Fort St. John racer leads world jet boat championship

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Gord Humphrey’s Unnatural Disaster leads after nine stages of the Jet Boat World Championship (Jet Boat Racing Canada, Facebook)

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A Fort St. John-based crew continues to lead the pack heading into the final phase of the World Jet Boat Championship.

Unnatural Disaster, a boat raced by Gord Humphrey, has been steady throughout the first two legs of the event as the championship heads down to Taylor.

Humphrey is the defending champion from 2024 and his boat is racing against the best from around the globe, including crews from Australia, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States.

Humphrey began with an opening leg of the event coming in at 13 minutes and one second, defeating his closest competitor by 26 seconds.

He finished the second leg in second position, right behind New Zealand’s Regan Williamson who piloted Unicorn, with a time two seconds shy of Williamson’s 12 minutes and 31 seconds.

However, Humphrey re-took the lead with a blistering time of nine minutes and 53 seconds in the third stage of the race, held in Peace River, Alberta.

Heading into Grande Prairie, Humphrey re-asserted his dominance, taking stage five by two minutes over fellow Canadian Chad Burns, who piloted a boat named Bad Habit.

A penalty taken by Burns during stage six meant he finished nearly four minutes behind Humphrey, who won the stage with a time of nine minutes and 23 seconds.

Humphrey leads after nine stages with a combined time of 2 hours, 59 minutes and 55 seconds, almost 11 seconds in front of second place Williamson.

Meanwhile, Trapper Wolsley, another Fort St. John racer piloting Leroy, is currently in fourth place in the CX class with a time of 3 hours, 54 minutes and 55 seconds.

After Wednesday’s stage 10, the boats will head to Taylor, with a show and shine event at the Pomeroy Hotel and Conference Centre in Fort St. John on Friday, June 27th.

The 2025 World Jet Boat Racing Championship is being co-hosted by Peace River, Grande Prairie, and the District of Taylor.

Festivities at Peace Island Park in Taylor begin at 8:00 a.m. with a driver’s meeting, with stage 11 of the World Championship to start at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 28th.

More details about the 2025 World Jet Boat Racing Championship can be found on Jet Boat Racing Canada’s website and Facebook page.