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Hello people,
I just got home from 1st race day up here in my hometown of Valleyfield, QC. Since a couple of people asked me "what the hell is an hydroplane" and "why aren't you coming to Einherjar this weekend", I though that it would be actually nice to share with you some tidbits about hydroplane racing, my hometown and the atmosphere related to this event.
Valleyfield is a town of about 30 000 people but for only the first or second week-end of july we jump over 100 000. Traffic is hell especially since the town is circling the bay lol. As for the renown of Valleyfield, well most of the people consider it the international capital of hydroplane racing. We got people from USA, Europe and even New-Zeland that come every year to claim victory on what can be considered the Monaco of boat racing in term of race track.
Speaking of which, you can compare this to NASCAR pretty much. Drivers needs to complete 5 laps around an oval as fast as they can. We use a countdown clock for the start. Drivers got 5 mins to position themselves before the green flag is given.
Even if it's an oval, the course is pretty hard to master. Both corners are very tight compared to other places on the circuit. Waves, winds and boat trails left by other drivers make the track a new challenge every lap and trust me, they need to be good to bring back their boats to the dock.
As for the boats, they're planes without wings. The goal is to keep the boat off water as much as possible. Drivers can adjust wings located in front of the canopy to let more or less air go under the boat. If by mistake the driver let too much air go under (i.e.: a good breeze out of nowhere) the boat will flip. Depending on the class drivers are in, speed can vary between 100km/h and 300km/h, I let you imagine what it can be at the highest speed..
Here's 2 videos I took from Grand Prix qualifications (the biggest boat category here in Valleyfield this weekend) and a couple of shots from the site. Tomorrow I'm going down the pitlane, expect to see really good close-up shot.
P.S.: I suck at recording with a kodak and taking photos lol.
Heat 1A
Heat 1B
It goes even further past the trees behind. You got people sitting all around the bay.
One of our town church, we got 2 beautiful ones near the site actually.
To my left it's a landstrip with pretty much every alcoholic of the town there. You could tell it was hot because the rubber palm trees were red and yellow.
... It was just an excuse to take the girl in photo, I admit it.
Typical view of a boat struggling with the west corner. Also notice the boats floating behind, sunday we'll have 4 times that amount of boats closing the bay to watch the finals.
People are slowly gathering after the lunch for bigger classes races.
The clock I was talking about earlier, I'm sitting right under the start/finish line.
A fan congratulating the winner of a race the best way, with a beer. Amen.
An another shot of the west turn, it was a really hot nice day out there. It feels the best when water is shining like diamonds. You can see sailboats at the left, there is a marina if the image would still continue left.
A shot from behind the stands, I stayed behind after everything was finished.
What you see is a channel originally built for Queen Elizabeth II but nowadays pleasure boat have access to it. There is a dock pass the bridge that leads to Valleyfield Downtown. The channel itself goes through the entire town too.
Lastly, a shot of what can be considered a typical scenery that you see in all Valleyfield. Water, old houses and our cathedral that burnt twice in 5 years lol. From the look of it, I think they're finished with repairs lol.
Stay tuned for updates!
I just got home from 1st race day up here in my hometown of Valleyfield, QC. Since a couple of people asked me "what the hell is an hydroplane" and "why aren't you coming to Einherjar this weekend", I though that it would be actually nice to share with you some tidbits about hydroplane racing, my hometown and the atmosphere related to this event.
Valleyfield is a town of about 30 000 people but for only the first or second week-end of july we jump over 100 000. Traffic is hell especially since the town is circling the bay lol. As for the renown of Valleyfield, well most of the people consider it the international capital of hydroplane racing. We got people from USA, Europe and even New-Zeland that come every year to claim victory on what can be considered the Monaco of boat racing in term of race track.
Speaking of which, you can compare this to NASCAR pretty much. Drivers needs to complete 5 laps around an oval as fast as they can. We use a countdown clock for the start. Drivers got 5 mins to position themselves before the green flag is given.
Even if it's an oval, the course is pretty hard to master. Both corners are very tight compared to other places on the circuit. Waves, winds and boat trails left by other drivers make the track a new challenge every lap and trust me, they need to be good to bring back their boats to the dock.
As for the boats, they're planes without wings. The goal is to keep the boat off water as much as possible. Drivers can adjust wings located in front of the canopy to let more or less air go under the boat. If by mistake the driver let too much air go under (i.e.: a good breeze out of nowhere) the boat will flip. Depending on the class drivers are in, speed can vary between 100km/h and 300km/h, I let you imagine what it can be at the highest speed..
Here's 2 videos I took from Grand Prix qualifications (the biggest boat category here in Valleyfield this weekend) and a couple of shots from the site. Tomorrow I'm going down the pitlane, expect to see really good close-up shot.
P.S.: I suck at recording with a kodak and taking photos lol.
Heat 1A
Heat 1B
It goes even further past the trees behind. You got people sitting all around the bay.
One of our town church, we got 2 beautiful ones near the site actually.
To my left it's a landstrip with pretty much every alcoholic of the town there. You could tell it was hot because the rubber palm trees were red and yellow.
... It was just an excuse to take the girl in photo, I admit it.
Typical view of a boat struggling with the west corner. Also notice the boats floating behind, sunday we'll have 4 times that amount of boats closing the bay to watch the finals.
Stay tuned for updates!
.