Doug Gardiner’s love of boat racing was instilled as a youngster when he tooled around in a 17-foot varnished Criscraft speedboat, and the Drayden resident will continue that passion when he gets behind the wheel this weekend for the Leonardtown Bash on the Bay.
The July 27 and 28 event is the second this year put on by The Southern Maryland Boat Club following a day of racing in early June at Piney Point.
“It’s part of Southern Maryland’s history,” Jim Berry, the club's vice commodore, said. “They can come out and see what made Southern Maryland famous in the national boat racing arena.”
Berry said about 35 boats in several classes from Maryland, Florida, New Jersey and Canada are expected to compete.
Gardiner ran the boatyard when his parents owned Dennis Point Marina and later raced Formula 1 tunnel boats in the 1990s before taking a break from racing. In 2017, on the advice of a buddy, he purchased a replica of Florida boat racer Herb Payne’s 14-foot 1970-1973 Alison, which is equipped with a 1973 100 Mercury engine.
“Same boat, same design,” Gardiner said, “just built to today’s standards.”
Gardiner, who is an insurance agent, races in several events around the country each year.
“I enjoy the camaraderie,” Gardiner said, “and trying to keep the outboard part of vintage [racing] alive.”
And this region has a rich boat racing history.
“Southern Maryland was a hub of outboard racing in the 1960s and 1970s,” Berry said of the sport, which features exhibits in the Calvert Marine Museums. “We had a lot of innovative people here who could build boats and make them light and make them fast and modify the motors. And it became very competitive in the nation because of how many races we could have in our local area.”
At Saturday’s event, boaters will be able to reach speeds of 60 to up to about 90 mph; they can reach more but will be restricted by the course.
“It’s pretty exhilarating,” said Gardiner, who added speed over water feels faster compared to speed over land. “So when you’re going 70 it feels like you’re going 100. It’s just a lot of fun to be out there with the old guys and pretend you’re racing.”
In the FJ Class such as Gardiner’s, the front of the boat will lift out of the water with just a pad and the prop remaining in the water.
“They’re very thin and very light, but they’re also very fast,” Gardiner said of the approximately 450-pound vessels.
Berry said the event will be a demonstration, though no racers like to be left behind.
“We do a little bit of a show the first few laps where everybody’s side by side,” Gardiner said, “but after that the boats are pretty much running as fast as they’ll go.”
But the sport also has its dangers. About 25 years ago, Gardiner crashed while testing a Formula 1 tunnel boat, though he was not injured.
“Anytime you end up in the water and the boat’s gone, it’s not a good thing,” he said. “It wakes you up.”
At the Piney Point event in early June his boat spun out on the first lap of the first heat and he was rammed by another driver. But the boats were lifted out of the water and his boat had just minor structural damage.
The Southern Maryland Boat Club has been around since 1958 and has about 50 members, though Berry said new members — even those without boats — are more than welcome to join.
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