Hay River can once again call itself a world championship-calibre jet boat town.
The 2025 UIM World Jet Boat Championships wrapped up in Taylor, B.C., over the weekend and two boats captained by Hay Riverites ended up atop the standings in their classes.
The event started on June 20 in Peace River, Alta., with a stop in Grande Prairie, Alta., before finishing in Taylor on Sunday. From start to finish, there was a total of 16 legs each boat had to complete.
The father-son duo of Spencer and Russell King riding Sunset Shaker are once again back in the winner's circle as they captured top spot in the A Class by finishing in a total time of 5:35:27. That was nearly 40 minutes better than Randy Tinant and his boat A222, who finished second in a time of 6:12:04. It marked a successful return to jet boat racing for the legendary duo, who already had seven world titles under their belts before stepping away from the sport in 2016.
The other Hay River boat that emerged victorious was Reverse Elevation as Tanner Froelich and Ty Wheat raced home to victory in the CX Class, though the margin of victory was a bit smaller than the Kings. Froelich and Wheat managed to complete all 16 legs of the event in a combined time of 5:55:48, a grand total of eight seconds better than Aftershock captained by Justin Hill of New Zealand. He would finish in a time of 5:55:46.
Speaking once the final results were in, Froelich simply said winning was a great feeling.
"Feels good, I like it," he said.
Wheat was quick to give credit to Trevor and Trey Beck for helping keep everything rolling for the entire event.
So what was the secret to their success? Froelich said it was all about working on the boat and get speed.
"The synergy between me, Ty and the team, we were like clockwork," he said. "Every time someone wanted to do something different, everyone was in sync to make a change and we were good."
As for next year's championships, Froelich hinted that they may go up to the A class to try their hand there.
Dave Walton, also from Hay River, captained his boat Hellfish in the FX class and finished third in that category with a total time of 9:53:08.
When the boats were placed according to overall time regardless of class, the Kings ended up in fourth place, while Froelich and Wheat were fifth. Gord Humphrey of Canada was the overall winner as he finished in a total time of 4:46:16.
