Video Package by Jessi Witt and Jacob Richards. Story by Jessi Witt.
Outside of the Ovid-Elsie area, there are many things to do that you normally would not get to experience in the summer. One of those things is attending a hydroplane race.
Hydroplane racing is the oldest known racing sport to still be around today, originating in 1904. The boats cost upwards of $70,000. When the sport began, the boats ran around 20 mph. Now they reach speeds of 150-200 mph with a horsepower of 2650, and use helicopter engines and aviation fuel to run the boats.
“A hydroplane is basically a boat that flies over the water like an airplane,” Ted Porter, team owner of U-5 Graham Trucking, said.
The circuit on which a hydroplane races usually is four laps long; the entire race is roughly two to four miles.
The Gold Cup race (some call it the Super Bowl of hydroplane racing) is held in Detroit every year. The race track is the only permanent circuit in the country and is on the Detroit River.
Amazingly, the entire staff that puts this on consists of 350 people, and is all completely volunteer work. The actual city of Detroit does nothing to fund it or deal with the upkeep – this is all thanks to the many volunteers.
“I grew up in the Detroit area and came down here in the ’70s with my family, and eventually I got put to work in the pit area,” Mark Hooton, marketer for the Oh Boy! Oberto team, said.
Hooton has been the team’s marketer for a year. He stressed the importance and diversity of knowledge in their mechanics, saying that they have a former NASA engineer as well as a former iPhone engineer. What draws him and others alike to hydroplane racing is that it is a very visual sport.
Hydroplane racing is unlike any other sport and is very fun to watch. Young people are starting to stray from it, and the owners feel it is important that interest gets around. The excitement of the race always draws sizeable crowds and is fun for all ages. Fans find the sport fast, exciting, and very entertaining to watch.
