Andy Bussy, 2009 Pro-Open World Champion Grantsburg Watercross racer. Photo courtesy of Kerri Harter-Nelson.
Ready for something exhilaratingly different? If you haven’t experienced watercross yet, make plans to attend the 35th Annual World Champion Snowmobile Watercross, E3 Spark Plugs suggests. The “Granddaddy of Them All” takes place July 15-17 at Memory Lake in Grantsburg, WI. Informally known as the Grantsburg Watercross, the event started in 1977 and features the top racers from throughout the United States and Canada competing in drag and oval racing over water.
Also known as snowmobile skimming or pond skipping, watercross involves snowmobilers hydroplaning their sleds across the surface of lakes or rivers. A snowmobile’s wide tracks necessary for traction and flotation in the snow make for great water skimming surfaces so long as adequate speed is maintained. Watercross isn’t as easy as the champs make it look, mind you. In fact, several states including Minnesota and New Hampshire have banned the sport.
But that’s no matter to the dozens of competitors and thousands of fans who flock to Grantsburg every third weekend in July. Many camp out on the banks of Memory Lake each year, taking in all three days of racing plus event extras including live regional bands, nightly street dances, fireworks displays and shopping at the booths of hundreds of vendors.
Are you heading to Grantsburg this weekend? E3 Spark Plugs wants to see your pictures. Post them on our Facebook fan page. And if you plan to try watercross with your own snowmobile, spark plugs by E3 will give you a stronger, smoother, cleaner ride – guaranteed. Check our online cross reference catalog to find the right snowmobile spark plugs for your sled.
