Boats, cyclones and floods

by Bob Wonders on 8 Feb 2011 Australia continues to reel from its disastrous weather, with areas still in recovery mode following the torrential floods, tropical cyclone Yasi and now raging bushfires in Western Australia.

The sight of more than 70 vessels tossed aside like toys in a child’s bathtub at Port Hinchinbrook, in North Queensland was a sight that had to be seen to be believed!

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Thousands of people remain without power, some without water as authorities struggle to bring communities back to some normality.

The impact of Yasi could also have an effect on that world heritage icon, the Great Barrier Reef; we can only hope it is minimal.

In other news, US boat owners have been warned to 'be vigilant' with the increased availability now of the ‘dreaded’ E15, gasoline with up to 15 percent ethanol added.

Next weekend sees Australia’s top ski racers, many of them ’warming up’ for the 2011 World championships scheduled to take place next September in Queensland for the first time, have been forced to choose which of two favoured races they contest.

No fault of organisers, but two races hundreds of miles apart are set down for the same weekend; it all stems again from the weather conditions that Australia has had to endure with so many race meetings postponed due to raging rivers.

On the local scene again, we take a close look at two of Riviera’s latest creations, the 5000 and 5800 Sport Yachts, two vessels introducing a variety of innovation into sport boat design.

On the offshore racing front, the competitive Class 1 scene in Europe is planning on a new structure that organisers hope will breathe new life into the sport, while across the Tasman Sea it’s wide open throttle for the New Zealand championships.

On the other side of the nation, police, working hand in hand with Western Australian fisheries officers, have ’nabbed’ 29 people, mainly for taking undersized crabs.

One group allegedly had 89 undersized crustaceans and police are considering court action (quite right, too) against them.

So read on, reader, good news and not so good this is where it’s all at.

Later this week I head out to Miami for the big show and have a swag of interesting interviews lined up and sight to see.

You’ll learn all about it right here on Powerboat-World.