2019 World Jet Boat Championship kicked off with sunshine in Whitecourt

After what felt like an eternity of rain, organizers of the 2019 World Jet Boat Championship were thrilled to see sunshine forecasted for the opening weekend in Whitecourt on July 12 and 13. The river was higher than normal but Christina Wright, Union Internationale Motonautique (UMI) Commissioner for the championship said as long as the logs steered clear, the higher water wasn’t a problem. “We have a very good number of boats taking part. We have three from both Mexico and the United States, five from New Zealand, and the rest are from Canada. Altogether there are 40 boats.” 

One of the boats out on the water had a unique paint scheme on it complete with the Hulk, Iron Man, Elmo, and Mickey Mouse. The vessel is piloted by Juan Quiroga and is one of the boats from Mexico. He has been speeding across the water in jet boats since 1981 and has come to Canada for the event four times. When asked what he loved most about visiting Canada Quiroga said the people and the rivers. “I love everything here.”

His interpreter Pepe Posada moved to Calgary from Mexico 14 years ago and was in Whitecourt to help the Mexican teams. “If they need anything then I am here to help them with it.” Only a couple of the members of the team can speak English, but their shared love of boat racing comes through loud and clear through the smiles on their faces.

“They are so excited to be here, and they love it. It’s completely different to race here than it is in Mexico. The rivers are different. So are the trees and everything around. Before they came, they asked me if they needed to bring their winter coats and I said yes, that they should bring them,” laughed Posada. He said the team members and their families that come with them always remark that the people they meet in Canada are very nice.

“I know most of the crews that race here, and they are very nice people. They like having us here, but I think now it’s time for the Canadians to come to Mexico to race,” he said with a big smile. “Thank you to Whitecourt. I have been coming here since I came to Canada 14 years ago. It’s a nice little town and I have good friends here.”

Some might be wondering how teams from Mexico get their boats to Canada and might assume that the process is arduous, but Posada said it is quite easy. “We have no issues getting our boats from Mexico to the United States and then into Canada. The only issue we have, that we didn’t know about, are the new rules to go from one province to another province, where they stop all watercrafts to check for zebra mussels.” Posada laughed as he explained that the crew was stopped and didn’t understand what they had done wrong. “Everything was good, though. They put a lock on the boats so we couldn’t put them in the water until we cleaned them out in Alberta. Once they were clean, we were good to go. They were very nice about it.”

Two beautiful days of weather brought out droves of spectators at the boat launch and at different spots along the river. The overall standings following the Whitecourt portion of the event had Unnatural Disaster captained by Gordon Humphrey in the lead with a leg one time of 23:13 followed by Kwik Kiwi (New Zealand) captained by Nigel Cromie in second with 23:28 and Ross Schlotthauer (Bat Outta Hell) from the USA in third with a time of 23:38. Quiroga’s boat, Halcon, was the top Mexican boat placing 22nd overall. The second leg will take place in Peace River, the third will be in Grande Prairie, and the final will wrap up in Taylor, British Columbia on July 20-21.