Katera i Yahty

Katera i Yahty

All starts 14.9.1966, when representatives of journal "Katera i Yahty" and members of Lithuanian powerboating federation had decided to start up race for most popular outboard classes and which will be meeting point for boat and engines producers. Idea behind was to have races for most popular boatclasses with most popular engines. In first race there were seven teams with allover 49 drivers in classes MA(S-250), MC (S-500), SJ (O-175) and SA (O-250). Later some classes were changed. Special racing engines classes (forign engines) were changed to national engine classes. Many years there were only three circuit classes involved: S-350, S-500 and juniors S-350. In first years overall winners of the class got new boat engine as prize.

Additionally to circuit racers local producers had races for pleasure navigation boats and engines. These races were incredibly popular. These boats were devided to different tourist classes: T-175, T-250, T-350, T-500, T-700, T-1000. These boats had two type of races: navigation (long distance) and circuit race.

Overall winner in circuit classes was driver who got highest sum of the speeds in series (2x5 or 3x5 miles) and single heat race (mostly 10 miles by the length).

There was also competition between teams of towns and race was called also as Towns Cup. To find winner between teams, were used different ways to calculate: sum of the team members speeds, heat points sum or special formula. Last way was in use, because in some classes there was many drivers and in other not so much.

Used formula was: Points= 100x(C-M)/(C-1) for classes 10 or more drivers. In classes less than 10 drivers instead of 100 was used coefficient 10xC. C is number of drivers in the particular class and M is achieved position of driver.

One team in 1974 consists:

1 O-350

1 O-500

1 S-250 (junior)

1 S-350

1 S-500

1 T-350 (pleasure navigation class, tourist class)

1 from any of tourist classes

Mainly races were organised in Baltic states as they had good race organisation and good food.

In results (winners list below) you can find many of famous drivers, World and continental champions as also World record brokers.

Some of them: Aleksey Ischutin, Lembit Aaslav-Kaasik (World record O-250 and European champion O-125), Nikolai Põvvat (two World records in O-250), Aldur Raudva (three World records S-500), Viktor Kunitš (F1-pilot), Andrei Bernitsyn etc, etc.