Opinion: Power boat races have no business on Lake Tahoe
To the community,
For everyone who remembers summer days when being outdoors meant hearing the roar of motorboat races on Lake Tahoe, the bad old days may be on their way back. The Pacific Outdoor Powerboat Racing Association plans to bring powerboat racing back to Lake Tahoe on Sept. 10-11, 2011.
Check out the details online. They say: “Offshore race boats will compete from all over the U.S., ranging from 22 feet to over 50 feet and will hit speeds upwards of 150 MPH in some of the Pro classes. The action starts Saturday, September 10th, with the teams competing in a three and a half (3½) mile sprint to achieve speed and handling domination over the rest of the teams. Sunday September 11th the Lake Tahoe Fun Run can test the skill and equipment of the most seasoned veteran as well as the novice racer over fifty (50) miles of the most beautiful shoreline anywhere in the world with the 50 mile test of endurance that can trace it’s roots to the very start of Tahoe Powerboat racing 100 years ago.”
This type of event is utterly incompatible with sustainable recreation and the outdoor events scheduled for the 2011 Tahoe Expo that same weekend. It will also impact the outdoor experience of every other user within the entire region, including hikers, bikers, and backyard barbecues.
In the last cigarette boat race held here in the 1980s, the boats could be heard in Meiss Meadows. Apparently this event needs a marine event permit from the U.S. Coast Guard; it is unclear if it has one yet. If you think this event is a bad idea for Lake Tahoe, contact the U.S. Coast Guard, San Francisco Sector, and talk to the Marine Event Permits Coordinator, Joshua Clark, at (415) 399.7440.
Sue Rae Irelan, Homewood
Does TRPA have a say in this? As far as noise goes, I’ve complained many times about the helicopters circulating over my house, the beach, the lake and the other day over desolation wilderness. Trpa and every other agency will take no action. Good luck with stopping the boat race. If it puts 50 cents in the right pocket, it’s on!
Well, wall to wall traffic jams through town every Friday and Sunday annoy the heck out of me too. Oh well. We live in a tourist town. Until we find some other industry (good luck) we need people with money to spend to come here and drop some cash. People with cigarette boats have lots of cash. It’s ONE weekend. Most of the regular weekenders aren’t NEAR so generous as those folks would be. If you want to live someplace quiet, maybe North Dakota would be good.
I agree with dogwoman…we need people to come to tahoe and spend $$$ in order to survive. While I don’t like to loud boats any more than the next guy I understand that we need the money.
I hope the USCG understand that and give these guys whatever permits they need and I hope TRPA doesn’t try and pull any stupid stunts to try and scare these guys away. TRPA does nore damage to the economy than these boats will do to the environment.
All I hear about is money, money, money, I lived here in the 60’s and it was great! Now all I hear about is more money, and that thought process is what will someday kill this lake that I love! We don’t need boat races,or people bringing their boats with who knows what stuck to the hulls! We need to spend less money not look for ways to make more! We will just waste it like we did at the high school!!!
I despise power boats. You can hear them while in the Desolation.
I think I can handle 2 days of racing though. It can’t go on much past 4 or 5pm right?
Thanks Robot! I really appreciate the compromise. And yes, I agree, as long as they regulate the decibel level by a decent time of evening, one weekend could be very profitable for everyone. Even the environmentalists can use the event to reach more people. Heck, NASCAR is using Ethanol!
I was at Clear Lake one year when these folks came to the lake. You had to close all of your windows just to hear yourself think. Other tourists stopped coming during the week that the race boats came around – but the racers brought their own business. All in all the business community broke even, and only the locals paid a price for the events.
You people that will do anything or put up with anything for “the money”,are nothing but Tahoe prostitutes. Why did you come to live in Tahoe? Think long and hard about it and then stand up for why you chose to live here. If you are a long time local, you didn’t come here to get rich or all the big city problems that now are drowning South Tahoe. Remember why you came here and fight to get THAT TAHOE BACK!
So happy to see Dogwoman and Conservation Robot agree on something!!! Shows us all that we CAN get along and make this country better. I also must agree with Steven. I never moved here to make money. My whole motivation was, and always will be, the beauty of the place. If we sacrifice the environment for money then we are prostituting ourselves out.
Yes, we moved here for the beauty. But there’s nothing worse than people who, as soon as they find their little piece of Heaven, say, okay, no more people. It stops now. That is all too common up here. I’ve got mine, screw everybody else. I hate that worst of all.
But those of us who do live here, still have to make a living SOMEHOW. We can’t just sit back and take welfare, can we? Better a “prostitute” as Snoheather calls us, than a useless, lazy, unproductive ward of the State.
Fortunately, it appears to have been rescheduled for June, so we have time to put a stop to it.
I know everyone wants to make a dime and im all for the local economy improving but all this full contact recreation has to be incredibly bad for the lake. And the noise is horrible as well. Oh well, at least the TMDL will solve all our problems and the lake will be clear again in 65 years…
I remember back in the seventies, the roar of the big boats, Harrah and Gross were into it and it was kind of cool to hear the boats.
Lets give it a shot. See how intrusive and hard to handle the noise is, count the money and determine the benefits and costs to the community. Then modify and improve it for next year if it proves positive.
We trekked to Seattle once to see the boat races on Lake Washington…it was like watching paint dry. A quick race, then 45 minutes later another race. But I have to say it was the best Blue Angels show I ever saw! Be sure and let the wedding industry know not to schedule outdoor weddings next June!
I would like to chime in to agree with the POV that events such as this are good for the community. I must disagree with the sentiment that certain groups should be excluded because of noise or other perceived pollution. The fact is that humans pollute. If you truly believe that Lake Tahoe should be protected from any and all pollution, then you shouldn’t be here. I especially agree with dogwoman regarding the folks who arrive and announce that they will be the last person allowed to be here. None of us has the right to exclude others from this Lake. That is my major issue with the League to Sue Lake Tahoe. They have no interest in Lake Tahoe other than to keep it for their rich benefactors and exclude others. And, one more thing, those who have decried the TRPA now want them involved in regulating noise? Really? Be very careful when you wish to widen the TRPA’s authority. They need less authority, not more.
BTW, it is not the 60’s anymore. And I remember well the Lake in the 50’s. There were speedboats.
Maybe those that don’t like the noise that weekend could travel somewhere else like San Francisco and see how lucky you are to live in Tahoe. I look forward to the races which will bring national exposure to Tahoe as a beautiful destination for year round sports and activities. Some knuckleheads always want to spoil it for everyone. I hate that TRPA blows so much of my tax dollars by suing every agency in this broke state and city, that the money could be going towards helping grow awareness through better programs. 1.5 BILLION over 10 years and the lake is still losing clarity. 2/3’s of the .money spent on bureaucracy and not going to fix the problem. Maybe someone racing their boat that weekend will have a better solution then all the elitist running TRPA.
Dumbfounded is right on.
BTW, on Rush Limbaugh’s show Monday, the quest host gave an incredible 1 to 2 minutes effusive review of the Reno-Tahoe area after a vacation here. You couldn’t buy his enthusiasm as he praised our wonderful area.
let the races begin! two days set aside for the races causes angst to many? only people who have worked and worked in the private sector are the demons?
This was sent in by Sue Rae Irelan:
The Pacific Offshore Powerboat Racing Association announced on their website that the Lake Tahoe Worthy Challenge originally scheduled for September 10-11 has been rescheduled to June 23-24, 2012. I have not heard from the Coast Guard yet concerning the permit process for a marine event such as this, so I do not know at this time how the decision related to this could be influenced.
Sue Rae Irelan
I just got off the phone with Mr. Clark at the U.S.C.G. who was very generous with his time. The proposed date has indeed been moved to June 2012 as Jerome Evans has stated. Mr. Clark indicated that he has already heard from a number of people and that the C.G. requires at least 120-190 days notice to permit an event like this. That allows the community to weigh in on whether or not they support something of this nature. There are also TRPA decible limits they will have to consider.
Personally, I agree that Lake Tahoe is the wrong place for this type of event. The acoustics of the basin would reverberate the considerable sound footprint these souped up boats generate and that noise would negatively impact every activity except the race and its’ supporters. That’s not even considering the huge swaths of lake that would be rendered “off-limits” to non-racers so boats can acheieve 150 m.p.h.
These evnts are more suitable for bodies of water in sparsely populated areas…like anywhere other than Lake Tahoe where rhinopoker is.
We should leave to avoid unnecessary noise to apprciate Tahoe? Really? You’ve got it bass ackwards rhinopoker.
Just want to remind readers that when you start the exclusion process, it may end up excluding YOU someday. Inclusion is a far better process. The noise will die down quickly, but the process of exclusion will continue forever.
Most of you have very valid points but lack reality. To make a worthy opposition that people are going to listen too, state true facts, not just opinions. EVERY oposing statement I’v read so far is incorrect & lacks education on the subject. For or against, most people like to make an educated decision. Tell us something that won’t be declined because it’s untrue; tell us something that you can back up by facts. Show us or convince us your side so that we can understand with logic, not just because its your opinion. Educate us!