Hey! There's no water under this boat!
The race is run on a track that is essentially a 15 foot wide, 3 foot deep trench dug into a field. The track has a start pool, an end pool and lots of twists and turns in between. One boat at a time runs on the track, and the runs are timed. To win is simple: just be faster than every one else. And, oh, try to keep the boat in the water!
The race is divided into four sections: four qualifying runs, the eight-cut, the four-cut and the finals. In the qualifying runs, each boat runs four times. To get a qualifying time, the team must run the course correctly, not missing any turns. The team must complete the course under the boat’s own power. If the team fails to run the course correctly, or fails to complete the course under the boat’s power, the team gets a DNF (Did Not Finish) for that run. In the qualifying runs, the team must get at least one qualifying time out of the four runs to be eligible to advance to the eight-cut.
The fastest eight qualifying teams make the eight-cut. From here on out, if a team gets a DNF, they’re done for the day.
In the eight-cut, each of the eight teams runs once. The fastest four teams advance to the four-cut.
In the four-cut, each team runs once. The fastest two advance to the finals. The third place team in the four-cut takes third place for the day.
In the finals, the remaining two teams fight it out for first place.
