Hydroplane racing

The American Power Boat Association (APBA) sanction similar PRO class national title events in the United States.

The faster classes of PRO hydroplanes (with straightaway speeds from around 75 to 120 miles per hour) use 2-cycle outboard motors running highly filtered methanol race fuel mixed with a pure castor or synthetic castor-based lubricating oil.

Investment costs are moderately high compared to similar APBA stock and modified outboard racing classes.

Grand Prix (GP) is a class of boats featuring supercharged big-block V8 piston engines producing as much as 1,500 horsepower.

These 30 foot, 6,800 lbs boats most often powered by a Lycoming T55-L7 turbine engine (used from the Vietnam era to the present day in the CH-47 Chinook military helicopter), which is capable of up to 3000 horsepower with current restrictions.

The T55-L7 powerplant creates high speed rotational energy, which is transferred through a gearbox at around 50% gear reduction to reduce propeller RPM.

Modern hulls are constructed of composite materials such as honeycomb aluminum, fiberglass, laminated resin and carbon fiber.

Both stock and modified outboard classes run on a circular or triangular race course using a 3-minute "milling warm-up" period before a "flying" clock start.

Modern safety technology applications like composite fiber re-enforced Kevlar cockpits, capsule-enclosed driver modules with improved safety harness systems (in PRO, OPC, and limited/unlimited inboard hydroplanes), flip-over incident escape hatches & engine shut-off features, oxygen system & aircraft-quality windscreen canopies for capsule hulls, and advanced ballistic impact-resistant suits with improved helmet/neck brace wear—all of these improvements making the boats and specialized personal protection gear safer for the present-day driver.