Snowmobile skipping

Snowmobile Watercross or Snowmobile Skipping is a sport where snowmobile racers hydroplane their sleds across lakes or rivers.

History

The Grantsburg (Wisconsin) 1st annual World Championship Snowmobile Watercross was held in July 1977, when running snowmobiles over water was a new and challenging pastime. The first race was simply held to see who could make it the 300 feet from the island on Memory Lake to the shore. Most didn't, but the winner did go about 500 ft. In the years following, racers became more skilled and the machines more powerful. Today they race both drags and ovals with an eight-lap championship run. Over 100 racers compete in the various classes. The Classes range from the beginners' Stock Drags to the top Pro-Open Ovals Class. Competitive watercross is run by two main circuits. The IWA (International Watercross Association) operates mainly in the midwest, while the EWA (Eastern Watercross Association) operates in the Northeastern States.

The 32nd Annual World Championship Snowmobile Watercross will be held July 18-20, 2007 at Memory Lake Park, Grantsburg, Wisconsin [http://www.grantsburgwatercross.com/] .

In most cases, participants in watercross strip their snowmobiles of all non-essential parts--including the seat—in order to save weight.

Safety

Watercross competitions are held during the summer and the participants wear Personal flotation device, and have a buoy tethered to their sleds. If for some event the rider and sled do not complete the course, the rider releases the buoy from the snowmobile so that it floats to the surface and marks the sled for retrieval. Watercross competitions, as with any other reputable competition motor sport, have ambulance and rescue crews nearby in the event of an accident.

While it is possible to skim over the water with a stock snowmobile, the practice is dangerous and illegal in some states. In February 2006, a Massachusetts man died in New Hampshire after sinking into the water during a failed skimming attempt. The practice of “skimming” is illegal in Minnesota and New Hampshire. In Wisconsin, there are places where skimming is encouraged, and some businesses rely on it to attract customers, for example at Bauers Dam in Conover, Wisconsin.