MADISON, Ind. — The fastest race boats in the world will be competing in Madison, Ind., this weekend in the annual Madison Regatta. The event is the second stop on the 2023 H1 Unlimited Racing Series and will feature hydroplanes that careen across the water at speeds approaching 200 mph while throwing spray high into the air.

Six of the boats are expected on the Ohio River Friday through Sunday. The season started last weekend in Guntersville, Ala., and after the race in Madison, will continue with races in the Tri-Cities, Wash., and in Seattle.

If the race in Guntersville was any indication, the competition in Madison should be exciting for boat racing fans. Six of the entries in that event turned in qualifying times over 160 mph, including one at more than 170 mph, and the race featured several deck-to-deck battles.

Last weekend’s winner, Corey Peabody, 44, of Covington, Wash., will return to the racecourse where his boat flipped end over end last year and was so heavily damaged it was out for the remainder of the season. The boat, now named Beacon Plumbing, was completely rebuilt last winter and has already showed it will be a top contender. In addition to winning the Guntersville race, Peabody drove the boat in one preliminary heat at an average speed of 162.910 mph, the fastest competition heat in the sport’s history.

Peabody’s teammate on the Strong Racing Team is J. Michael Kelly, 44, of Bonney Lake, Wash., who finished the 2022 season second in the national standings and who was the national driver’s champion the year before that. Driving Beacon Electric, Kelly has a total of 14 race victories to his credit, making him the most successful driver in the field.

The hometown fans will especially be cheering for the two boats from the Madison Racing Team. Miss HomeStreet, the defending national champion and the winner on the Ohio River a year ago, will be driven by Dylan Runne, 28, of Rumson, NJ. Runne, a rookie in the Unlimited ranks but a seasoned veteran in limited-class hydro racing, replaces Jimmy Shane, who retired at the end of the 2022 campaign. Dylan completed his rookie requirements in Guntersville and is now a fully qualified driver, allowing him to race from any lane.

The other entry from the Madison team will be Miss Goodman Real Estate, which is driven by Andrew Tate, 33, of Canton, Mich. Tate was the sport’s national champion in 2018 and was dominate in the Grand Prix ranks a year ago. His boat’s entry in the Madison race could be down to the wire, however. Although it finished the race with second-place honors, the boat flipped upside-down at the start of the final heat in Guntersville and was heavily damaged.

Another victim of that accident last weekend was Bucket List Racing, which is driven by Dustin Echols, 43, of Monroe, Wash. Echols collided with the overturned Goodman Real Estate and his boat also was damaged. Earlier in the weekend, he demonstrated the boat’s tremendous speed with a qualifying run of 171.294 mph—the fifth fastest in the history of the sport.

Also racing on the Ohio River will be Jamie Nilsen, 38, of Gig Harbor, Wash., who will be driving Legend Yacht Transport. His race team is a reliable competitor that has never won a race, but had an excellent performance in Guntersville that resulted in a third-place finish.

The Madison Regatta will get underway on Friday with testing beginning at 11 a.m. EDT and then qualifying at 3 p.m. The racing action will include two sets of preliminary heats on Saturday and another set on Sunday, followed by a winner-take-all final heat that is currently scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday.

Nothing can beat the thrill of watching the spectacular H1 Unlimited hydroplanes in person. Tickets to the Madison Regatta are available at madisonregatta.com.

For those who can’t attend in person, the race also will be streamed live around the world on the H1 Unlimited YouTube Channel.