Life in the fast lane

Photo: Contributed

Revelstoke’s Mike McLellan is a fast mover – 200 kph fast.

But hitting such blinding speeds is jut another day at the office for McLellan who is a Formula 1 Powerboat racer.

“At 200 KPH and you go into a corner so hard that you’re pulling six or seven Gs. Momentarily your body feels like it weighs almost 1,200 pounds, but the boat corners so fast it’s on and off in an instant,” McLellan said, adding that happens to him more than 100 times in a single race.

McLellan and the Canadian Energy, Optima Batteries Racing Team kick off their 2019 Racing season at the Vancouver International Boat Show during the first week of February at BC Place Stadium.

Racing since he was 13, McLellan's career has covered everything from stock cars to monster trucks to motorcycles, but his true passion is racing boats.

McLellan has collected many provincial championships and a national championship racing personal watercraft as well as placing in the top five in major U.S. National Championships racing Hydroplanes. McLellan is entering his fifth season as one of the top Formula 1 teams in Canada.

“Canadian Energy has been the highlight of my career” said McLellan from the teams headquarters in Revelstoke. “We are fortunate to be partnered with several great national brands like Garmin, Tuff Trailer, and Biz Collection, but to have the engagement and support of a great Canadian company like Canadian Energy has been incredible. The kind of support that the entire race team gets is just amazing.

The Canadian Energy, Optima Batteries Formula 1 Race Boat will be a making it’s fifth appearance at the Vancouver International Boat Show.

“Its been kind of our tradition to kick off our in Vancouver. We get to show off the boat and talk racing, see a lot of friends that we know in the marine industry,” he said.