Boat Racer's Glossary of Terms

[win-or-flip]

Hello Racers and Fans,

I thought it might be fun to compile a list of terms that are unique to boat racing. Some of you may be familiar with urban dictionary (warning!: that site is not safe for work or younguns. Kids, ask your parents for permission before logging on). The site has a plethora of slang terms defined. I am curious to see if our boat racing language varies by region as does the English language. So please post your terms and definitions along with your location and maybe even who you learned the word through.

[dwhitford]

ALKY: Noun - methanol for fuel; Adjective - boat, driver, engine, fuel, race, racer . . . Presently in East Virginia

[modsquad]

Screamers, the nervous reaction boat racing has on the digestive system on the way to a boat race.

[ricmontoya]

Also known a butterflies.

[rumleyfips]

Arsehole: the guy inside you going into the first turn.

[roperz111]

Here are a couple of terms I used to hear a lot back in the 70's when I was racing JSH, I would hear my Dad and other racers using these. Once in a while I'll use them or hear someone else as well, but not much any longer.

Wheel: Slang term for a propeller.
Rollers: Slang term for waves, generally rolling waves before turning into "white-caps".

Chris Johnson
111-Z
Region 4

[csh-2z]

S_ _thouse or S_ _tter - slang for a bad flip.

Chicken fin - A fin mounted on the back of a runabout.

Jack it up - Raise the motor on the transom. (more common prior to 1987)

Tuck it under - Change the angle of the motor. (more common after 1987)

Roll it up - That is how you are supposed to turn a runabout. (more common prior to 1980)

Chop - Cutting off the guy slightly behind you on your inside as you enter and proceed around a turn. (since 1903 - current)

Barrel roll - Flipping sideways in a turn. (usually after getting chopped)

Brain bucket - Helmet

Cooler bobbing - Inserting your head into a large cooler filled with ice water and one beer bottle for the purpose of retrieving the beer bottle with your mouth.

[ricmontoya]

Yard Sale; the debris floating about after item #1 on your list.

Chip fin; West Coast term for item #2 on your list.

Hacked = Chop

#5; Wishing we could see more of this on the West Coast.

[mrlou40]

Dumb A$$ - When you and the entire beach knows this racer is going to dump..... 1903-current

Hammerd it, nailed it... Hitting the start right on

[win-or-flip]

S_ _thouse or S_ _tter - slang for a bad flip.

Chicken fin - A fin mounted on the back of a runabout.

Jack it up - Raise the motor on the transom. (more common prior to 1987)

Tuck it under - Change the angle of the motor. (more common after 1987)

Roll it up - That is how you are supposed to turn a runabout. (more common prior to 1980)

Chop - Cutting off the guy slightly behind you on your inside as you enter and proceed around a turn. (since 1903 - current)

Barrel roll - Flipping sideways in a turn. (usually after getting chopped)

Brain bucket - Helmet

Cooler bobbing - Inserting your head into a large cooler filled with ice water and one beer bottle for the purpose of retrieving the beer bottle with your mouth.

Great entries 🤣

[krazy karl]

Hydroplane - Runabout with training wheels

[ricmontoya]

Runabouts require better body English, a big hit with the ladies.
Me Three ;-)

[DtwSailor]

Hydroplane - Runabout with training wheels

Runabout - pleasure boat for drivers scared of hydroplanes

(meant no disrespect, just having a little fun!)

[krazy karl]

Me too.....

[DeanFHobart]

Rev Stick: Thin wooden shims to "Jack Up" the motor on the transom.

[Smitty]

"Fart-stone,"

a block of pumice, usually about two feet square and maybe 4" thick, cut very flat. Used to take off high spots from the aft end of the bottom of the boat, and reveal low spots that might need filling. The process of grinding the bottom with this pumice block sometimes gave off an odor of hydrogen sulfide (the pumice being of volcanic origin), hence the popular term . . .


"Bounce-pipe,"

slang term (at least in the NW) for a 2-stroke expansion chamber in their earlier days, 1960s; semi-descriptive of the action of the acoustic waves "bouncing" around inside the chamber.


"Tipping the can,"

adding some percentage of nitromethane to your tank of alky (see dwhitford, above), thought by many to be a "speed secret" (see below)


"Speed secret,"

one of a great number of little alterations that might be made to a perfectly good racing outfit in hopes of making up for your (MY) usual lousy starts . . . .

[ricmontoya]

I've still got a boat load of them. Please buy them up they're stinking up the garage.

[DeanFHobart]

AKA.... Stink Stone or Stink Block !!!!!!!!!!

[Harold8]

Smoke---Speed As in"he smoked him."

[DtwSailor]

Steaming.....The water vapor that has turned to a gas due to high heat, usually seen from shore, right before ....
Mushy.....The feeling the throttle gets when a motor is running to hot, right before....
Ring Job....The work done after heating one's motor past the normal point.

[GrandpaRacer]

Steaming happens just before 'he stuck it!'