Image of the Week: Angry Water Bugs Return

Photographer Tim Sharkey nailed this shot of four 2.5-liter Inboard hydroplanes running in formation during yesterday’s race, hosted by the Greenwood Lake Powerboat Club, on New Jersey’s Greenwood Lake. The event attracted 59 boats spread over 11 classes, which kept Sharkey busy all weekend. And his ears are probably still ringing from the buzz of all those engines during the American Power Boat Association sanctioned event.

Colorful angry water bugs, all in a row. Photo courtesy/copyright Tim Sharkey/Sharkey Images.

“All those boats with so many qualifying heats made for a long weekend of racing,” said Sharkey. “I don’t think I’ve shot that much video and images—almost 5,500 images—at one event. My memory use was almost 90 gigabytes!

“I spent two days at this event, which was the start of a new beginning,” he continued. “After many years not running this event, people tried to revive it a few years ago. When the race happened that year, I shot it. The following year, local and political differences sabotaged the race and it had to be canceled. This year, new people stepped up to the plate and boats came from as far as Canada and North Carolina.”