What is it?
An international powerboat championship in which adrenalin-filled teams of two, comprising a pilot and co-pilot, negotiate a 200 metres x 400m “M†circuit. It was born in 1980s South Africa, where amateurs took advantage of huge offshore surf to drive motorised, inflatable lifeboats. It has since expanded hugely to incorporate dozens of other countries.
What are the boats like?
The original boats were little more than lifesaving, single-hull craft that had to be capable of dealing with both calm waters and surf. In harsh conditions the boats have to resist powerful buffeting and often end up perpendicular to the sea. Over two decades, the technology has evolved hugely. Today’s boats plane across water, allowing their hulls to ride on an air-bubble cushion which … More info
Cougar Marine which produced the first successful offshore powerboat racing catamaran, introduced at the Swanage 80 race in 1969, is to celebrate its 40th anniversary in June with a ‘Beach Ball’ open to all owning Cougar race boats, both old and new.
The event will take place on May 30th …Â More info
At least 100 personal watercrafts will take to the lake Saturday in the first of a series of racing events to be held periodically in ensuing months, organizers said.
The series, billed as the Lake Elsinore Watercraft Dash, is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Saturday at Elm Grove Recreational Area, which is on Lakeshore Drive between Lowell and Poe streets and next to the city’s boat launch. Admission for spectators is $3 per person, Lake Elsinore Aquatic Resources Director Pat Kilroy said.
Kilroy said the races will bring some excitement to the lake during the typically stagnant off-season.
“We always want to see the lake used to the highest public benefit,” Kilroy said. “Especially in the off-season, Elm Grove beach is underutilized. This is the perfect event for this time of year.”
Saturday’s races will be the first that have been held at the lake in several years, said organizer David Pulley of DMP Motorsports.
“We had one here about three years ago,” Pulley said. “In the late ’90s, there were some races. So this is kind of bringing it back again at a bigger level.”…Â More info
Unfortunately, it was the Christmas holiday, so I couldn’t find a single truckish thing to do with the all-new 2009 Suzuki Equator. I always try to, when testing pickup trucks.
Even though many trucks spend their lives roaming the suburbs with nary a load of dirt to haul in sight, the true measure of a pickup’s “truckness” is to let it do some work. That’s definitely the case with the new Equator.
Designed and marketed toward Suzuki’s adventuresome motorcycle and personal watercraft-riding customers as a perfect gear-hauler and all-around tough truck…Â More info