Boat Races

**K-slice** · June-27-10, 11:40 PM

I'm from up north but come to the city every chance I get, so forgive me if this is a dumb question.
Where's a good place to watch the hydroplane races and avoid paying the fee? I know they go between Belle Isle and the mainland just north of the bridge. Can you get a good view of them from Belle isle, and is there a decent beach or anything? My dad watched them back in the 70's from the bridge he tells me, and says to get their real early.

**Al Publican** · June-28-10, 12:48 PM

For years I watch the boat races from the Belle Isle beach when there was a big party scene there in he '70s and '90s. Now and then during those yearsI attended private parties near the Manoogian Mansion that provided a better view.

If you are coming that far to see boats go fast, I suggest popping for tickets on the Detroit side of the river that provide a closer look at the course.
Also, park in a legal lot with security and not on the street or in some vacant lot where dubious characters collect "parking fees." I also advise the same when going to Comerica Park or Ford Field. Park in supervised lots, not on the street where your window might get popped.

[[Did the Belle Isle beach party scene seem to poop out about ten or fifteen years ago. I was there for the races around 2002 and the crowd seemed thin. )

**douglasm** · June-28-10, 04:41 PM

BTW, the hydro scene starts this weekend in Madison. Looks like there is going to be a 12 boat field. Info here
http://www.madisonregatta.com/links.html
and here
http://www.kndu.com/Global/category....av=menu484_5_4

Usually one of the WORX streams the races over the web, and it looks like they will do that again this year. Their site is here...
http://www.worxradio.com/sports.htm

Have to get my copy of the movie Madison out and look at it again......

**FerndaleDamon** · June-28-10, 05:10 PM

We always used to go to the island, between the bridge & the beach. Good view with plenty of shade trees, if sun becomes too much. In the late 80's- early 90's, it was a party marathon. We used to bring an RV over for the whole weekend & camp out. Live bands w/music. People up all night. Hungover & sunburned the next day. Not any more. The authorities won't even lt you pitch a tent on Belle Isle now. Ah, memories.......

**GPCharles** · June-29-10, 10:25 AM

Growing up in Grosse Pointe, the boat races were a huge event in our teens and twenties. We would erect scaffolding in Owen Park, bring in the coolers and grills and the party would last all day on Sunday. Everyone lived for boat race day. Of course, it helped when they ran on the old Allison and Rolls Royce airplane engines and you could hear them throughout GP.

For the past few years, it has lasted the whole weekend rather than one day, which I think takes some of the "big event" focus away. The newspaper and tv coverage is practically non-existent these days. In the old days it was on the radio "This is Fred Wolf reporting from the Roostertail turn." They also shortened up the course from the original 3 mile oval.

**Bong-Man** · June-29-10, 02:17 PM

I believe the course was shortened from 5 miles to 3, most of that taken away from the bridge turn.

Thanks to Jarvis for stepping up and sponsoring this year's races.

**GPCharles** · June-29-10, 03:09 PM

"By the 1920s, the Gold Cup had settled into the 90-mile format that was to characterize its existence for the next four decades. Competition consisted of three heats of 30 statute miles each. Each heat usually consisted of 10 laps around a 3-mile closed course, although 2.5-mile and 5-mile courses were occasionally used.
The most radical format change occurred in 1963. Instead of three heats of 30 miles, each boat ran four heats of 15 miles. 60-mile Gold Cups were the rule from 1963 to 1980 with the single exception of 1968 when, inexplicably, the race was reduced to three heats of 15 miles each.
The 1981 and 1982 Gold Cups were 45 miles in length.
In 1983, the Gold Cup was run on a 2-mile course [[at Evansville, Indiana) for the first time. The race consisted of three heats of 12 miles each.
The 60-mile format was back for 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, and 1990.
The 1988 Gold Cup on Evansville's 2-mile tri-oval consisted of four heats of 12 miles each.
The current format of 52.5 miles on a 2.5-mile course was introduced in 1991 at Detroit. The race is run over a two-day period with two heats on Saturday and three heats on Sunday. The Saturday heats are 7.5 miles; the Sunday heats are 12.5 miles.
Traditionally, the Gold Cup has been a distance race. When the 90-mile format was used, most non-Gold Cup races were 45 miles in length."