PINEY POINT, Md. – The Southern Maryland Boat Club (SMBC) hosted its third annual Rumble On The River from Saturday, June 8 to Sunday, June 9 with approximately 400 to 500 attendees, according to Tocky “Joe” Lawrence, a board member of the SMBC.
The SMBC is a member of the American Power Boat Association (APBA) which sanctions boat racing across the country, Lawrence said. Piney Point’s Rumble On The River showcased vintage and historic race boats that are 25 years old or older which are no longer competitive in today’s racing.
This year drivers and boats attended from all over the East Coast, midwest, and Canada. Drivers participated from Maryland, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, Florida, etc.
On Saturday spectators experienced nine heats of racing exhibitions in the morning and again in the afternoon. On Sunday, ten heats were run. For the first time, three inboard flat bottom boats were participating.
“Their loud V8, direct drive, fire-breathing engines put on a good show,” Lawrence said.
A one-hour lunch break allowed spectators to enter the pit area to view the boats and talk with the drivers.
Spectators were thrilled to see the small two-cylinder “D” class boats all the way up to the fast and spectacular F1 tunnel boats with speeds over 90 mph.
Two awards were given out by the APBA’s National Vintage and Historic Chairman, Jeff “Nemo” Buckley including the Nemo Award and The Chairman’s Spirit of Vintage Award.
The Nemo Award is named after Nemo the fish as it represents the person who displays incompetence on the water. This year’s recipient was Joe Blair for idling his boat directly over a milling area buoy and promptly wrapping the buoy rope around his prop.
The Chairman’s Spirit of Vintage Award is given to an individual who contributes time, energy, and leadership to enhance APBA’s vintage and historic division, either with APBA directly or within their participating club.
This year Jim Berry, SMBC’s Vice Commodore, APBA referee, risk manager and inspector was the recipient of the award.
“It was a well-deserved award for Jim who does a lot of behind-the-scenes work for SMBC,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence hopes attendees had fun and experienced a sense of camaraderie, he said.
The event was a chance for spectators to see vintage race boats up close, running in exhibition race heats similar to the olden days. Lawrence also hopes maybe the event will inspire a spectator to purchase a vintage race boat and join the fun.
The SMBC will be hosting another vintage race boat exhibition, Leonardstown Bash on the Bay at Leonardstown Wharf Park on Saturday, July 27 to Sunday, July 28. The same awards will be presented at the event.
The event will follow the same schedule as the Rumble on the River:
Saturday, July 27
Heats 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Lunch 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
Heats 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Sunday, July 28
Heats 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Lunch 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
Heats 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Spectators can enjoy Bailey’s food truck, and Frog Town Ice Cream for tasty treats, and Chesapeake DJ Productions will provide music and lap-by-lap coverage of each heat.
Spectators may come by land or water as there are designated spectator buoys marking where boats anchor out to watch the heats.
To participate in the race boat exhibition participants must be members of the SMBC and APBA and have a boat that qualifies for the event. SMBC registration forms can be found on their website.
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