Courtesy of Lake Linden Watercross Facebook page Snowmobilers will be competing in LeMans style racing where they have to go over a jump and continue to race with both right- and left-hand turns.

The snowmobiles will be racing on the ovals, along with going over a jump, next weekend Aug. 23-25. This will be taking place in Lake Linden. Oh, by the way, the snowmobiles will be racing on the water! It’s the Sixth Annual Jeff Moyle Memorial Watercross Race, presented by the Lake Linden Fire Department.

The sport of snowmobile watercross racing dates to the 1970s, when it was called snowmobile water-skip. It was a sport to see how far you could go with a snowmobile on the water before the sled would rest at the bottom of the pond in Grantsburg, Wisconsin. When the sleds started going from shore to shore without sinking, the competition went to who could go the farthest by going around in a circle.

After the sled distance went to close to 100 miles on water, the sport turned into racing snowmobiles side by side, and “watercross” was born.

Over 20 years ago, the sport came to the area when the Ojibwa Casino hosted a race behind the Ojibwa Campground. Six years ago, the Lake Linden Fire Department brought it to the Copper Country.

This International Watercross Association sanctioned race is a fundraiser for three fire departments to build a new fire hall.

“Lake Linden, Tamarack and Hubbell. The money is going to get everything under one roof,” explained Jimmy Marietta, Lake Linden volunteer firefighter. “The Lake Linden Fire Department absolutely loves this event and the people that comes with the event. It is a great fundraiser for the department!”

Marietta commends his colleagues for all the work they do together.

“They are working on the event before the event and after the races are done, in addition to working on the races, they sell T-shirts and host the beer garden.”

Fans will see four sleds racing in an oval, along with a “Le Mans” class where they go over a jump. On Friday night, locals will be given the chance to take their sled out of the shed and go racing. Marietta now takes off his fire suit and puts on his racing gear as he invites anybody to bring their snowmobile out to race.

“All that is required is they wear a life jacket, a helmet, no exposed skin and a recovery rope tied to their handlebars.”

Those that don’t bring their snowmobile back to the pits, with it ending up at the bottom of the bay, should have a minimum of 30 feet of rope. With the help of Jam’s Service Recovery Pontoon, equipped with a winch, hooks on to the rope that has a float at the end of the rope, brings the sled out of the water and takes it back to the pits.

“We can get the sled drained of water and running within minutes. Paul Voelker has even adapted an engine where they can get the sled running right when the retriever is at shore,” explained Marietta. “As long as the shut the engine off before it goes under the water, nothing happens to the sled.”

Marietta doesn’t state what happens to the driver that fails to make it back to shore with a running snowmobile. It’s called pride.

For the Friday night Locals Race, they can just go straight across the bay or those that have watercross experience can try doing the ovals. Also on Friday night, the fans will be treated to LeMan’s racing where the snowmobilers have to go over the jump once, along with both right- and left-hand turns.

“Saturday qualifying in all the classes. This includes classes from the new racers to Semi-Pro to the Pros in Stock and Modified Sleds. We run five classes. For the starters, we have Sport, Semi-Pro Stock and Open, Pro Stock and Pro Open. They are racing with 300 foot straightaways as they go into their right-hand turns at high speed.”

Marietta goes on to say, “Nowadays to be honest with you, we don’t have to do a lot to get a sled to run and compete on water. Get the track and suspension set up to run a stock sled.”

This is a long way from when the sleds were just water-skipping because of the performance level of today’s snowmobiles. The sleds have come a long way from when Jeff Moyle and his brothers announced they were going into watercross racing 20 years ago. Jeff was fatally injured in a boating/parasailing accident in 2008. Jeff, along with two-time world champion Gary and Andy, raced in snow cross, ice oval and watercross venues.

The Jeff Moyle Memorial Watercross is much more than very competitive racing; it includes numerous food and souvenir clothing vendors on the grounds, live music on Friday and Saturday starting at 8 p.m. There will also be a bounce house. Those lucky enough to book a rustic campsite will be able to watch the races from their camper.

The event not only brings in a lot of money for the three area fire departments but has a positive economic impact to the whole area.

“The drivers come from all over, they stay in motels in Houghton, Hancock and the whole area,” Marietta remarked.

Snowmobiling has brought in millions of dollars to the Copper Country for decades — from having one of the top three snowmobile destinations in the entire US and Canada, to hosting snowmobile hillclimbs in South Range, and for the past 6 years, snowmobile watercross.

Racing starts at 6 p.m. Friday night and at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Full weekend pass is $50, family weekend pass is $160, daily pass is $20 and family daily pass is $80 with kids 12 and under free.

Fans will not only see great racing, but also be helping to raise money for the Lake Linden, Tamarack and Hubbell fire departments. See your friends at the snowmobile races next Friday through Sunday. By the way, you need not bring your winter jacket to watch this snowmobile race, just bring lots of sunscreen.