BOAT RACING ACTION

You strap on your helmet and adjust your face shield. Your stomach feels like it’s on the down side of a roller coaster. Eleven boats like yours line the shore waiting for the three minute gun from the judges stand to be fired. Your heart is pounding. Suddenly you are very thirsty. You mentally check everything you did in preparing your rig before the race. Clamps tight, steering secure, fuel, motor setup .... There’s the gun! The placid morning silence is shattered by twelve screaming race boats milling like vultures at the south end of the race course, jockeying for that all important starting position. The giant clock on the judges stand slowly winds down the last sixty seconds before you cross the starting line. If you charge the line and get there half a second too early, you’ll be disqualified. If you get there half a second too late, you’ll be fighting for fourth place. Your boat speed is good, but the first turn is approaching fast. When will the guy on the outside back off? You stay full throttle to the last moment, you turn her hard and drift a little wide on the second bouy. The guy on the outside sees a mistake and drives to the inside to take the advantage, but you still come out of the turn side by side. Throttles wide open, engines screaming while the revs climb, acceleration is the name of the game now.
Sound like fun? You bet it is! That’s what it’s like to race in an outboard power boat regatta. The boats and motors you see on display here are typical examples of the rigs currently racing in the Northeast. We invite you to become a member of Eastern Outboard Racing Club and join in on the fun we have racing.
The easiest way to find out about racing is to go to a club meeting or a regatta in your area and talk to the officials and drivers. Our club meets every third Thursday of each month at the Blue Point Recreation Center 39 Montauk Hwy., Blue Point at 8:30pm. By the way, our membership is open to non-racing members also. There are lots of activities that don’t specifically involve racing itself that you can participate in. You can contact our President or Vice President any evening for more information
President..........Erik Petersen (516) 312-8735
VicePresident..........Howie Pickerell (631) 283-7181

HOW RACES ARE STARTED

Exactly five minutes before the start of each race (or heat) a green flag is raised by the starter. The boats get on the course.

Exactly sixty seconds before the start a while flag is raised, and the big clock on the judges stand is put in motion to indicated passage of the last minute. The white flag is dropped and a green flag raised indicating the end of the minute and the official start of the heat.

The idea of the starting clock is for the drivers to see how much time is left in the minute and to try to hit the starting line exactly when the last second ends.

If the bow of any boat is over the starting line when the race is started, it is disqualified. If over half of the boats are over the starting line, the race is restarted.

A white flag is used to signal each boat as it starts the last lap. A checkered flag is used to indicate the Finish of the race for each boat

FLAGS AND THEIR PURPOSE ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Black Flag - Do not go on the course or leave pits
White Flag - Time between one-minute signal and start; leader has started last lap
Green Flag - Time between five-minute and one-minute signal; while race is underway except last lap
Yellow - CAUTION: Problem on race course, continue with caution and hold position
Blue/White - CAUTION: Problem on race course. continue with caution
Checkered - FINISH

Each race consists of three heats. Boats are awarded points for each time they place in a heat, at the end of three heats these points are totaled up to determine the winner. In the event there is a tie, the boat with the fastest heat to its credit is declared the winner of the tie.

Points for the various places are awarded as follows;
 

Copyright © 2004 Eastern Outboard Racing Club, Inc. All rights reserved.