Start your engines
Published 3:10 pm Friday, March 21, 2014
Sequim Gazette staff
Some have a need for speed, while others prefer to live like a speed junkie vicariously.
Saturday’s first-ever official speed boat races on the Olympic Peninsula should satisfy both camps.
The U.S. Speed Boat Association closes out its 2011 season with championship races at Port Angeles’ Extreme Sports Park, also the first official race at the newly constructed venue.
Sprint boat racing sees racers and their co-pilots navigate a series of shallow channels at high speeds.
Following patterns established by race directors, racers often complete several dozen turns in under a minute.
There are three classes of boats: Super Modifieds, A-400s and Super Boats.
Local racers include
Sequim’s TNT crew, with three racing crews: Tim Cummings and Mike Fuller, Paul and Josh Gahr, and Dillon Brown Cummings and Teri Cummings.
Two Port Angeles-based crews are slated to race as well: Dan Morrison and Cara McGuire of Port Angeles’ Wicked Racing and Wayne and Nicole Brown of Port Angeles’ Twisted Motorsports.
Races start Saturday at about 10 a.m. and are expected to finish at about 5 p.m.
Bleachers are set up but seating is limited to 500, so plenty of grass seating is available. Food and beverages are allowed but will be searched at the gate. Fans can’t bring in alcohol but a beer garden for those 21 and older will be on site.
