Auckland Blokart Club team for the 2010 Blokart World Championships

by Ross Vickers on 7 Oct 2010
The Auckland Blokart Club (ABC) team is currently en-route to the 2010 Blokart World Championships to be held next week (13th to 17th) in Ostend, Belgium. Grant Crawshay, Alex Stol, Nick Murray, Bruce and Jenny Hales, and John Nicholson will join the club's current world champions Russell Harray and Dave ‘Orca' Bush in competing for honours.

Ostend, Belgium, is located on the English Channel and is considered one of Europe's premier blokarting venues with its hard-packed sand, wide course and consistent winds. Ostend, Belgium's city by the sea is home to about 70.000 inhabitants, offering the advantages of a modern cosmopolitan city. It is situated in the Flemish province of West-Flanders.

The 2010 Blokart World Championships are the second such event, following the 2008 event held in New Zealand. There are currently 137 sailors registered in 2 categories and 5 weight divisions. Blokarts at the event are strictly controlled by a team of scrutineers who enforce the one design equipment rules.

Racing takes place in either the Production category, where karts are in standard out-of-the-box configuration, or Performance, where karts can be modified in various ways, such the replacement of production masts with carbon fibre masts.

Sailed over several different courses such as windward / leeward, triangles and short track, races are time-based where the winner is the sailor who has completed the most laps after an 8 minute time period. With speeds that in the right conditions can exceed 70km/hr (37knots), cornering skill can make or break a sailor's race.

The ABC team has been training for the event for the past 3 months and is expected to perform well despite the racing being held on a different surface than club events. Training has been difficult because the Auckland beaches have not produced favourable conditions all winter, meaning that the team has had to complete its preparations at the club's Ardmore venue on Tarmac rather than sand. By setting courses that try to simulate expected sand conditions, a useful training program was established. This, coupled with the club's busy winter racing season of 28 races, means the team is confident that their hard work will payoff.

The Auckland Blokart Club wishes its team all the best for the event.

More information see:
www.abc.gen.nz
www.blokartworlds2010.com