Flying on water

• By GEORGE MORRIS
• Advocate News Features staff
• Published: Oct 16, 2009

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Lake Palourde has seen its share of powerboat races. National championships in 1964, 1969 and 1976. Eastern Divisionals in 2005, 2007 and 2008. Various smaller events.

But nothing quite like this.

Saturday and Sunday, Lake Palourde will play host to the 2009 Atchafalaya World Championships, which will bring in boats and drivers as far away as New Zealand to the course set up just north of Morgan City. The races will feature 13 classes of inboard powerboats racing for championships of the Union Internationale Motonautique, headquartered in Monaco.

“It’s probably one of the biggest things in boat racing in the state of Louisiana ever,” said Oren Dupre of the Morgan City Powerboat Association. “It’s an international type deal.”

The race comes to the United States every four to seven years and is the last event on the U.S. racing calendar, Dupre said, which means it should draw many of the top American boats who may have national titles at stake in the outcome.

“There’s not just the worlds they’re running for,” Dupre said. “They’re running for the U.S.-1 logo on the boat, too. The point standings are so close, some boats are only nine points from being in first place, and there’s a chance for them to get 300-plus points on the weekend, so everybody’s coming out for it.”

That includes top racers in the Grand Prix category — large boats that achieve top-end straightaway speeds over 100 mph, Dupre said. Top Grand Prix drivers already registered include Tom Pakradooni of Glen Mills, Pa., Huey Newport of West Chester, Ohio and Kenneth Brodie of Grand Island, N.Y.

“We’ve got a bunch of good personnel who’s really going to give us a good show,” Dupre said.

In the 2.5-Liter Modified Division, Don Mashburn of Lafayette is among the top racers expected to appear.

The races will go four times around a 1.25-mile course for a five-mile total. The course will be D-shaped.

“It’s more appealing to the drivers,” Dupre said. “They don’t have to really bend the wheel, so to speak, to make the hard turns. It’s easier of a transition to get in and out of the course. They’re going to have 1,600 feet of straightaways that they can really motor down.

“They get around there pretty quick.”

The action will take place 600 feet off Lake End Park, which is just off La. 70 north of town. The park, created when land was added to provide erosion protection for the highway, will give spectators a chance to set up picnic canopies and watch from the water’s edge. Racing will begin just after the 8:30 a.m. drivers meeting both days and last until about 5 p.m. Admission is $10 per person and free for children under 12. The Louisiana Office of Tourism is a co-sponsor of this year’s races.