Sledders try for Guinness record book in North Bay (updated)

Fastest Sled on Ice organizers Claude and Nicky Levasseur speak to reporters at a news conference today to announce the event.
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Snowmobilers from Canada and the United States will be congregating in North Bay this weekend to find whom the fastest sledder in the world will be.

Coun. Maureen Boldt announced today a company called North Bay Snowmobile Speed Runs was putting on the Fastest Sled on Ice competition.

Whomever records the fastest speed will enter the Guinness Book of World Records, said Claude and Nick Levasseur, owners of North Bay Snowmobile Speed Runs.

A 607-metre racetrack had been built for the race on Lake Nipissing just off Sunset Beach Park.

The event runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, with awards being presented at 5:30 p.m. each night at Churchill’s Prime Rib House.

No snowmobile speed record
The snowmobiles that will participate in the event aren’t the common garden-variety sled, Claude Levasseur said.

“They vary in price from $50,000 to $70,000 U.S. and have parachutes and turbos, and anything you could think about.”

At present, Levasseur added, there is no snowmobile speed record in the Guinness book.

But a sledder from Lindstrom, Minnesota named Chris Hanson hit a speed of 262 kilometres per hour, the fastest Levasseur knows about.

Hanson won’t be at the event, but will be in North Bay March 6 and 7 for another of the Levasseurs’ events, the Average Joe’s Go for Dough.

Radar gun
Preparations for this weekend’s event have been going on since December, Nicky Levasseur said.

A police officer with a radar gun will be measuring the speed of the racers, and their times and speeds will appear on a board for spectators to see.

As well a shaver and a Zamboni will keep the ice flat and smooth for the races.

Claude Levasseur said the ice off Sunset Beach Park is “four feet thick. Four feet of blue ice.”

Safety precaution
Precautions are also being taken to protect spectators.

“We have snow fences up to separate the racing area from the spectators as a safety precaution,” Nicky Levasseur said.

Alynn Burke, a former Nipissing University student, died two weeks ago at the I-500 snowmobile race in Soo, Michigan when a racing snowmobile jumped a snow bank and crashed into her.