That WAS an absolute hoot, Rocky. I saw it, too. The boats are
basically jet skis on steroids...actual boat bodies with big American
V8 power but using the same type of propulsion as a jet ski. No props
or anything else underneath to get ripped away if they happen to
overcook a corner. Those suckers can turn on a dime at full
throttle.
Watching the navigators' hand signals was really amazing. How they
knew which way to go and exactly when to start turning was really mind
boggling considering how fast those things were going.
Now we know what to do the next time we have torrential rain at an
auto-x!!! 8<{)
John (Old Fartz & TLS #37) Lieberman
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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