F1 powerboats ‘fly’ into Marble Falls for Battle on the Colorado

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Battle on the Colorado is still scheduled to take place following Fourth of July weekend flooding of Lake Marble Falls. Find up-to-date details on website links in this story.

Not a bird. Not a plane. Pure F1 Powerboat. Dozens of the high-speed racing machines will hit Lake Marble Falls on Aug. 1-3, 2025, for the first-ever Battle on the Colorado.

“These powerboats, you’re flying them as much as you’re driving them,” said Tim Seebold, founder of the F1 Powerboat Championship series, which is hosting the race. “It’s a combination of aerodynamics and hydrodynamics.”

According to Seebold, Formula One boat racers almost double as pilots, fighting the watercraft’s desire to go completely airborne as it hits speeds of 100-120 mph through hairpin turns. 

This duel between man and machine will be on full display at the Battle on the Colorado as some of the best drivers in North America compete for the podium and points in the seven-event 2025 championship series.

The action is free to spectators on Friday, Aug. 1, as racers get a feel for the Lake Marble Falls circuit. Hardcore racing on Saturday and Sunday requires tickets. Expect vendors, food, drinks, music, and adrenaline. 

Marble Falls is no stranger to motorsports on the water, having held the ultra-popular LakeFest drag boat races off and on for over 30 years. However, after a change in ownership for the Southern Drag Boat Association, the 2025 race was canceled and the event was put on hold indefinitely.

While both F1 and drag boats are high-powered vessels, the races are completely different.

Drag boats are meant for short-burst, straight-line racing, hitting face-stretching speeds of 200 mph on courses that are one-eighth, one-quarter, or three-sixteenths of a mile.

An F1 boat competition is similar to its road-bound counterpart, taking place on a circuit with about 20 drivers vying for first in an 18- to 20-minute race. Drivers push their boats to speeds of around 120 mph, taking tight turns around the course, battling ever-changing conditions on the water, and attempting to ride the line between waterbound and airbound.

“The power-to-weight ratio (in F1 boats) is unsurpassed in motor sports,” said Battle on the Colorado producer Chris Keefer. “I think when people see a boat running 100-120 (mph) pulling five to six (G-forces) in a turn, I think they’ll be very impressed with the show.”

Without getting too deep into grease monkey talk, F1 boats are relatively light, at around 1,500 pounds, and powerful, with engines that can crank out over 400 horsepower and are capable of accelerating from zero to 100 mph in under five seconds. They routinely hit corners at triple-digit speeds, generating five G-forces or more, meaning drivers are feeling five times their body weight pressing against them. High G-forces can cause the blood to drain from limbs, a temporary loss of color vision, and even unconsciousness in untrained individuals.

With high speeds, high G-forces, precision maneuvering, water spray on the windshield, and dozens of other competitors sharing the circuit, F1 powerboat racing sounds dangerous.

“Anytime you’re running a vehicle at 120 miles per hour and have an accident, things can happen,” Keefer said. “But we feel like, with the current technology, it is a relatively safe sport.”

An F1 powerboat race is something to behold, according to Keefer and series founder Seebold. Competitors line up along the shore before making a mad dash to the first buoy of the circuit, with every boat roaring to life in unison and blasting at top speed to get a potentially race-winning edge.

“The first thing I’ll say is come out and experience it,” Seebold said. “Come out and experience the real thing live. It’s a great sport. My family and myself have dedicated our lives to the sport of powerboat racing, and we want to show the local community what we’re all about and how exciting it is.”

Seebold is as close to powerboat royalty as you can get. His family has been involved in the sport since 1939, and he is a third-generation champion, holding multiple world titles alongside grandfather Bill Seebold Sr., father Bill Seebold Jr., and brother Mike Seebold. He and his good friend Jim Schubert, another powerboat racing legend, founded the F1 Powerboat Championship series in 2017.

While Seebold is based out of Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, Keefer, the Battle on the Colorado producer, lives in Spicewood. 

Keefer spoke highly of Lake Marble Falls when it comes to F1 powerboat racing. The lake has consistent conditions because of a constant water level—thanks to Wirtz and Max Starcke dams. It’s also mostly protected from the wind by the surrounding hills and cliffs, contains little debris, and has a perfect race-viewing venue at Lakeside Park.

“To be honest, this is a race site that I’ve known about and coveted for over 20 years,” Keefer said. “This is arguably one of the best, if not the best, race sites in the country for what we do.”

F1 Poweboat Championship races take place across the United States. Along with Marble Falls, the 2025 series hits the water in Freeport, Port Neches, and Highlands, Texas; Shreveport, Louisiana; Alton, Illinois; and Windsor, Colorado.

Both Seebold and Keefer hope to return to Marble Falls in the coming years as the sport grows.

“Marble Falls is a fantastic setting,” Seebold said. 

Visit the Marble Falls/Highland Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce website for Battle on the Colorado ticket information and a schedule of events

Don’t wait too long, though. Time, like these boats, flies.

dakota@thepicayune.com