RFM Front Page News

MARSING, Idaho (September 23, 2003) — I knew from that start this was going to be the most intense thing I had ever done. When I went for a ride in an SCCA ProRally car last year it was being questioned whether I needed to wear a helmet or not.

For this ride, there was no question. I entered the boat donned in a Nomex firesuit, balaclava, neckbrace and helmet. I was preparing to go out on the track pulling up to 6 g’s with 1,000 methonal-burning horsies no more than 12 inches behind me.

I was going for the ride of my life.

The #69 Revenge boat, owned by Mike and Melissa Blimka, driven by Vince Kouba and navigated by his brother, Warren Kouba, is a proven championship USSBA SuperBoat.

As of late, however, Revenge has had handling problems. In hard turns, rather than going in and out smoothly and fast, she has been hopping and skipping on the water, costing precious speed and time — and some scary moments — during the past three races. Even though finishing second at a recent race in Woodland, the times have been off the mark of what is expected from this boat.

Longtime Jet Sprinter Mark Roberts then offered to lend a hand to help solve Revenge’s problems. They made some major changes to the bottom of the boat earlier in the week and I was going to be Vince’s first customer.

No, that didn’t dislodge my confidence whatsoever. I had seen Vince drive this boat many times and I was not concerned at all. So, I plopped down in the seat and Warren helped me get into the complicated 5-point harness. All I needed to know is where the emergency release was.

The boat was backed into the water and Vince cranked then engine over. After a couple of attempts the methonal-sucking beast behind breathed to life with the revenge it was aptly named for. I have never been so close to something so powerful. Sweet. Very sweet.

We backed away from the trailer and then idled over to the start. Vince gunned the throttle a few times, exclaiming the engine’s power. The torque rocked the boat gently.

We didn’t launch hard as Vince needed to see how she would handle. We zipped along gently on the water through the course as he tested the handling on the various corners.

Then he sped up quite a bit and we were really moving now! Cool. This is neat, is what flashed through my mind. We took a sharp 150-degree left-hand turn and the boat scraped the rocks. Whoah! Awesome! Man this thing turns so fast, which of course I already knew, but experiencing it firsthand was quite different than watching from the sidelines.

We came up to the front straight between the finish and start lines and then it was time for a ride. He nailed the throttle hard and we lurched forward very hard. The power of this engine is indescribable. With nary a blip off the throttle we slammed hard into a 120-degree left turn and Vince was on the accelerator again. We weaved through this extremely tight track blindingly fast and then Swoooosh! Scrrrraaaape! We were up on an island.

Vince complained that the boat was ‘knifing’ in the corners. What that means is that there was significant oversteer, or simply, the boat was just turning too sharp. Hence the reason we ended up on the island. I had noticed that Vince was having to backsteer to get through the corners.

A blink of an eye and we were beached. Our safety crew ran over and we pushed the boat back to the pits to clean the jets and I went for yet another ride that was so screamingly fast I search fruitlessly for words in our language to properly describe it.

The CART safety car ride I took earlier this year was cool. Actually that was quite a bit better than I had anticipated. The SCCA Pro Rally car ride was awesome. Screaming sideways in the dirt is incredibly cool.

But, my ride in this insanely fast, insanely quick cornering Jet Sprint boat takes the cake by a longshot. There is absolutely no comparison to my other rides, and maybe a ride in a ChampCar would come close, and maybe — just maybe — be equal for just being crazy fast, but the Jet Sprint’s cornering abilities, pure power and acceleration take it at least a notch or two above a ChampCar. While the ChampCar does take the top-end speed, the Jet Sprint wins everywhere else.

A corner in which a ChampCar—or even and F1 car—would take at say 40-60 mph would be taken at 80-100 mph in a sprint boat. I was amazed when I first saw them on TV two years ago, and I am so much more amazed now that I have experienced it firsthand.

The Jet Sprints have won my heart. I just absolutely love this form of racing and it’s the ultimate form of auto-cross and rally combined on a tiny, twisty track at insane speeds with water thrown all over the place. If you ever get a chance to see a USSBA race, do it. You will not regret it. Pop on down to the pits and meet the people that drive these monsters and all the other people involved. They are a great bunch of family loving folks that would just love to meet you.

And you might note that many times at the races, they give away free rides! Come on by for some great racing, decent track food, meet the people that make it all happen and you never know—You too make get the ride of your life!

Special thanks to Vince for being such an awesome driver. To Warren for getting this whole relationship with the Revenge clan started up. And to two very special people, Mike and Melissa Blimka, for your unending support and ensuring we’d get this ride no matter what in Marsing. You’ve all become great friends and we look forward to seeing you soon.