This may not be the ringing endorsement you think it is

This summer, two competing offshore racing circuits will host a record 22 events across North America, with as many as 38 [cigarette] boats -- some piloted by professionals, others by weekend warriors -- completing fast laps on a course that takes them as close as 20 feet to shore. As the sport expands, it has attracted a roster of corporate sponsors ranging from Popeye's Chicken and Hooters to beer titan Anheuser-Busch. "We look at it as Nascar on the water," says a spokesman for one sponsor, the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Fla.

-- "Loud, Fast and Politically Incorrect," WSJ, May 26, 06

Here's what "Nascar on the water" includes: consuming thousands of dollars in fossil fuel daily, increased death risk for manatees and sea turtles and noises of up to 100 decibels (a thunderclap). Nice.