CWIN 3.11
Arena Watch
Willamette Hydroarena
Portland, Oregon
Written by Chris French
csadn@ix.netcom.com
Web posted November 10, 2000
Updated November 10, 2000 and May 29, 2023
The Willamette Hydroarena is one of the few multiple-level boat
arenas,
and is the only one with multiple water-covered levels. The areas
within
the second level and under the first level contain the mechanisms
for pumping
water to the second level and the ramps.
Arena Notes
Ramps. The ramps have water pumped in to counter the
water pluming
down. This creates turbulence on the ramps; for every inch (or
fraction)
moved on a ramp, a boat takes a D2 hazard. Hovers are unaffected.
The
ramps are angled 35 degrees, but are designed to prevent jumping.
Upper Wall. The upper wall has rollers which allow boats
to jump
from the second level without taking damage from grounding.
However, before
calculating the jump, the boat loses 5 mph for each 1/4" of draft.
(Example:
a speedboat traveling 55 mph attempts a jump; the jump speed
is calculated at 50 mph. A yacht with a weighted keel would lose
25
mph!)
Upper Level. Floating dropped weapons and unpowered boats
on
the upper level move 5 mph towards the nearest ramp. Any unit on a
ramp
(boat or dropped weapon) moves downslope at 10 mph (this includes
moving
units). The vertical distance from the top level to the lower
level waterline
is 2.5".
For land vs. vehicle events, the water is pumped out. Vehicles on
the
second level cannot target vehicles on the first level,
except via
the ramps, and vice versa.
Arena Events
Ring of Fire. Any vehicle type may be used; typically, it
is
reserved for land-vehicle events. All dropped weapons
(including
direct-fire weapons with dropped-weapon properties) are
prohibited. The
event rules are simple: To win, a competitor must leave his gate,
drive
up a ramp to the upper level, run a set number (1-5 inclusive,
announced
beforehand by the promoter) of laps around the upper level (laps
must all
be in
the same direction, and run consecutively), drive down the
same
ramp he entered by, and depart the arena through his
assigned gate.
Note that requiring the competitors to exit via the same ramps
each respectively
entered by will require some harsh maneuvers upon either entering
or leaving
the upper level.