Hydroplanes hit the Columbia River this weekend for Richland Regatta

Hydroplane racing fans don’t have to wait for late July to get their fill of rooster tails.

The Columbia River will be busy with boats starting Friday morning as the inaugural Broadmoor RV Richland Regatta takes over local waters. The event — unaffiliated with previous races that had similar names — is the creation of the recently formed Northwest Power Boat Association and features drivers and boats from the American Power Boat Association.

“We’ve got a whole bunch of food vendors, a couple of product vendors,” said NWPBA board member Heather Filbin. “They hydros are on display. It should be a pretty good event. We’re excited.”

Two things of note: Admission is free, as is parking. The start/finish line is at Howard Amon Park near the Lee Boulevard entrance. Organizers are offering pit passes at $10 a day or $20 for all three days.

The second item of note is the weekend figures to be nonstop racing, 10 a.m. until around 5 p.m. each day, with boats in the water on a constant basis.

Ten racing classes will be competing, from 1-liter up to 5-liter and vintage boats. Some 60 boats from all over the country figure to be on the water.

The regatta is the first event put on by the NWPBA, a nonprofit group formed last fall with the objective of bringing a free racing event to the community.

Mission accomplished.

“We’re really encouraging families to come down,” Filbin said. “We’re real excited to be able to offer this to the community.”

She added that sponsors such as Broadmoor RV, Griggs Department Store and Tri-Cities Ace Hardware, the Tire Factory stores and Specialty Mobility make it possible to hold the event free to the public.

“We’re hoping to make this an annual event,” Filbin said. “We want to stay in our community, grow it, bring in boats, be another great event our community can be proud of. We want to bring recognition to this wonderful area we live in.”

This story was originally published June 2, 2016 at 6:47 PM with the headline "Hydroplanes hit the Columbia River this weekend for Richland Regatta."