Tenn, KY area

[HRTV]

Just wondering why with all the beautiful lakes in Tennessee and Kentucky there seems to be little to no interest in hydro racing ? back in my OPC days late 80's we always raced in Bristol Tenn. Lake Eufaulla Al. & Owensboro KY etc.

http://www.lakeeufaula.info/

[Bill Huson]

I recall . . .

the MOD nationals were held at Soddy Daisy, TN in the 80s. My daughter lives in Cleveland TN and she took me on a float-by of the race site in her boat. Perfect. South of Knoxville, north of Chattanooga, doesn't seem far off I-75. Great site in the city of Chattanooga as well. I believe they had a APBA race there last year - offshore "drug runner" boats. Those retired *coff-coff* TN moonshiners loved it!

[Bowers76-S]

Lakes

I live in Sevierville, TN right next to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg..we have some beautiful lakes here...Douglas Lake and Cherokee Lake...moonshine..huh..where..great stuff..to bad my wife has banned the stuff in my house...stuff will kill ya..quick...the flavored stuff is great! shhh don't tell her!

[raceboat61-S]

KY-TN racing

TRORA hosts Stock/Mod in Alexandria, KY. in August. But, other than that race I don't know of any others. Many years ago almost every town on the Ohio River and many others as well celebrated their town's river history with a big fair or river festival. Many of these towns hosted outboard races. There aren't many left. Most of our Stock/Mod guys won't race on rivers because of safety concerns. Also, most riverbanks make lousy pits.
Part of the problem probably is our rising affluence. 50 years ago if people had places on the rivers and lakes they were weekend retreats....cabins, tents, and trailers. They owned small outboards, canoes, and little skiffs. They were interested in small boats and boat racing. Now, all of the available waterfront has been gobbled up by folks with big money, big second homes and big expensive boats. They are NOT interested in having noisy races in their backyards or having our race course denying them the use of their water. They pay the taxes.
Most of the water in Ohio, Tenn, Kentucky is on public/State Park lakes. Division of Watercraft and State Parks don't want give anybody exclusive use of the water. And the guys with 30K bass boats don't want us fencing off the boat ramp or beach and taking a mile or so of their lake. They see it as their asset. The politics of the Department of Natural Resources makes it tough...but NOT impossible to find some nice public lake race sites. I have been very fortunate here in the Zanesville area to have the Park Managers keep local control of the lakes and allow us to host a race in the middle of the summer watersport season. It takes a lot of effort and time on the part of race directors and the racing clubs like IOA and TRORA to cultivate a relationship like the one we have. Key to this effort is playing by the rules layed down by the park managers, leaving the park and beach in better condition than it was when you arrived, being good citizen, and being considerate of the other users of the lake. It is worth the effort. We're contributing to the growth of the sport. Mike Marshall, Raceboat61-S

[HRTV]

TRORA hosts Stock/Mod in Alexandria, KY. in August. But, other than that race I don't know of any others. Many years ago almost every town on the Ohio River and many others as well celebrated their town's river history with a big fair or river festival. Many of these towns hosted outboard races. There aren't many left. Most of our Stock/Mod guys won't race on rivers because of safety concerns. Also, most riverbanks make lousy pits.
Part of the problem probably is our rising affluence. 50 years ago if people had places on the rivers and lakes they were weekend retreats....cabins, tents, and trailers. They owned small outboards, canoes, and little skiffs. They were interested in small boats and boat racing. Now, all of the available waterfront has been gobbled up by folks with big money, big second homes and big expensive boats. They are NOT interested in having noisy races in their backyards or having our race course denying them the use of their water. They pay the taxes.
Most of the water in Ohio, Tenn, Kentucky is on public/State Park lakes. Division of Watercraft and State Parks don't want give anybody exclusive use of the water. And the guys with 30K bass boats don't want us fencing off the boat ramp or beach and taking a mile or so of their lake. They see it as their asset. The politics of the Department of Natural Resources makes it tough...but NOT impossible to find some nice public lake race sites. I have been very fortunate here in the Zanesville area to have the Park Managers keep local control of the lakes and allow us to host a race in the middle of the summer watersport season. It takes a lot of effort and time on the part of race directors and the racing clubs like IOA and TRORA to cultivate a relationship like the one we have. Key to this effort is playing by the rules layed down by the park managers, leaving the park and beach in better condition than it was when you arrived, being good citizen, and being considerate of the other users of the lake. It is worth the effort. We're contributing to the growth of the sport. Mike Marshall, Raceboat61-S

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the reply good solid information.

[RogerH]

Racing (or lack there of) in TN

Dan,
I moved here about 5 year ago from central NY area. I was surprised to find so little performance boating or racing here in the eastern TN area. Not a single APBA sponsored race in TN or KY. I don't race any more, but I enjoy watching them and I've started to restore/build vintage racing motors and boats again. I can't find parts anywhere, although there are marina's everywhere. The focus here is almost completely recreational and most certainly fishing. Now some of the "fishing" outfits here could easily be mistaken for race boats! There is some high performance recreational boating, but there doesn't seem to be much you would call "organized" racing.

I don't understand it either, as the TN river in our area has vast areas that have no residential presence. There are any number of isolated areas that are far from the normal boating channels. The TVA has excellent launches and parking all along the waterways. I could venture a guess that the TVA, being an old Fed. Govt. agency, is difficult to work with when it comes to race sanctions.

I sure would like to find more people interested in racing or performance boating in the eastern TN area. I'm located on Spring City TN about half way between Knoxville and Chattanooga. Give me a call 423-452-0428 or E-mail (hinsdale@bellsouth.net) if you have some similar interests.

[sam]

You never know about Feds until you ask. The Corps of Engineers seems to be pretty accomodating some places .... or maybe it is just Gary Pond's natural charm