Drag Boats

All of us here love hot rods (if you don’t then why are you reading this magazine?) we see them cruising down the streets of Modesto, racing on the back roads, tearing up the drag strips, hitting the oval tracks, and crowding the parking lots of Bob’s and Mel’s. Now a place were you usually don’t see hot rods (or at least a place you wouldn’t think you would see a hot rod) is on the water! That is right there are a bunch guys who run hot rods on the water known as drag boats!

Drag Boats started way back in the 1500s when Christoper Columbus raced the Mayflower against the Argo and set a record for lowest ET.
Seriously now drag boat racing started not too long after land drag racing did. It all started when one guy claimed his boat was faster than the other guys next thing you know they were drag racing! By the 60s Drag Boat racing grew and drag boats became their own type of boat. Running the same motors as their pavement cousins, creating their own designs for drag boat racing and coming up with their own launching and staging formats!
How drag boats run is very similar to drag racing of land lovers, two boats are paired to race, they line up, when the light turns green on the tree they go! (Yeah they have floating trees for drag boat racing). Their are some differences how drag boat racing is done, due to the fact they have to race on water.

Drag Boats use a moving start when they race. This starting system was implemented as a safety precaution because it is difficult for a boat driver to determine if the boat will launch straight from a standing start.
As two boats are “paired up” on the holding rope, a countdown clock begins before the boats get the green light. During competition, if either boat crosses the starting line before the green light is illuminated, it is disqualified.

When the boats launch (especially when the Top Fuel and Top Alcohol classes launch) walls of water get shot up over 30ft in the air and the boats themselves literally get airborne for a few seconds! Then Jump forward into the air before landing to finish the race!
Another thing about drag boats is like drag cars they come in all shapes and sizes. You have everything from speed boats with small block motors to flatbottom boats with Hemis, to hydroplane boats running Top Fuel Keith Black motors!

Classes in Drag Boat racing range from personal watercraft (jet skis, small boats) to outboard motor boats, to 11.00 Second flat bottom boats, to Pro Mods on water (just about anything goes) to Top Alcohol Flat Bottom and Top Fuel Hydro boats which run almost as fast as there land cousins. Top Fuel Drag Boats can finish the liquid quarter mile in 4.5 seconds!
The Lucas Oil Drag Boat series is the largest Sanctioning Body for drag boating, other sanctioning bodies include the IHBA (International Hot Boat Association) and the SDBA (Southern Drag Boat Association).

What makes drag boat racing exciting? Well there are many different reason it could be exciting, the loud sound of the motors, the hard launches that send walls of water 30 feet into the air, the quickness of the boats and more.

So what are you waiting for land lovers? You know what drag boat racing is get out there to the nearest lake and race!