IT’S SUNDAY AT THE BEACH

The smell of spring and race fuel is in the air.  With the first APBA National Tour stop just weeks away, competitors gather at Body Beach, in Lake Havasu City, to hone their skills, test their ski’s and push one another to the limit. 

Any day of the week it is not unusual to see Chris and Rachel MacClugage, Brandon McMillan, Mark Queen and Chris Hagest training at the beach after a short Arizona winter.  Cars and trucks line up along the shoreline with everyone jockeying for the prime spot to launch their skis.  Sun up to sun down the riders, twist and turn their bodies, carving the water, with early hopes of becoming the next world champion.

It is never a dull moment at the beach, you never know who or what you will see.  Someone will turn their head and look at a day-glow painted Kawasaki 550 SX, thinking “this is how it all started”.  Then they hear the deep throaty rumblings of the one of a kind, custom ski, built by River Rat Racing.  A 215hp, supercharged, RXP motor crammed into the cramped confines of a 2008 Kawasaki hull.  Then he thinks to himself, “Look how far we have come”.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a Pro, Novice, Amateur racer, or just someone who seeks the thrill of racing around buoys, someone is always there to lend a helping hand to get your ski on the trailer, or help you with modifications to your watercraft.  It’s a camaraderie that is felt year around in this quaint little spot that racers and recreational riders like to call home.