Aug. 22—The Owensboro HydroFair races were postponed Saturday, Aug. 21, due to debris in the water and impending weather conditions, according to American Hydroplane Events Race Director Randy Lientz.
The hydroplane racing, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., was delayed for several hours as crews continued removing large debris from the water throughout the afternoon.
Officials announced the postponement around 3:30 p.m.
Lientz said the delay was completely in the interest of safety.
“There’s only one consideration, and that is safety,” he said.
Several different things can affect the races and case delays, including the water level, debris and current.
If the current is too fast, buoys are thrown off course that set the track for races. And, most importantly, Lientz said, if there is too much debris in the water, it could lead to injuries for racers and for safety and work crews.
“The most important thing though, is debris. When the river rises, that water will wash any debris into the water,” Lientz said. “These boats will be … some of them going 170 miles an hours, and if you get a twig at 170 miles an hour, that’s not good.”
With poor weather conditions that were expected to roll in around 4 p.m., Leintz said the priority became to get everyone off the water.
“We have so many people out on the river, a lot of boats, a lot of people, rescue divers, so forth, so we need to get them off,” he said.
However, he said the races will begin Sunday, with less time between racing heats to account for heats carried over from Saturday.
“Everything that was going to be seen today will be seen tomorrow,” Lientz said.
Crowds of people waited at Smothers Park and English Park throughout the afternoon in anticipation of the races, some disgruntled by the delays.
Kirk Hoffman, who traveled from Huntsville, Alabama, for the event, said he and a companion had put up chairs in English Park early in the morning to get a good view of the race.
“We saw two yesterday, but we haven’t been too lucky today,” he said. “We’ve been here all morning. We’re avid boat race fans.”
Hoffman said he attends boat racing events whenever he has the chance, having watched hydroplane racing in Alabama multiple times and has traveled to Indiana and Kentucky to watch races as well.
Owensboro residents John and Rose Meister also awaited the races at English Park. They are longtime supporters of the sport.
“We were here every year they had them,” said John Meister of when Owensboro hosted hydroplane racing annually, a legacy that ended in the late 1970s.
The couple said they visited the park Friday. They hoped to see boats test run, but were unsuccessful.
“It looks like it might be a while before we race,” he said, prior to the postponement. “Hopefully, we’ll get some in today.”
They’ll try again Sunday, Aug. 22. Racing is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.
Christie Netherton, cnetherton@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7360