Nanaimo's bathtub racers are on the lookout for three stolen motors after two recent incidents.

The motors are worth thousands of dollars and the owners hope they will be returned in time for circuit races that begin this weekend.

The original annual bathtub races started in Nanaimo in 1967 and now competitors race customized, fiberglass, bathtub boats with outboard motors.

Brad Davis has been competing for about eight years.

He says he had two motors, worth several thousand dollars, in a secure workyard when they were stolen.

"You know you work very hard to get these things ready and put money into them to run the races. So, when people come and just take your stuff it's disappointing."

Last week, Kurt Henderson's bathtub motor was stolen from his driveway after he had taken it out for a practice run.

He has been tinkering for years to modify it and isn't hopeful he will see the distinct engine again.

"I think anybody would be afraid to move it at this point. It's a pretty distinguishable motor."

Henderson says he had a new mountain bike in his driveway that wasn't taken when the motor was stolen.

"It's like they came there for [the motor] and they took that."

Kurt Henderson's super-modified motor was stolen from his bathtub boat this week (CHEK news)

Both men had to pull out of this weekend's race in Oak Bay.

Henderson says it would have been a good warm up for the world championships in Nanaimo in July.

He adds it's a gruelling sport, but he loves the adrenaline rush.

"You sit in a fibreglass bathtub and you're doing upwards of 30 miles an hour and getting five to six feet of air and landing on an opposing wave that stops you dead. It does everything from knock the wind out of you to put your back out of joint. You're bruised. You're cut. You're numb."

Meanwhile, the Commodore of the Loyal Nanaimo Bathtub Society, Greg Peacock, says he's surprised and upset by it all.

He says the races and competitors are generally respected in Nanaimo.

"It's just kind of a taboo thing to do to mess with one of our tubbers."

Nanamio RCMP spokesman Const. Gary O'Brien says police are aware of these thefts and others, as boating season starts on the island.

"What we're seeing a lot now is thefts of boat motors and the thieves are targeting those in commercial shops, backyards and driveways."

O'Brien urges people to keep their motors and other valuables locked up.