MEDFORD, Ore. – Hundreds of people showed up at Boatnik for a whole day of boat racing on Sunday.
The most popular spectacles of the day were the blink and you’ll miss them Drag Boats and the nimble Sprint Boats.
“The number of times that I see them it’s still exciting every single time it’s zero to real quick real fast,” said Charlie Simons, with the Grants Pass Active Club.
Some of these boats can reach speeds over 160 mph, finishing the quarter-mile course in a number of seconds.
“We are out here showing what these boats can do. You don’t hear the crowd at all the engine is too loud, you’re so focused you don’t see a whole lot besides what’s right in front of you,” said Clint Birch, with Fear Not Racing.
Organizers said these drivers come from all over the west coast to race for the quickest time around the course, and to put on a show.
There is still more boat racing to come on Memorial Day with the Tom Rice Memorial Whitewater Hydroplane Race.
Organizers said the event starts with around 20 boats and finishes with far fewer.
“That’s the great thing about Tom Rice is that they are all racing at the same time. They start here on the bank they got to get their engines started and then they got to go down to Baker Park and sing back to Robertson Bridge and come back and do it again, you never know what going to be happy with that race,” said Simons.
Boatnik wraps up May 29th with its Memorial Day Service at noon, and the Tom Rice Memorial Race at 1:00 pm.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.