Competition heats up in NZ Offshore

by Kate Gordon on 23 Mar 2009
With only three rounds remaining, the competition is definitely heating up in the Rayglass New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Championships, with ‘Cure Kids’ and ‘Expresso Engineers’ each claiming their first season win at Wellington.

For ‘Cure Kids’ crew, Tony Coleman and Chris Handley, it was to be their first ever 100-mile victory in Wellington as well as their first win this season against the previously dominant ‘Fairview Windows and Doors’, with Ted Taiatini and Warren Lewis aboard.

The two Superboats have been engaged in a side-by-side battle throughout this season, resulting in some spectacular racing, according to series commentator Jamie McCarthy.

Last weekend, ‘Cure Kids’ had the advantage of a trouble-free run in fairly flat conditions on the Wellington Harbour course.

‘Fairview Windows and Doors’ dropped two laps due to a troublesome water pump hose and this gave Scott Lewis (brother of Warren) and Murray Tuffin, aboard ‘A1 Homes’ their chance to whip through for second place.

‘A1 Homes’ is the Superboat campaigned last year as ‘Fairview Windows and Doors,’ in which the Lewis brothers, Warren and Scott, finished third in the ’08 championships.

They raced together in their new boat for the first two rounds this year, but then decided to bring the older boat back, split up with new co-drivers, Ted Taiatini and Murray Tuffin, and race against each other.

McCarthy said the battle between the Superboats was not the only excitement for spectators during the 100-mile event.

'There was a great battle between ‘Doosan’ and ‘Rayglass’ in the Superboat Lite Class,' he said.

'Sam Filmore and Cary Gleeson had ‘Doosan’ in the lead for most of the race, with defending champion Kelly Smith, father Grant alongside in ‘Rayglass’, was never more than a few boat lengths astern.

'Then the gremlins struck ‘Doosan’ again and ‘Rayglass’ took full advantage to come through and win the race and take third overall on the leader board,' he added.

Among the smaller boats engaged in the 60-mile event, the Auckland crew of Mike Gerbic and Haydn Mearns piloted ‘Expresso Engineers’ to victory, their first win in only their fourth race start.

Series leader, ‘Konica Minolta’, had a crew change with regular driver Greg Brincks unable to compete due to a family matter.

Hamilton’s Jeff Weake joined Eldon Archer led for most of the race and looked likely to notch another win, but ‘Expresso Engineers’ was never far away and was able to snatch the lead in the closing stages for what McCarthy described as 'a well-deserved win.'

In the popular Formula Honda class, series leader ‘Building Solutions’, with Auckland-based Mike Knight and Shannon Thickpenny aboard, was totally dominant and turned in perfect race with an all the way win.

'Amazingly, the boat in second place in Formula Honda, ‘Auckland District Collections #2’, driven by Mike Urquhart and Darren Woods, made it to the start line with just four minutes to spare,' McCarthy said.

They apparently overlooked some critical parts and had to dash all over Wellington to enable them to finish their pre-race preparations,' he added.

Crews are now readying their boats for the April 4 round at Whitianga, with the final two rounds scheduled for April 18 (Whangarei) and May 2 (Auckland).

‘Fairview Widows and Doors’ holds 27 point margin over ‘Cure Kids’ in the Superboaty Class, while ‘Konica Minolta’ has a commanding 400 point lead over ‘Expresso Engineers’.

Championship points, 100-Mile: ‘Fairvew Windows and Doors’, 1627 points, ‘Cure Kids’, 1600, ‘Rayglass’, 990, ‘A1 Doors’, 975, ‘Doosan’, 788.

60-Mile: ‘Konica Minolta’, 1700 points; ‘Expresso Engineers’, 1300, ‘Holsam’, 1075, ‘Building Solutions’, 934, ‘Auckland District Collections #2’, 874.