A Weekend at Kent Narrows Do not miss this special event! Save the dates: June 27 and June 28, 2015. Expect a lot of racing. Boats come from all over to get regional racing points. The full variety of racing classes will be there, and with full fields for boats per class. Race teams travel from as far away as Canada and Florida. They come from South and North Carolina, Massachussetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The American Power Boat Association (APBA) East Coast Championships reach out to racers and race teams farther than a local race would. It is a must “be there” event for boat racers. Where is the race? The Kent Island YC (KIYC). The 2014 edition of Thunder on the Narrows. Photo by Walter Cooper The private club opens to the public for this race. Find KIYC at Kent Island Narrows (N38° 58.03’, W76° 14.82’) or by land from US 50/301 using highway exit 41, four miles east of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Once off route 50, follow the special parking signs. A free bus goes between the parking lot and the racing. The race site location for GPS directions: 117 Yacht Club Road, Chester, MD, 21619. Spectators can also come by water from the Chester River, which is to the north of the race course, or from Prospect Bay, to the south. This area of water is also known as Hogg Bay, which is best identified to a boater as the area north of Hogg Island on NOAA Chart 12270. Be sure to respect the Coast Guard, DNR, and Race Committee rules, regulations, officials, and boats. Kent Narrows Racing Association # 181 hosts this special event, and the race is sanctioned by the APBA. The club provides trophies for the winners (including several special trophies), secures the location, supplies the race course turn buoys and the other racing materials (such as the starting clock), and arranges for the Region 4 Rescue Team to be onsite for safe racing. Team cars, trucks, trailers, and motorhomes need to find parking places on the grounds. It takes a good size team to put all this together and make it run smoothly. Organizers provide food and drink. Fair warning: The pit beef sandwich is Seabuddy’s choice. Get one made by Marilyn in the concession stand if you can. Her over-stuffed sandwiches are among the high points of the weekend. Racing The course is an inboard one, a one and a quarter mile course; it takes four laps to make a five-mile heat. Only the J-Hydro class runs a smaller, shorter course. All the races will be a clock start race on a sea level course. Racing starts at 10 a.m. each day. Hydroplanes throw walls of water or rooster tails of spray as they race around the course. Depending on the engine size and racing class they achieve speeds of about 120 miles per hour down the straight-a-ways. The boats with their high-powered engines fly over the surface of the water using their rudders for control and skipping the front sponsons over the water's surface. Hydroplanes are designed to trap air under the boat's hull and literally hang some six to 12 inches above the water. On the newest boats, a driver-adjustable wing up front controls the ride height. It is the last chance the driver has to keep the boat from flipping over. Older boats need a small wiggle of the steering wheel to dump the air that lifts the boat and that will cause it to settle down if they do not have the driver wing. Chris Oliver, the race director for the East Coast Championships at the Thunder on the Narrows and the hydroplane racer himself, plans an exciting program for spectators and racers, alike. Hydroplanes share the two days of racing with flat bottom ski boat racers, Jersey Speed Skiffs and other racing classes. I do enjoy the seemingly wild turns that the round bottom of a JSS class boat does to get around the oval. by Chris "Seabuddy" Brown