Questions Still Abound as to how Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour Teams will be Determined
This weekend we read a variety of postings on message boards about "invitations" and "eligibility" of various boats and motors. It seems there's one school of thought that only current (as in those owners before the recent announcement) Genmar owners are going to be given priority in the 2005 registration process. Those who elect to purchase/switch over the coming months won't be "eligible" until 2006.

We're going to make another round of calls and e-mails to those involved for clarification. As you know (assuming you read our interview with Irwin Jacobs) we understand that ALL Genmar entries are going to be allowed priority entry over non-Genmar entries. We could be wrong, but we don't think the FLW is going to require those that make the switch to Genmar to hold out for a year.

We think there's some real confusion as to how the term "invitation" is being used. Our guess (and we hate to guess rather than just ask those at the FLW, but we'll hazard one) is that the FLW will send a letter -- or "invitation" if you want to call it that -- to all current Genmar owners they have in their customer files inviting them to participate in the upcoming tour. And yes they'll likely send the initial letter to those on file before the announcement since they most likely won't have recent purchasers info back from their dealers immediately. But I don't think new purchasers have anything to be worried about.

A source in the kingfish community suggested the process might go something like a sports draft: after all the entries are submitted the FLW will take all "old" Genmar owners in the first round, then they'll take all "new" Genmar owners in the second round, the third round might be non-Genmar boats that have Yamaha power and if there's any remaining spots on the roster they'll fill them with non-Genmar, non-Yamaha entries. And as Mr. Jacobs said this will be done within the context of first-come, first-serve.

It was clear from the initial reports and the press release that Genmar boats would receive priority entry. What seems to be happening now is a splitting of hairs. We understand everyone's excitement at the possibilities this tour offers, but everyone needs to take it day by day and all the details will reveal themselves. Please stop back by often as we hope to interview other FLW executives for complete details.