Since the 1970s, Venezuela's wealthiest have piled whiskey and cheap beer inside their boats and faced off in the longest speedboat race on earth: a 900-mile, seven-day trek undertaken at speeds of up to 120 miles per hour. But as the country slides deeper into an economic and political crisis, Venezuela's poor are starting to protest the wealthy and President Nicolás Maduro's government.That instability made this year's race particularly contentious, with some of the country's downtrodden openly speaking out against the rich teams of sailors passing through their towns. VICE trekked to Venezuela for a firsthand look at the race, hopping on a new boat each day as the teams tore across the Orinoco River. Along the way, host Charlet Duboc drank, danced, and chatted with the race's oldest hands before meeting up with an indigenous community for a look outside Venezuela's upper echelon.
FYI.
This story is over 5 years old.
Venezuela's Alcohol-Fueled 900-Mile Speedboat Race
In a country gripped by economic and humanitarian crises, the rich still turn out in droves for the longest speed boat race on Earth.
