Here they come! The powerboats!

Here they come!  Those noisy, high-speed powerboats that skim over the water followed by a towering rooster tail.  Some 80 teams will compete in the Stuart Sailfish Regatta on Saturday and Sunday, May 17 and 18, starting each day at 9 a.m.  Organizers call it “the fastest event on the Treasure Coast.”  The course is a 1.1 mile oval north of a viewing area on the Stuart Causeway and the Ernie Lyons Bridge.  Road traffic will be rerouted to the Jensen Beach Causeway.  If the weather is good, 20,000 spectators are expected.  Various classes of outboards and inboards will be racing.  They include Jersey speed skiffs, super stocks, pro stocks and racing runabouts.  The fastest are the Grand Prix hydroplanes, which can go up to 170 miles an hour.  The regatta resumed in 2012 after a 15-year hiatus.  All appropriate governments and agencies have been notified and are cooperating.  This year the regatta was moved from mid-April to mid-May with the hope that high winds will not be a problem as they were the past two years.   Ticket prices start at $12.  Parking with shuttle service will be available at Witham Field.   To learn more, go to stuartsailfishregatta.com.  For 88.9 FM, this is Paul Janensch.