Yeah I saw it to Rocky. It's pretty sweet. I wonder how they walk the
course.Hahahaha I think autocrossing should be on their also!
Rocky Entriken wrote:
>
> Just saw something weird and wild on ESPN2 -- they call it jet sprinting.
> >From New Zealand, although at the end they said there would be a couple of
> rounds in the USA next year, one in Idaho, the other ... I forget. Wisconsin?
>
> autocross in boats.
>
> Event site is this area that looks like a double figure-8 carved into the
> ground and filled with water, most of it rather narrow. I don't know fir sure
> but it looked like the water may have been somewhere between waist- to
> shoulder-high at most.
>
> Boats go one at A time on a predetermined course through the channels, taking
> a run of 50-55 seconds. Now I wanna tell ya, these things HANDLE. Driver comes
> to a turn, cranks that sucker over and it sends A 25-foot rooster tail out as
> it cuts the turn.
>
> No pylons. the course loops back and forth through the channels, retracing
> several sections. How do they keep track of where it goes? Each boat has a
> navigator who directs the driver with hand signals, left, right, straight.
> I'd guess he's the one with the map. Imagine an autocross with options of
> left turn here or right, and what do you do next time you arrive here? So
> maybe it is more like Pro Rally on water.
>
> Of course, instead of a 2-second pylon penalty, cut the course edge too close
> and you are "on the beach", which can get really interesting. One boat dis
> ... did a basic spinout, about 1-1/2 around. But another ... it hit one
>island
> semi-sideways, launched, and then it was sky-ground-sky-water-sky-ground
>before
> he hit on the next island over. Then I noticed, these boats have roll cages!
>
> Announcers mentioned one had a 410 Chevy (!) for power so these are definitely
> CP-type boats. Fascinating. But I wanter what the application was for the boat
> that had the Firestone sticker on its side?
>
> Instead of best-time like we do in Solo, they ran a bracket more like drag
> racing. Two boats match, the best time of those two go on to the next round.
> Kinda like my Mirror Khana, keep winning and you keep running. But imagine a
> drag race with only a one-lane race track and it is purely a timed thing.
>
> If you put C Prepared on water, this is what it would be!
>
> --Rocky Entriken
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