"Low barometric pressure and greater water density make the Salton Sea the fastest body of water in the world for speedboat racing," according to an article in the January–February, 1950 issue of "National Motorist" magazine. (This statement, however, erroneously conflates low barometric pressure with low altitude, when in fact the opposite is true, and the extremely low altitude of the region provides higher barometric pressure, beneficial for internal combustion engines; "The low altitude was thought to be ideal for carburetion and there was talk that this was the 'fastest body of water in the world.'" Beginning in the late 1920s, these properties have made the Salton Sea attractive as a venue for such races.