Black Diamond native Brian Perkins headed to the Middle East this week to help serve as an ambassador to the sport of hydroplane racing.

Perkins, 24, drives an unlimited hydroplane, the biggest and fastest out there. He is one of 10 drivers who participated in the second race of its kind outside of North America in the Unlimited Hydroplane World Championship in Doha, Qatar, through Saturday.

Perkins posted a driving diary recounting the heats and events of the championship.

Three titles – the Oryx Cup UIM World Championship, the Series Champion Team and the Series Champion Driver – were up for grabs at the event, which was hosted by Sheikh Hassan bin Jabor Al-Thani, a member of Qatar’s royal family.

Perkins explained that the American Boat Racing Association and its president Sam Cole have “been trying for a long time to branch out and get new races.”

Complete results of the race are posted at the ABRA Web site. According to the Web site the winner of the championship was J. Michael Kelly in the U-7 Graham Trucking.

“The people of Qatar and Sheikh Hassan are big fans of boat racing,” Perkins said. “He is funding the whole deal and it is the world championships. We have a three-year contract, I believe. It’s very promising for other international races.”

For Perkins, a Kentlake High graduate who first began boat racing at the age of 15, not only is participating in the historic race significant as a driver, but also on a personal level this is “the first time I’ve raced outside of North America and it’s a pretty big deal.”

More than 100 team members including Perkins traveled to Qatar along with 37 boats shipped over from Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 28.

According to the ABRA Web site the race was held on a 3.2 km oval course in Doha Bay with qualifying on Nov. 19 and with drivers being allowed to select their racing lanes based upon their qualifying speeds. A minimum speed of 209 km/h is required to qualify for the event, although ABRA race officials predict that the boats may reach speeds of 320 km/h on the straights.

The event consists of four sections of heat races, with five boats in a heat and four laps in each heat with the championship finals scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Points were accumulated throughout heats and the top six boats after all elimination heats vied for the Oryx Cup World Championship – a winner-take-all final heat.

Perkins said he was not at all concerned about racing on water 7,500 miles away.

“A race course is a race course,” Perkins said. “You could put it anywhere in the world and it’s going to be roughly the same.”

What he is preparing for is a trip to a country which is quite different compared to the United States.

“I’ve been told to research the culture and to be aware and respectful of the people around you because it is a different culture,” he said. “We need to treat people with respect and abide by their wishes.”

Perkins said he was not sure what kind of reception the event would get, but he was confident it will be a great time.

“We’re a circus, in a sense, we’re going over there and putting on a traveling show,” he said. “I’m sure it’s going to be fine. They’re no strangers to putting on events.”

It’s also an opportunity to get more laps under his belt as well as be an ambassador for his sport.

“We’re going more for the experience and having a chance to compete,” Perkins said.