential catalogue of disasters waiting to happen. The benefits couldn't outweigh the risks.

 

[Roger Mexico]

42 minutes ago, Barlow said:

The Isle of Man TT has been running long enough to be able to adapt. There have been various adversities over the years. Eg, how many thousand bed spaces were lost in Douglas in the 1990s? So homestay was gradually introduced (its now the norm?) along with modern campsite accommodation. 

Actually it's camping that's most used by far, homestay is only third, less than a fifth of visitors: