Wow!

[Larry Darneille]

The sweetest sound in the world for a river racer fan is the middle of the course is hearing the high pitched sound of the boats echoing off the canyons. You hear the sound miles before the boats reach you and then in a flash the first boat rounds a bend in front of you and it seems like just in an instant they are gone. You can't wait for the return leg to view the spectacle one more time!

[Dave M]

Very Cool

I watched a few of those videos on You Tube a while back, and I have to say, it looks like a real blast ! This is true marathon survival !!!

Hope you guys keep the rules simple, and the main thing, have some fun while competing !! I love that you guys put stacks on, it is so much sweeter sounding !!!

[ram95]

Larry,
It has indeed been a pleasure to see a bunch of people having fun in what appears to be a somewhat unstructured form of racing. Unstructured...being the operative word. I clicked onto my trusty APBA-Racing site to look for your rule book - aint there. I looked for the minutes of your annual meeting... kudent finedit. I looked to see if you baloney's were in the Hall of Champions.... uh uh!! So, I have concluded.... like the photos of our moon landing... that you guys (and girls... I would darn sure hope) really don't exist. The fact that you say you can race without "outside course markers" just proves that. Besides... looking at the photos (obviously photo-shopped) having THAT MUCH FREAKING FUN..... no wonder we're losing membership(s) over the past 15 years in SO & MO.

Yours Truly (tongue stuck in cheek),,,
Alex
aka "the Mad Russian" 12A DSH.. an anachronism in his own right

ROCK onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

[Larry Darneille]

I think it was 1998 when Cal-Ore started one way racing. Cal-Ore went 40 years without much in accidents then suffered three deaths in one year from head on collisions. River racing was redesigned to follow what jet boat racing was doing at the time with one way legs and a sweep boat. The river racers retained the mass bank start. It was spectacular to watch boats going both ways though.

[ricochet112]

Hi Larry, How long has it been since you quit running 2 way traffic and one was was introduced? That had to be a blast passing head on!!!!
Mike Bartlett

[robert calvosa]

It's actually a cakewalk except for the rocks and debris, the rollers and the wind, the patched-up ,obsolete equipment, the rookies, officials and the other drivers. JK
Oh, yeah, i forgot the blowovers, stuffs and unscheduled, hooked sponson ejections. But , you know, when she's flyin' smooth at around 80, there's absolutely nothing
like it

[sam]

I'd think if you hit a rock, the rock would be replaced at no charge with a similar or larger rock of your choice ...

[Larry Darneille]

To clear the safety issue up there are course safety and rescue boats stationed at the riskier parts of the course. The state and local law enforcement marine patrols clear the course and are stationed on the course to handle emergencies such as routing ambulances. There is a sweep boat that follows the race and clears the course for the restarts at each end. Everyone is connected by communication, radio and or cell phone. All the drivers are required to run the course in a jet boat to learn the course beforehand. Any particularly bad areas, especailly in low water conditions are marked with buoys to the extent of a mandatory manned yellow flag zone.

[Islandmon]

Larry / Robert, thanks so much for the history lesson.....very interesting. So are you serious about the class 3-4 rapids . Now that I have a better understanding of the race I need to go back to You Tube for more re-runs. I have to tell you this sounds like way to much fun, sort of like the TopO Mich marathon we run here. Of course switching the rapids for wind driven and or large boat wakes we have to deal with.

Cheers,

Sam
87-M

[Larry Darneille]

When river racing was organized in 1959 most everyone used a madcap or airborne runabout basically adapted from DU racing which was very popular at the time. Runabouts worked fairly well until you climbed the grade of the river where they bounced in the rough water. Hydroplanes of the day were tried but did not handle the rough water either. That is when river design started. Sponsons were added to the runabout and allowed it to fly over the rough water and innovation evolved into the river racing hydroplanes of today. The designs of today fly over the course as you can have anything from flat sticky water to class 3 and 4 rapids. The first true river racing design was in about 1964.
The 44 cu. in. Mercury with stacks quickly evolved from the stock Mark 55H Mercury. In the first couple of years therre was no engine rule set so you could see a 20H, 55H's, at leat one Scott/McCulloch, and one Anzani which didin't work to well. By the early sixties the four cyl. Mercury was the rule.

[robert calvosa]

Good questions, Sam. I'll take a stab at'em. #4 The original 'river racers' of the late 40s ran a thing they called the 'daredevil race' from Yreka.ca to Klamath,Ca . 176 mi. on the Klamath River. It was a 'run watcha brung' event and took three days to finish. This evolved into pretty much what we
are doing today by 1959 when The Cal-Ore RiverRacers Assoc. was formed.#3 The courses vary in length and are broken up into downriver and upriver 'legs' with a restart at the beginning of each leg. Total distance is between 35 and 50miles.#2 The use of the Merc 44 is something that has evolved also. They're still pretty easy to find, plenty of power and you can rebuild one on your kitchen table.#1 Why Hydros? I dunno. We need to Ask Larry Darneille about that one.

[Islandmon]

There's probably not more than a couple of gearcases on this circuit that haven't had new skegs welded on.

Our rules are pretty simple; boats must be at least 13'6", weigh at least 575lbs with driver at the finish of the race. motors are 44ci mercs, stock internally with fixed magneto and stacks. gearcases are 14:14 or 15:14. The race starts with the boats lined-up on the riverbank, flag drops and the pilots yank the starting rope. If she starts , you head for a hole shot that could be a turn bouy or the narrows under a bridge. If she don't start-you pull again.

Robert, I've watched the vids on You Tube a number of times and love the concept. That said I have a few questions if you don't mind.

1.Why hydro's vs. runabouts ?
2. Why the 44ci mercs ?
3. How long is the course and do you run heats or ?????
4 And lastly, how did this type of racing get started ?

Thx,
Sam

[B Walker]

It is an inside joke.

K&K is our insurance underwriter and they have some rules we have to follow obviously made by someone that has never attended one of our events.

Welcome river racers. Looks like fun!

BW

[22W]

Oh Rob, I agree with you! I am just teasing about some of our insurance requirements. A few of them fall into the "no sh**, Shirlock" realm of thinking.

[rob watson]

The course markers are the banks of the river , and some obstructions are marked but mostly we spend alot of time looking at the course and trying to remember the best lines .