This looks like fun.

[Spicoli]

http://www.wimp.com/jetboat/

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...................... .. :D

1200 hp, looks like about 12 feet max?

[Lizzerd]

SPEED used to show that stuff, as well as mud bog and lawnmower races before it became Neckcarized.

Thanks for the link.

[fourrunner]

Road Racing Speedboat Style ... Pretty cool !!

Can you imagine the carnage if the boats raced together! :eek:

[Spicoli]

Road Racing Speedboat Style ... Pretty cool !!

Can you imagine the carnage if the boats raced together! :eek:

Would be like EARL, eh? (Cept fer the Ki$$ crap).

[oddlycalm]

Welcome to Sprint Boats. Fun to watch. :thumbup: Spectators can easily see the entire course, the action is really dramatic with the Super Boats putting out around 950hp - 1000hp. Drivers have to be very precise and quick. Think autocross with 1000hp open wheelers and you have the idea. Even a slight touch on a bank will upset the boat and most often lead to an acricultural excusion referred to as "island hopping." :D To complicate things, the course run pattern is changed between heats, so the navigator really does earn their seat. Thing WRC, but much quicker action.

For now the races are confined to the Pacific Northwest. The sport originated in New Zealand where, like here, powerful jet boats were developed to navigate shallow mountain rivers. Here's some sites with picture and video galleries.
Sprint Boats (http://www.sprintboat.org/modules/news/)

USSBA website (http://www.ussbaracing.com/)

Looks insane, but the boats have full roll cages. The water isn't any more than 2ft. deep anywhere on course and these boats draw less than 6" of water at speed. Most times when they spin out they just go up and over the islands. I've seen them roll a half dozen times. The courses are fairly compact so couse workers can be on a wreck within 30 seconds of it happening.

oc

[racer2c]

Ive seen these things on TV before. Wild but not as wild as a similar 'tour' boat ride somewhere out west where they put five or six people in this thing and run like 100mph down skinnky little rivers in inches of water.

[nz_climber]

you mericains are so far behind - welcome to the world of jet boats :p

[Kiwifan]

This guy (http://www.hamjet.co.nz/index.cfm/about_us/sir_william_hamilton.html) used to be one of my customers but has sadly passed away. His legacy lives on!

The only downside to jetboats is they love to drink fuel. Bad for the owners, good for me. ;)

Rusty.

PS, take care azza.

[oddlycalm]

This guy[/URL] used to be one of my customers but has sadly passed away. His legacy lives on! Your right Rusty, his legacy definitely lives on. Most of the jet boats I've seen on the rivers around here use a Hamilton pump to this day. What kind of work did you do for him?

BTW, one of the funniest things I've seen with jet boats doesn't involved people. Back in the mid-80's I ran into a packer that worked out of Riggins, Idaho in the River Of No Return wilderness along the Salmon River. He has a big Alumaweld jet sled and had taught his horses to lie down in the boats. He would then ferry them up to the trail head one at a time. I nearly fell over laughing when I saw him loading out his boat and had the horse step in and get comfortable. :laugh:

oc

[Kiwifan]

Sadly, oc, Sir Bill was well into his 90s? I think when I came to Lake Tekapo which is a mere 10 minutes away from Irishman Creek. I was a box-boy/grocer/pump attendant (I'm still doin' that!) and used to take his groc order, pump his gas, clean his windows etc. He was a real gentleman, quite frail but I was so in awe of him even in his old age.

Two things stick in my mind even after all of these years. The first was his remarkable wife. Peggy was so full of vigor, so healthy and alert. I managed to pick up her book telling of the hardships the working women faced during the Second World War. Remarkable. It gave me a new respect for my elders I can tell you.

The second involved his car, a big white Jag. Every time they brought it in to be filled, both tanks, ;) I saw the stains left behind by the petrol. Those cars always bubbled near the end but as long as you wiped it up it was fine but obviously someone else wasn't doing their job. I thought, even back then that it was such a shame that no-one would keep his car clean as he had plenty of people working at the factory and farm. Funny how some things stick in your mind. :)

Take care guys, and thanks for bringing back the memories.

Rusty.