me and few buddies have been trying to find the best solution for bouys. we started out with bright colored plastic jugs to race around, but we were breaking off too many rudders and props when u collide with them. we have recently switched to ballons, which work well but the sun bakes them and last only 1 day. what else is there to use that is cheap, and easy too see from shore.

Pool Noodles. Cut off a 6"-10"section, run a dowel through it crosswise, and tie an anchor and line to the dowel. If you keep the string slightly short, they stand up better.

However, use a heavy anchor, or a wave can pick up the bouy and anchor and cause it to move out of place.

[8D]

I've been using old 100 oz. Tide detergent bottles for a non-race course. Through the handle I run a good length of heavy string with weights on each end, more on the end that I want to hit bottm. I then put a zip tie loosely around the lines below the handle so that in case the buoy gets hits or from the movement of the waves, it will self-adjust.
These I can just toss into the water and will stay in place if I have enough line on them. They have taken hits from boats with no damage to the boats.
If you want to spend the bucks, you can use the marker buoys that are used in water skiing competition.
Third option. Look for a craft store in your area that has styrofoam balls that are used for art or floral decorations.

I recently went on a business trip to L.A.. While out there, went to watch some 2 lap record runs at Legg Lake. They use ballons for bouys. Their reasoning, the ballons are cheaper than say a $1000 rigger... Their color of choice was pink.. Very easy to see..

It just occured to me, that another really good and cheap option would be
to stop running into the buoys.

It's not like they are moving around and jumping in front of your boats.

I use inflatable floaties that they have for kids,.. the ones that slide up there arms.. you can find them in orange and yellow just about everywhere

i know i know LOL

thanks for the info

I've used floral styrofoam balls that can be found at places like Michaels Arts and Crafts stores, then I drill a hole into the center of them and guide a string through the hole and tie a washer on the end of the string so it wont slip back through the hole. On the other end of the string I use a largish deep sea fishing weight tied on. Then I use some flourescent paints to paint the ball.

This kind of setup makes it easy to store them by just winding the string around the ball when Im done playing with them. I dont use fishing line for the string because it tends to get knotted up at times. And if you leave the string realatively long you can adjust the weight on it to a length that you want to attempt to anchor it to the bottom of wherever you are boating, and when you dont need a long string you can tie it up in a looped fashion so that it doesnt float to the surface and chance getting sucked into a prop.