Scuba divers race on underwater vehicles

From 3news.co.nz (article)

Scuba divers raced on underwater vehicles, or sea scooters, around a sunken ship in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

They were competing in an event that is part of a newly formed underwater propulsion vehicle racing league.

The Wes Skiles Memorial Shootout was the third stop on the 2010 Formula H2O racing circuit. The Keys event honoured diving innovator and underwater photographer Wes Skiles.

The course for the race took competitors around the Benwood shipwreck five times. The ship is a former 344-foot-long Norwegian freighter that sunk five miles off Key Largo in 1942 following a collision.

Formula H2O racing is the new action-packed underwater sport. It was created in Florida featuring divers racing around the superstructure of artificial reefs using diver propulsion vehicles.

Michael Vivona of Orlando completed five laps in the fastest time around the course to win in the Expedition A category and was named the Grand Champion of the event.

Mr Vivona rode a high-powered sea scooter designed to maximise underwater thrust and minimise drag.

"It is all about drag," said Mr Vivona. "There are things like in horse racing where it takes a small guy.

"I am a small guy and I think that it really paid off this time so that was a good thing."

 

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