2023 Labor Day Issue

Racing Tradition Continues on Lake Hopatcong
Story by MICHAEL DAIGLE
Photos by KAREN FUCITO
The view of the watery racecourse from the
driver’s seat of his Jersey Speed Skiff is a
little different than from the second chair where
the riding mechanic sits, said Mount Arlington’s
Randy Weber.
The Jersey Skiff is a powerful and swiftly
maneuverable craft that is capable of taking
tight turns in a race that to a spectator appear
dangerously out of control, he said.
“The excitement of several skiffs going into the
first turn is one of the most exciting things at a
boat race,” he said. “The way these boats turn,
they get up on their sides and your shoulder
almost touches the water. Being a driver is also
the most challenging but exciting part of the two
positions in a skiff.”
Weber will be among 50 or so racers taking
to Lake Hopatcong in September for the race
series sponsored by the Lake Hopatcong Racing
Association. This will be Weber’s second year
racing at Lake Hopatcong.
The event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on
Sept 16 and 17.
The featured races are the New Jersey State
Powerboat Championships and the New Jersey
Governor’s Cup race. The Lake Hopatcong races
were designated as the Governor’s Cup in 2017 by
the New Jersey Legislature.
The viewing area and start/finish line are at
Hopatcong State Park in Landing. There is no
fee for admission, but association member Ann
Fitzgerald said the club requests donations to
offset the cost of hosting the event.
The event also received a grant from the New
Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism.
The racing association was founded in 1964,
according to history written by member Dave
Shaw.
The races feature three boat classes, he wrote,
hydro classes, flatbottom classes, and Jersey
Speed Skiffs. Depending on the class, the hydros
run engines from 44 cubic inch displacement
Crosley engines, up to big block Chevrolets, Fords,
and Chryslers. Straightaway speeds range from the
mid-50 mph range for the smaller boats, to over
100 mph for the larger boats, he wrote.
The American Power Boat Association
offered these definitions: A hydroplane is a fast
motorboat, where the hull shape is such that at
high speed, the weight of the boat is supported
by planing forces, rather than simple buoyancy.
A key aspect of hydroplanes is that they use the
water they are on for lift rather than buoyancy, as
well as for propulsion and steering.
The Ultimate Guide to Flat Bottom Boat Racing
defined the craft: “With a flat bottom and shallow
draft a flat bottom boat can quickly get on plane
and thus encounter less friction thus reaching
higher speeds.”
The 300-plus horsepower Jersey Skiffs are a wild
ride; they spend a lot of time airborne, bouncing
around, rolling sideways to seemingly impossible
angles at 80 mph. The riding mechanic holds on
tight, while the driver stays on course.
“The races are a great
spectacle,” said John
Luime, who began
watching in the mid-
1970s when the races
were held in the Lake
Forest section of the
lake.
The association
shifted to the state park
in the late 1980s, Dave Shaw’s history noted. The
races became known as the New Jersey State
Championship Regatta.
Luime said he has viewed the races from the
shore and from his own boat.
The event offers sensory overload, he said. The
sound of the boats, the power and speed, the
watery fantails all add to an exciting experience.
“It’s a wonderful family event, whether seen
from the shore or from a boat,” he said. “It’s fun
and exciting.”
Association spokesman Bill Pierce said the 2023
races follow a couple years when the races were
affected by the COVID pandemic, and travel and
cost issues.
Those issues especially hampered Canadian
racers from participating, he said.
The event costs an estimated $50,000 to stage,
which includes a small amount of prize money, he
said.
The association relies on volunteers, donations
and sponsors to stage the races, he said.
By early August, 44 lake region sponsors
were listed on the club’s website:
lakehopatcongboatrace.com.
Once a top competitor, Pierce said his job now
is to administer the race and “raise money to
offset the costs.”
The Lake Hopatcong races were among 90
American and Canadian race events listed on the
website of the American Power Boat Association.
In the sport, the Lake Hopatcong races are an
important event, said Fitzgerald. Once a champion
racer, she and her husband John now crew for the
hydro racer Tenacity, piloted by Al Thompson.
Fitzgerald said she and her husband were active
racers from 1970 to 1984.
She was calling from Tonawanda, New York, in
early August where Tenacity was competing in the
Thunder on the Niagara event.
“Lake Hopatcong draws top racers from up and
down the East Coast and Canada,” she said. “It’s an
exciting course.”
Tom Bush of Jefferson competed in his T-class
Top to bottom, left to right: Tom Bush featured
on the cover of the Daily Record TGIF
magazine in September of 1982. Ann Fitzgerald
in 1993. (Photo courtesy of Ann Fitzgerald.) Carolyn
and George Thorne with Tom and Amy Bush
in Tonawanda in August of 1982. (Photo courtesy
of Tom Bush.) The start of a race at Hopatcong
State Park in 2019. Randy Weber and Robert
Boleslawski in Weber’s Jersey Skiff at a race in
Maryland in May. (Photo courtesy of Jon Wittman.)
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LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Labor Day 2023