Sorry to start your week with some bad news, but regulars of the Pro Watercross Tour will be sad to learn that fan and racer-favorite, Colonial Beach, Virginia, will be missing from 2015’s National Tour. The location of the Liberty Cup, Colonial Beach has historically played a significant part in the year-long points race, with the shoreline location providing a perfect backdrop as the nation’s best contend for National Championships.
Unfortunately, money was the “driving factor” for the Colonial Beach Chamber of Commerce’s decision to discontinue hosting the Pro Watercross National Tour race. According to an interview with Chamber President Carey Geddes by local outlet The Journal, “during the first three years of the event, the chamber lost roughly $7,000 per year – in 2014, the group lost $9,000.”
“The deciding factor involved reduced contributions from the town by $2,000, NSWC Federal Credit Union pulling their sponsorship and many corporate sponsors cutting their contributions in half. Geddes said those moves left the Chamber with a $7,000 shortfall.”
Geddes concluded, “We took everything into account – the loss of $7,000 in funding, the additional monies that would be required to have the corporate challenge, money to repay damages done to the rental cottage. We couldn’t stack the $7,000 loss on top of the $9,000 lost.”
Recently, the Pro Watercross had started billing the town an additional $1,250 fee, making the Chamber’s contribution for the weekend event $9,000 a year. This next year marked the third in the standing contract with Handler and the Pro Watercross Tour, and the Chamber exercised its option to cancel the deal. According to The Journal, Handler told Geddes that “if the Chamber did not have a decision and a $5,000 check for [Pro Watercross] by October 1, they would move the Liberty Cup portion to Tennessee.”
Of course, that deadline has since passed, and no word has been released regarding announcing a Tennessee venue as the new site for the Liberty Cup. Look to The Watercraft Journal for more updates regarding the Pro Watercross Tour as they come.
