First J Hydro World Championship Joining Moses Lake Nationals

At the same time national champions will be decided in the American Power Boat Association (APBA) Stock Outboard, Modified Outboard and Junior classes on Washington’s Moses Lake in early August, the first Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) Junior Hydroplane World Championship also will take place at the APBA Moses Lake Nationals (Aug. 4-9).

Three J Hydro racers from Qatar will be part of the first UIM J Hydro World Champion on Washington’s Moses Lake this summer.

Organized and promoted by the London-based marketing company Nauticpromo, the first world championship for the Junior Hydroplane—or J Hydro for short—class is expected to feature U.S. drivers as well as three drivers from the flourishing powerboat community of Doha, Qatar. The three Qatari drivers were the top finishers at the recently held Qatar Marine Sports Federation J Hydro series, which is run under the patronage of Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani—the distinguished offshore racer behind the Qatar Team.

JW Myers, Nauticpromo’s race director, believes that the Qatari juniors will be more than competitive despite their relative inexperience in comparison to the U.S. drivers. Myers, along with many others, sees J Hydro racing as the breeding ground for the future hydroplane racing champions. Quite a few Unlimited drivers competing today started racing in J Hydro.

According to a press release from the company, the QMSF J Hydro Series and the UIM J Hydro Worlds are just part of Nauticpromo’s plans to develop and support the sport of hydroplane racing at all levels and on a global basis.

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