Roaring jet boats to return to Victoria for first time in 15 years

For 62 years it has been the place for farmers to buy a new tractor, but Elmore in northern Victoria is set to be the new home of jet boat racing in the state.

Described as rally driving on water, the roaring V8 Superboats navigate hair-raising turns at high speed, in short but intense races.

The fast-growing extreme sport came to Australia in 1985, but Victoria hasn't hosted events since a track in Melbourne's outer west closed 15 years ago.

Australian champion jet boat driver Justin Roylance said he is excited about the developments at Elmore.

"We had a few false starts over the last decade trying to get racing back in Victoria," he said.

"(The Elmore Events Centre team) was just blown away with what we could actually do and they were just so pumped about the sport."

New track under construction

The custom built track at the Elmore Field Days site, north of Bendigo, will be about the size of two football fields.

Construction has begun and it will be ready for an Australian series event in November next year.

Mr Roylance said jet boat tracks have narrow channels filled with shallow water, surrounded by grass.

"There's probably six to nine different islands and the race would generally go for around 45 seconds, with one boat on the track," Mr Roylance said.

"We send these little boats out there, they're about four-metres long … there are 35 or so intersections you have to do in that time."

With a driver and a navigator in the boat, Mr Roylance said the race is adrenaline-fuelled, as the boat weaves around the track reaching 140 kilometres per hour.

Keeping the Elmore Field Days viable

The Elmore Field Days has evolved from a single three-day agricultural event on borrowed land, to a year-round events facility.

Executive manager Derek Shotton is thrilled about adding the jet boats.

"It's tremendous. It helps us reinforce our drive into motor sports," he said.

"We've got the tractor pull, we've got the racing lawn mowers and now we've got the jet boats."

Mr Shotton said they made a decision in the early 2000s to grow the field days site into a broader events centre.

"We could see the days of big numbers of [agriculture] degenerating and reducing just purely because of the way everyone's scaling up," he said.

With a world series V8 superboat event on the cards for Elmore as well, Mr Roylance is looking forward to racing there.

"We've got a Victorian built boat with the Victorian built engine in it," he said.

"Our boat is called the Outlaw and we're current Australian champion in our class … and we can't wait to come down to Elmore and give it a go."

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