Please select your home edition
Edition
Zhik 2024 December

Whitianga Festival of Speed 2010 another Roaring Success

by Paul Shanahan on 12 May 2010
The Big boat race - Whitianga Festival of Speed SW

Whitianga turned on a fantastic weekend for the 2010 Festival of Speed as the town roared into life with spectacular displays of powerboats, cars, aircraft, off road vehicles, motor bikes and, believe it or not lawnmowers!

The weather couldn't have been better as crowds gathered around the town's many venues to witness the festival's spectacular racing and aerial displays.

The Festival began with an early Saturday morning 'wake up call' led by a parade of helicopters flying in formation behind a large orange coloured Beaver fixed wing aircraft. The helicopters circled the town before the big red and yellow Westpac Rescue Helicopter broke away from the formation and landed in the middle of a CBD car park. (Lee St car park) Its alighting passengers included Leigh Hopper and renowned Americas Cup yacht designer, Tom Schnackenberg.

The first event of the day was a celebrity go-cart slalom race between Thames Coromandel District Council Mayor, Philippa Barriball and Leigh Hopper, CEO of Hopper Developments Ltd. Leigh had the bit between his teeth and looked like a well rehearsed driver, but given his TARGA Rally history, it was to be expected. Philippa, nonetheless, put on a credible driving display.

The Mini Club then produced a series of entertaining driving skill displays, mostly involving dueling slalom events. Drift cars driven by Cole Armstrong and Karl Ruitterman followed with an incredibly skillful display of sliding, tyre squealing smoke hazed madness. Monster carts, electric go carts and breath stopping motorcycle stunts made up the balance. …. And that was only one of four major event locations.

Events were held in many parts of the town with a full program of aerobatic displays and helicopter stunts at the airfield, Street sprints from performance cars in the industrial part of town, Offshore Powerboats storming around Mercury Bay and jetskis and thundercats zooming around the beachfront.

Apart from stunning aerobatics provided by the Warbird's in Harvards, other aviation highlights included low flying displays by a Kittyhawk, Thunder Mustang and numerous aerobatic aircraft.

Late Saturday morning at the airfield, a 'crazy pilot' stole a car and was pursued the length of the airfield by a highway patrol car. The pilot made his escape by 'stealing' an aircraft and performing a series of heart stopping manouvres before losing power and executing a 'dead stick' landing. He was pounced on and cuffed by the waiting police officer. (Pilot: Phil Hooker)

On land within the Whitianga Waterways construction area, off road racers (ORANZ) conducted a full national meeting with a record number of entrants. The opportunity to race with such a large spectator crowd close to an established township was too good for competitors to turn down.

Adjacent to the off road course, jet sprint boats took full advantage of the canals under construction. An obstacle course made from large semi submerged tractor tyres proved to be a lot of fun as these V8 powered craft and smaller Predator jet sprint boats squirted themselves every which way at break neck speeds.

At the beach front, a novel race between Jet Skis and Thunder Cats was staged. Never seen before, but no doubt it will be repeated, riders had to tandem parachute from a DC3 aircraft, shed their chutes and race their respective craft around a course. Parachutists became crew for the water borne component.

Then the 'Big Boat Race' was all on. Crew had to undertake a Le Mans style beach start in Thunder cats, race their big boats and return to shore again in their awaiting Thunder cats. Local Rayglass 4000 Fine-A-Lee took line honours. The crowd was on their feet as returning crew sprinted and stumbled to the finish line. The inaugural Pacific Motor yacht trophy and jeroboam of Champagne was presented by Barry Thompson (PMY Editor) to the winning crew.

Later in the afternoon, on the outskirts of town, the speedway track came alive with the throaty roar and crashing metal sounds made by stock and demolition derby competitors. Again, a record crowd filled the terraces as these metal gladiators smashed and bashed their way around the oval track.

At one stage the beachfront was a mass of spectators, with an estimated 15,000 gathered to see the Offshore Powerboats roar around the bay, passing within 200 meters of the shore at speeds of up to 200 km per hour.

At the same time a further 15,000 were in other parts of the town watching the street car and off road racing and other events. By evening the town was buzzing, in anticipation of the 'Drag race' and 'Rolling Thunder' parade. Whitianga's cafes and bars overflowed with happy satisfied spectators.

Sunday dawned another perfect day and the waterfront crowd were treated to a thrilling demonstration race between World Champion Jet Ski racer, Sam Harvey and a Hughes 500 helicopter piloted by Phil Hooker.
The tight 300m course suited Sam Harvey's high performance Seadoo jet ski which powered its way to a clear win. Then the Thunder Cats came out to play with a thrilling race meeting.

Festival of Speed event major sponsor, Leigh Hopper and chief organizer, Paul Shanahan and said they were delighted with the number of people who had made the journey to Whitianga to watch the many events. Shanahan praised his support team led by Peter Abrahamson and Tracey Denize for their dedication and tireless work in attending to all the detailed planning which made the festival seem to run with apparent clockwork.

For more information contact

Event organizer: Paul Shanahan + 649 427 0299. paul@hoppers.co.nz

RS Sailing 2021 - FOOTERPantaenius Sail 2025 AUS FooterMaritimo M600

Related Articles

SailGP's return to Auckland for Season 6 confirmed
ITM is the NZ's Grand Prix's Title Partner, marking a fourth year supporting Black Foils. After a record breaking debut, the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix Auckland has been confirmed to be returning in 2026 and is set to be bigger than ever.
Posted on 26 Jun
Rolex SailGP Championship 2026 dates confirmed
Including a return to fan-favorite destination, Auckland SailGP has released further details of forthcoming 2026 Season, including the return of fan-favorite locations, multi-year hosting agreements secured across all regions, and an evolved regional structure to raise the stakes for athletes and fans alike.
Posted on 26 Jun
BOISW - New Committee announced for 2026
New Committee working hard behind the scenes to rework the 2026 Bay of Islands Sailing Week . A newly appointed committee is already working hard behind the scenes to rework the 2026 Bay of Islands Sailing Week event while honouring the traditions that have made it so special to the sailing community.
Posted on 26 Jun
Pip Hare Announced as Patron of WORLDSTAR 2026
A meaningful return to her roots with the Royal Western Yacht Club of England The Royal Western Yacht Club (RWYC) is absolutely delighted to welcome solo ocean racing legend Pip Hare as the Patron of WORLDSTAR 2026—our flagship round-the-world sailing event. This is more than a title; it's a homecoming.
Posted on 26 Jun
Kieler Woche Day 7
British mixed dominance in dinghy and catamaran After the second day of the Sailing Grand Slam in the Olympic mixed classes, Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris are leading the 470 class even more dominantly than John Gimson and Anna Burnet in the Nacra 17 on Thursday (June 26).
Posted on 26 Jun
29th Superyacht Cup Palma day 1
Cervo and Open Season take opening day honours The Superyacht Cup Palma 2025 swung into action today, with captains and crews across the varied and inspiring fleet seizing the opportunity to take the measure of the competition out on the racecourse.
Posted on 26 Jun
J/70 Mixed-Plus Worlds at Lake Garda Day 1
Yupi leads after a perfect opening day in Torbole Lake Garda delivered its finest conditions for the opening day of the first-ever J/70 Mixed-Plus World Championship: three races completed in a steady, warm Ora breeze peaking at 20 knots.
Posted on 26 Jun
Tschüss 2 - Transatlantic Titans
Line Honours for Christian Zugel's Volvo 70 in the Transatlantic Race 2025 Volvo 70 Tschüss 2 (USA), owned by Christian Zugel and co-skippered by Johnny Mordaunt, has taken Line Honours in the West to East Transatlantic Race 2025 in an elapsed time of 07 Day 15 Hrs 29 Mins and 10 Secs.
Posted on 26 Jun
Craig Wood Makes History
The first triple amputee to sail solo non-stop and unsupported across the Pacific Craig is the first triple amputee to sail solo non-stop and unsupported across the Pacific, completing the 7506nm journey from Mexico to Japan in 90 days.
Posted on 26 Jun
NTG Global Graduate Program
Shape your career and propel yourself into the world of innovation North Technology Group, a global leader in advanced composite technology, is offering an exciting and dynamic graduate program that will shape your career and propel you into the world of innovation.
Posted on 26 Jun