Even the most novice of boaters has heard of jetboats. Visions of low profile west coast built fiberglass rockets that tear up the lakes and rivers of the U.S. usually come to mind. These boats have decent performance utilizing their big block power and can scoot through water that would have most inboard/outboard pilots turning around right now! But how about taking that jetboat up a river strewn with logs and very large rocks that jut out of the water or worse, are hidden right below the surface? Oh yeah, and be running at over a hundred miles per hour! Every once in a while you'll see an article on some guys who use the jetpumps propulsion for more than just cruising the Colorado River! I was trying to get a few jetboats together to even out the type of boats here on Just Another Toy. I happened to see a post by a guy named Dave Allen, who's Hot Boat Message Board avatar is the above boat minus the graphical liberties! He had written to another jetboater, that the whitewater boats need more exposure so people can see how fast they can be. So I sent him a note about sending me some photos of his ride. What I received was so many pictures, my mail server locked up until I did something with all the incoming mail :) So instead of just doing a page on Dave's beautiful boat, I decided to expand the idea to more of a whitewater boating page. Read on about this insanity and enjoy some of the pictures.
This sport has been around for over 30 years. It's not really a spectator sport due to the remote areas that these guys run. There is a world series for this style of boat racing that rotates between New Zealand, Mexico, Canada and the USA. Given the quality of the rivers and the fact that the jet pump was born in New Zealand many years ago, the race in that country is the sports Holy Grail. Usually 40-50 boats show up for a marathon race. Canada has a 4-race series in the summer they run in Whitecourt, Hay River, Peace River, and a new site, Quinel BC. There is a 6-8 race series in the U.S., mostly in the North-West.
Here's a boat running in the water racing motherland, New Zealand!
The 6 photos above are by Mark Sharley who is a professional motor sports photographer and were taken at Grants Pass. He has many more than what are up here. Mark can be contacted at: Mcsharley@aol.com
Here's some shots of the Mexico race. And I always thought of desert when someone says "Mexico"!
These boats are built of aluminum. Imagine banging a fiberglass boat of a rock at 50 mph or more! The bottoms of the boats are generally from .160" to .187" thick. The side of the boats are typically .090" and the decks can be even less. Hulls are generally tunnels, but v-hulls have done well in the FX class.
Because these boats run through rivers that are dotted with rocks and logs, they need very good handling and predictability to navigate the treacherous course. These marathon races need to be at least 500 miles long in order to be sanctioned by UIM.
Eagle Racing, www.eagleracing.ca, builds 80-90 percent of the boats that are currently running the whitewater series. Eagle has also built 9 of the last 10 marathon race winners. The remaining boats are built by either Kwik-Kraft of New Zealand or are home made ventures.
The pumps on the boats originate the same place as their more common lake brethren, Berkeley, Legend, Aggressor and American Turbine. However, a factory supplied pump is just not bolted on the back of one of these boats. A lot of attention is focused on supplying clean lube to the thrust bearing. Fabricated steel nozzles are used and combined with various designed wedges.
A lot of work goes into the jet pump. Check out the work that went into this bowl assembly.
The engines are standard hotboat fare, making good horsepower and torque below 6500 rpm. These boats are similar to offshore boats, they run wide open for extended periods of time. There can be two heats a day, two days in a row. Not much time for between round maintenance. Some of these motors are approaching mountain motor range, in the 650+ cubic inches!
Here's some motor shots. Dave Allen's boat (l) and Rob Chrunyk's boat (r)
One thing you see that looks slightly out of place is the rollbar. These used to be a "nice to have", they're now a requirement. Along with the rollbar a 5-point harness, fire suit and racing life jacket are standard equipment. All boats carry first aid kits, fire extinguishers, two ropes, paddles, tools and some minor spares and a red flag.
A few more shots of Dave and the Bald Eagle Racing team. The boat is equipped with a relatively tame 434 cubic inch smallblock. It makes about 550 horsepower and will run at about 100 mph on a good day.
This is a Kwik-Kraft, built in New
Zealand and this one belongs to Paddy
Stratton, a long time racer and the recent winner of the Mexico Rio Balsas
race last week.
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1) Rob, Doug and Dave prior to a race.
2) Gordy Humphry's "B" boat champion. Gordy is from Fort St. Johns BC. The boat sports a nasty 355 cid motor pushing 725 horsepower to the pump! The boat was running real well here, about 110 mph, until he lost a connecting rod. Very exciting boat to watch when he's on his game. The key is making competitive power, but not sacrificing reliability. You can't win if you don't finish!
3) Here's Mike Rowe, who hails from NWT, Canada. Mike's been racing for years, choosing a Ford for getting those 95 mph speeds.
4) Brian MacGregor, Whitecourt, Alberta. He was the 2003 "B" boat champion. He's been racing about 15 years and considered to be one of the "smart racers"! His boat runs a 355 cid engine with about 625 horses. Boat tops out at a reliable 95 mph.
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1) Rob Chrunyk, co-owner of Eagle Racing and a jetboat legend! Robs been building and racing these boats for 20 years. Rob won this years World Marathon using a 770 horsepower 468 big block. This boat will run 115 mph. He's currently testing front wings, look at the picture close. He's not afraid to get that front end aired out! If you want to stay in the front as a manufacturer, this is the way to do it, sponsor some boats and run your own as well!
2) Paul Bagshaws boat.
3) Couple of the boats waiting for the flag to drop. Some of the races are a mass start, makes going into the first corner kind of fun!
4) Another shot of Rob Chrunyk running on the edge again!
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1) Sharkey and Thompson waiting for the flag to drop.
2) Doug Thompson, the other owner of Eagle Racing with Rob. Doug runs a 468 Donavan and runs about 109 mph. He finished the season up in 4th for 2003.
3) Another shot of Terry Sharkey boat. Terry is from Calgary Alberta. He came in third for 2003 and is know for having some of the nicest equipment out there.
4) Leo Wright of Oregon. Long time racer (probably has the most races under his belt as anyone racing now). He wiped out and bent his boat up, then broke rod later on in the race.
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1) This is the Unlimited boat of Mike Zoller. He runs 1100 horsepower in this baby! This was Mike's first run with the new boat and didn't get a lot of shake down time. He ended up breaking a pump housing on one of the race legs. The boat was running over 120 mph before it went out.
2) This is one of the boats I've actually seen in Hot Boat magazine. Spencer King lives in Hay River, NWT. He's a 5 time world champion. He uses a big Ford for motivation. They have always been a threat to the competition, but were hindered by engine problems in 2003. They broke a valve while running on the 4th leg of this race.
3) This is Paul Bags haw, who became the 2003 USA series "A" boat champion.
Here's some shots of some Eagle 16' sport boats doing their thing on the Upper Red Deer River. These boats are powered by a 240hp Merc sport jet package. They run about 54-65 mph and are a lot of fun in the right hands. They're are tough as nails, with a steal QT-100 keel section and plastic for skidding across rocks, trees and slow fishermen.
Well, we'll have to keep an
eye on Dave and the Bald Eagle Racing Team in 2004. Hopefully he'll have a good
season and get his pleasure oriented whitewater boat together! To follow the
rigging of the new boat, go to the next page.
