Since it originated in New Zealand in 1981 as a derivative of river racing, the sport of Jetsprinting has dramatically graduated from its humble ‘family’ boat beginnings.
In those formative years temporary tracks were created by moving hundreds of tons of riverbed metal with heavy machinery to create the necessary channels for racing, and at the end of the event the river was restored to its original configuration.
It was a time consuming operation, and the family boats were not very fast, but over the years the sport has evolved into what is widely regarded as one of the most exciting forms of professional motor sport in the world with the progression to the unrestricted V8 Superboats that compete today.
For more than 20 years the basic competition concept hasn’t changed, with boats running individually against the clock on a course within full view of the spectators. The ‘sudden death’ racing format in the elimination rounds is unique, and a major factor in the sport’s popularity with competitors, spectators and a world wide television audience.
New Zealand’s unique rivers served the sport well in the formative years, but when Jetsprinting expanded to other countries, stadium-like purpose-built tracks changed the face of the sport.
Australia embraced Jetsprinting in 1987 with the world’s first permanent course being built in South Australia, followed by a nation-wide expansion. Five years later the sport was introduced into America where the expansion continued, and since that time there has been significant growth both in competitor and spectator numbers, and in the development of international standard facilities.
The sport now attracts crowds of up to 10,000 people or more at a single event. Thanks to television exposure Jetsprinting continues to grow globally, along with Australia, New Zealand and America, the first track has been established in England and opportunities are being explored to introduce the sport to the middle east.
In little more than 20 years Jetsprinting has evolved from family fun to a sport with highly sophisticated race boats run by professional race teams.
In 1999 a World Series body was formed enabling competitors the opportunity to race for a World Championship sanctioned by the UIM (Union Internationale Motonautique), the governing body of world water-borne motor sport. These are held every year at two or three locations around the world.

About the Race

A typical Jetsprint course is built in an area the size of a football field, consisting of a series of channels four to eight metres wide, with a water depth of up to one metre. Likened to driving a rally car on water, boats have a driver and navigator who negotiate the channels in a pre-determined order given to them on race day. The race usually involves 25-30 directional changes in a run that takes less than a minute to complete. It’s the ultimate test of man and machine against the clock, a test where the difference between winning and losing is often within hundredths of a second. Each competitor has up to five qualifying runs (depending on the time schedule) with the top ten crews progressing to the ‘sudden death’ elimination rounds.
The top ten is then reduced to the final three who compete in the final round for outright honours.
Points are also awarded to the top ten for finishing qualifying runs, so consistency is the key as the winner of the final may not necessarily be the winner of the round, an important factor in winning a championship.

The Boats

Likened to putting a drag racing engine into your average Aussie aluminium dinghy, the boats themselves are unusual in their design and are built especially for this sport. Boats are made of aluminium and the whole package weighs between 450 and 600 kilograms. With V8 Superboat engines producing up to 1200 horsepower it provides an amazing power to weight ratio virtually unseen in any other form of motorsport. A V8 Superboat boat has exceptional performance, capable of accelerating from 0 to 140 km/h in under two seconds and pulling 5-6 G’s similar to those experienced in a jet fighter in corners and under acceleration.
Steering is through a rear nozzle which directs the jet unit output. There is no rudder and the boat can only steer when power is applied. V8 Superboat jet units have a water throughput of around 2800 litres per minute. This gives them incredible manoeuvrability enabling them to turn 180 degree corners at unparalleled speed.
V8 Superboat engines are unrestricted and vary depending on the design concept behind them. With the key to successful racing being maximum manoeuvrability and speed, some believe in the use of heavyweight big-block engines with capacities up to 676 cubic inches which produce maximum horsepower. The alternative is a new generation of all-alloy lightweight V8 small-block engines - the first in Australia developed and used by Phil Dixon and the True Blue Racing Team. The Col Parish built engine has a capacity of 500 cubic inches, weighs only 150 kilograms and produces in excess of 900 horsepower. V8 Superboat engines use methanol fuel and have an incredible fuel-burn rate of 20 litres per average run, which lasts around 50 seconds.