By RUSSELL BENNETT
IT’S fair to say the world of jet sprinting is not for the faint-hearted. It involves racing 12-foot long, 500 kilogram boats really more like rockets – about 1000 horsepower and from 0-100 kilometres per hour in under two seconds. In a 40 second lap in knee-deep water and track only six or seven metres wide, these boats will burn between 12 and 15 litres of methanol fuel, and the G-forces – well they’re just insane.
But businessman and jet boat pilot Greg ‘Crusty’ Mercier and his navigator wife Dorinda (‘Mrs Crusty’) can’t get enough of it.
They earned their nicknames after a crash in a Darwin race years ago.
“When we came back all the guys were like ‘you looked like the Crusty Demons out there!’,” Dorinda said.
The Merciers, Casey area locals, are currently preparing for their assault on the Jetsprint World Titles in the United States next month. Their new 1000-plus horsepower engine has been built specially for the bi-annual event that alternates between New Zealand, Australia and the United States.
The first race of the two-race series next month will be in Poplar Bluff, Missouri with the second in Lebanon, Oregon.
Crowds in excess of 10,000 people are expected for each leg.
Greg and Dorinda, former Australian national champions, can’t wait to get over there and give the world title a red-hot crack as one of the series’ top contenders in their distinctive shark-themed boat.
But they’ll face strong competition, particularly from the New Zealanders who started the sport decades ago.
Greg and Dorinda, in fact, raced the New Zealand series this year – including one race on a makeshift track dug into a first-class rugby pitch.
But they always wanted to tick an American event off their racing bucket list.
“We’ve been racing nearly 13 years and the last American race was just before we started racing,” Dorinda said.
“We never thought it was going to happen because we thought it was probably about time we retired but we heard about this early last year so we’re not retiring now!”
Jet sprinting is a particularly expensive sport to be involved in, but like Dorinda said: “You do it because you love it.”
Anyone interested in sponsoring the Merciers and their Azudo racing boat should call 0407 342 772 or visit azudoracing.com.au.
