Snowmobile skipping

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Snowmobile Watercross, or Snowmobile Skipping, is a competitive sport conducted on water using snowmobiles.

History

The Grantsburg Lions Club held its first watercross competition in July 1977 when running snowmobiles over water was a new and challenging past-time. The first race was simply held to see who could make it from the island on Memory Lake in Grantsburg to the shore, some 300 ft. away. Most didn't, but the winner did go about 500 ft. In the years following, racers became more skilled and the machines more powerful. Today they race both drags and ovals with a six-lap championship run. Over 100 racers compete in the various classes.

The 29th Annual World Championship Snowmobile Watercross was held July 15-17, 2005 at Memory Lake Park, Grantsburg, Wisconsin [1].

In most cases, participants in watercross strip their snowmobiles of all non-essential parts--including the seat—in order to save weight.

Safety Issues

Watercross competitions are held during the summer and the participants wear life-vests, and have a buoy tethered to their sleds. If for some event the rider and sled do not complete the course, the rider releases the buoy from the snowmobile so that it floats to the surface and marks the sled for retrieval. Watercross competitions, as with any other reputable competition motor sport, have ambulance and rescue crews nearby in the event of an accident.

While it is possible to skim over the water with a stock snowmobile, the practice is dangerous and illegal in some states. In February 2006, a Massachusetts man died in New Hampshire after sinking into the water during a failed skimming attempt. The practice of “skimming” is illegal in the state of New Hampshire (http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/6583530/detail.html).Template:Sports-stub