welcome to South Australia and one of
the craziest boat races on earth my name
is Amanda and I like to race really fast
in these very tiny creeks the Murray
River is about two and a half thousand
kilometres long and it weaves and
intersects the town of Renmark upon
which we raced dinky racing in the
Riverland started in 1981 originally as
a bet between two gentlemen at a fishing
spot to see who could get back to the
pub the fastest over the last 36 years
that bet has now evolved into a global
competition attracting competitors from
all corners of Australia and across the
globe Davies are not normally designed
to race but we modify them and we turn
them into extreme race boats our racing
these are rated to take a 10 horsepower
motor but we put a 30 horsepower engine
on it and we fly it down the creeks at
about 90 kilometres an hour
the race is absolutely a great fun but
it's also underpinned by some very
serious competition trying to modify
that bohtan engine to go as fast as
possible and win the race the dingey
derby has approximately a hundred race
boats in the event which equates to
about 200 competitors you have the
driver and they're responsible for
piling the boat you also have the
navigator and they're responsible for
moving their body weight forward and
backward in order to control and steer
the boat we've also got in the order of
3,000 spectators they'll come down and
they'll watch the event because they're
seeing the mechanic that fixes their car
or the coffee shop owner that serves in
their morning coffee it's all about the
community it's a really family event and
there's a strong camaraderie and spirit
within the town
[Music]
I decided to get involved in dinky
racing when my dad unexpectedly passed
away and his best mate and driver John
asked me if I would take my dad's place
in the boat
I really missed my dad and being
involved in this race was a way that I
could feel close to him by following in
his footsteps but it was also really
great way of progressing his legacy
about joining it to as many new people
and competitors as he could now I'm
fully fledged as a competitor in the
dingey derby and I will race this event
until there is no more water left in the
Murray River
[Music]