Hydro races return to area

COEUR d’ALENE — Lake Coeur d’Alene is shining like a diamond this weekend.

And sounding like high-speed water crafts … lots of them.

The 2013 Coeur d’Alene Diamond Cup and H1 Unlimited Hydroplane racing has returned to the area for three days, stretching along the lake and dominating the waters. It’s the first sanctioned race in Coeur d’Alene since 1968. The races were popular in the 1950s and 1960s, but earned a rough reputation of crowds partying and fighting in the early ’60s.

Those days seemed distant Friday, as crowds mingled and strolled along Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive slowly taking in the sights.

By the early afternoon people sprawled out in the grass by the Centennial Trail, some in bathing suits sun tanning, and watched the first round of hydroplanes testing the race course, the large boats spraying their signature rooster tails across the water.

“Just watching the time trials is exciting,” said Al Underwood, who parked his car near O’Shay’s Pub and walked to the race course with his wife, Teresa, near Silver Beach.

Crowds and nearby traffic didn’t pose any problem for the couple, who set up lawn chairs underneath a shady tree and watched the boats. As a college kid, Al Underwood watched a Diamond Cup in 1958.

“I was really surprised and excited about seeing them here,” he said.

“It’s an ideal spot,” he added.

For the racers too, everything was a first on Friday.

Larry Oberto, sponsorship manager for the Oh Boy! Oberto, and Miss Madison hydro, watched from the pits as the boat tested the 2-mile race course. He said the wind seemed to change on the lake quicker and more often than other race venues, for reasons he was yet to put his finger on.

But for a new site, he said, “everything is well organized.”

“I’m ready to get the races going,” he said. “I’m excited to be back. More than I thought I’d be.”

Brothers George and Bruce English of Coeur d’Alene sat on bleachers with friend Rich Loudenback, 68, of Coeur d’Alene the first day of the event. They remember going to the Diamond Cup when they were teenagers, when the races were in front of Tubbs Hill.

“You’d be at the other end of town and you could hear the boats on the lake,” said George, 69.

Bruce, 68, said he remembered “the noise, the speed, the race,” he said. “With that hill behind us, they’d be really loud.”

Ann and Greg Ealy of Coeur d’Alene stood next to their bikes along the Centennial Trail to peer out at the lake from beneath their sunglasses.

“I’m used to seeing big boats on this lake, but those boats out there are pretty impressive,” Greg said.

Later in the afternoon, race organizers signaled a “black flag,” which meant “return to pits, or do not leave pits.” This was because the wind picked up and made the water rough.

But even a little chop can’t stop the Diamond Cup, which continues through today and ends about 5 p.m. Sunday.