Small-Craft Warrings

The red-and-white boat skittered around the buoys on the Spokane River, buzzing like an angry mosquito.

Kermit the Frog stood at the helm in a natty sailor suit.

But it was Roy Carter, twisting knobs on a remote control, who steered the tiny craft and tried to push it past a sleek competitor.

The boats were two of a dozen speeding around the water track Sunday afternoon, the opening day of summer races held by the Lilac City Model Boat Club. Bikers, hikers and amblers stopped to watch the boats, along the Centennial Trail near C.I. Shenanigan’s.

The crowd cheered for the Muppet skipper.

“Go Kermit,” yelled Nicholas Michael, an 8-year-old straddling a small mountain bike.

“Kermit has a head start,” shouted Chaz Crow, 7. “Kermit! Kermit!”

Then Kermit’s engine died. One of the club members lining the shore hopped into an old rowboat, paddled out to Kermit and rescued him.

It’s not an unusual finish for the temperamental boats, which stop running if they get a funny look. Or if the fuel mix is too lean. Or if they hit a water weed.

“The reliability factor is not huge with these boats,” said Tom Hill, whose boat beat Kermit. “They’re pretty erratic.”

The men on shore wore Aqua Socks, boots or rolled-down hip waders to protect their feet when they jumped in the rowboat or slung the model boats into the water, their engines already racing. They held radio controls with high antennas and fiddled with the knobs.

There were 24 races of eight classes of boats Sunday, each lasting about a mile, or six laps around the buoys.

The boats are painted sleek Easter-egg colors and plastered with racing decals. Most boats run on nitro-methane, spitting out an eye-stinging exhaust and revving high when started on shore.

Many hit speeds of about 30 miles per hour, skimming along the river, leaving a boiling wake behind.

Sometimes, there are accidents, like when one boat kited, came down on a wave, and flipped onto its back. A wooden boat smacked it in the side.

“But nobody gets hurt,” said Jay Randolph, who races boats with his son Tyler.

It’s more dangerous on the shoreline. On Sunday, a little boy riding his bike watched the boats instead of the Centennial Trail. He skidded into another bike, fell and scraped up his body.

Like the boy, everyone wanted to watch the races, creating a bottleneck on the trail.

Adults and kids gathered around the racers. Adults asked the price of the boats. Kids hopped from boat to boat, judging which was coolest.

“Every time they do it, I come down here,” said Marc Nelson, 14, who admired boats with an 8-year-old buddy in a bike helmet. “It’s fun and you get to see the different shapes.”

They try to do it every other Sunday, building up points until the big Labor Day race at the same spot that draws competitors from Canada and Seattle. Between a dozen and 20 people belong to the model boat club, depending on who’s talking. They’re always looking for new members.

One of the youngest, 11-year-old Tyler Randolph, is still learning after racing for two years. Sometimes, on a special Sunday, he walks away a winner.

“Yeah, like when everybody dies and I’m the only one left running,” Tyler said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo