KEITH is getting ready to welcome up to 6000 jetboat enthusiasts to the town, when it hosts the opening round of an international jetboat competition in October.
The inland town held its first jetboat race last year, as an addition to the Tatiara region’s major annual event, the Diesel and Dirt Derby, which raises money for the local show society.
The community event, which has been run for the past six years and also includes a modified tractor pull and header demolition derby, attracted about 11,500 people for the 2018 event, held on March 24.
The boat race concept was started by local farmer Glen Simpson, Wynarleigh, who was looking for a way to boost the community, and the Australia Formula Jet Sprint Association came on board to hold its events on the track.
Mr Simpson, who is the Diesel and Dirt Derby committee chairman, said the random idea paid off thanks to the support from local businesses and volunteers who donated equipment and their time to make the event happen.
“A mate of mine was into the superboats and said it couldn’t be done in Keith, but we’ve got underground water so we looked into it a bit more,” Mr Simpson said.
“We had the first boat race here about 14 months ago, and the second round of the V8 Superboats was part of this year’s Diesel and Dirt Derby.”
Last year it was just a dirt track in the showground, but this year they’ve taken the facility to another level by re-levelling and turfing it.
“It’s been a great fundraiser for the show society, and we’ve been injecting all that money back into the facility – we’ve spent more than $100,000 just establishing the track,” Mr Simpson said.
“And we have tiered lawn areas for spectators so the crowd can view the racing.
“I think at first, about 20 per cent of the town thought we were mad, but now everybody in town is benefiting from the jetboats.
“The event injects a lot of money into surrounding towns, because people come two or three days early and camp.”
The committee is expecting between 5000 and 6000 spectators for two days of racing in late October, with jetboat enthusiasts coming from Canberra, Brisbane and WA.
“We’ll have about 50 of the best boats in the world – they’re coming from Canada, New Zealand, United States and all over Australia,” Mr Simpson said.
“It’s run over two days, with the qualifying on Saturday and racing on Sunday, and normally there are some fairly big crashes, because they reach speeds of up to 120 kilometres an hour.”
The Keith agricultural show is on Saturday, October 6, and the opening round of the 2018 UIM World Series at Keith is on October 27 and 28.
