NZ National Championships

Lake Kaniere, Feb 18-19 '06

Saturday the national titles for all classes were run at Lake Kaniere in changable conditions. Wind came up and down all day and was calm and flat for some races and rough and border line on suitable for other races. Sunday saw the King of the Nationals raced early in the day before mixed class racing and the King of the Lake.

Final Placings for the 2006 National Championships are as follows:

Grand Prix
1st Annihilator 3 Ken Lupton
2nd Wired Earth Works Malcolm Jamieson
3rd Annihilator 1 Warwick Lupton

Grand National
1st Terminator Darryl Friend
2nd Little Cracker Alan Lewis
3rd Fair Warning Scott Coker

Modified Hydroplane
1st Little Cracker Alan Lewis
2nd Armageddon Brendon Hall
3rd Reckless III Shane Harvey

Formula 1
1st Total Lubricants Steven Hughes
2nd The Advocate Peter & Ian Thomas
3rd Wired Earth Works Malcolm Jamieson

ProCom
1st Cut Loose Gary Gregory
2nd Dancing Bear John Ryan
3rd Gladiator Mike Ryan

ProStock
1st Cut Loose Gary Gregory
2nd Madison Blues Mike Wotton
3rd First Offence Terry McKinstry

Series 3000
1st Madison Blues Mike Wotton
2nd Going Going Gone Paul Robertson
3rd Star Trax Andrea Robinson

Mod VP
1st Southern Storm Andrew Morris
2nd No Mercy Paul Morris
3rd Striker Brent Dawson

Formula V
1st Unforgiven Nathan Lyndsay
2nd Unicorn Mark Kelly
3rd Superman Darren Randle

Formula 3
1st Sinista Geoffrey Morrish
2nd Instigator Jamie Hargraves
3rd Black Thunder Josh Preece

South Island GP Championship

1st Total Lubricants Steven Hughes
2nd California Girls Alan Dennis
3rd Annihilator 1 Warwick Lupton

King Of The Nationals

1st Annihilator 1 Warwick Lupton
2nd Wired Earth Works Malcolm Jamieson
3rd Total Lubricants Steven Hughes

Canadian Trophy
Final points tally

1st Wellington Power Boat Club 1650
2nd Auckland-Manukau Speedboat Club 1625
3rd Rotoiti Power Boat Club 1450
4th Manawatu Power Boat Club 1300
5th Southland Power Boat Club 1150
6th New Brighton Power Boat Club 925

NZGP Hydroplane Drivers Club 2006 World Championship Regatta

Waitangi Weekend 4-5th Feb 2006

The Waitangi weekend Lake Karapiro regatta was a huge success for the sport of Powerboating in NZ. Two UIM World Championships, (Grand Prix and Modified Hydroplane), six teams from overseas, the best boat racing venue in Australasia and perfect weather all weekend and the organization and entertainment both on the water and land was fantastic.

Supporting these two world championships were strong numbers in F3, F1, and a mixed V8, F2 combination as well as model powerboats, wakeboarding demonstrations and marathon jet boats to entertain the crowd between races, as well as great hospitality areas and hot rod displays.

GP qualifying was done the weekend before at Wanganui and the pole positions already set for the first heat. Saturday was spent testing by most teams but not one of them showed their hand by running a full fast lap. Ken Lupton in "Annihilator 3" looked strong until he destroyed a gearbox and for a moment looked like he would be out of the champs before they started. But a trip to get parts to fix the box, had that part of the problem fixed but the other concern was the over rev the engine did when the box let go. Without a back up engine Ken would have to run an engine that was already a little bit tired.

David Alexander had a few headaches getting his "Annihilator 2" sorted out and had a piece of aluminium, from the inside of a sponson tear off and hit the rudder throwing the boat into an ugly nosedive, an engine change, new rudder and late night repair to the bottom of the boat would see him back for Sunday.

Warwick Lupton in "Annihilator 1" ran extremely strong on every run and a late afternoon engine change to dial in the back up motor was as good as his earlier test runs. The boat seemed to get better with every run and was looking like he would start the championships as the favourite. The other kiwi contender was Scott Coker in "Fair Warning". Sadly the team were unable to complete their new supercharged engine in time and would have to run their older and under powered carburetted engine and were down on speed, but were hoping that reliability would see them finish all the heats and collect valuable points.

The best of the Australian boats was defending world champ Paul Cunningham in "GP-55", who ran strong and fast in his tests, hugging the turn pins better than anyone else, he seemed to be able to point his boat where ever he wanted too and was looking like the only boat to be able to match Lupton for outright pace.

Bobby Fisher in "Wasp" was having a few handling issues but his engine was sounding strong and all his competition knew he would be reliable and real quick if he could get the boat to settle, it got better with each run also. Ian Bryant's "Mathemagic" was again causing its crew grief as it had at Wanganui the weekend earlier, as they attempted to sort engine problems. They sat out most of the test sessions as they no longer had a spare motor and needed the one in the boat to last on race day.  Tom Heffernans "Dragula" as always ran reliably and was looking like it could be a dark horse, although down slightly on top speed it wasn't that far off the pace and could well be in the running on race day.

Most other classes took to the water for testing as well as racing and the Modified Hydroplanes had the first of their qualifying heats for their World Championship also on the Saturday.

The race program ran to time and the first of the GP heats was run late morning. All eight entrants made the start and the sight of them heading into the first turn at speeds in excess of 140mph was awesome. Out of the first turn first was "GP-55" with "Annihilator 1" hot on his heels, and "Annihilator 3" right there chasing the leaders with "Wasp" not far behind in 4th. Unfortunately the only engine that the "Mathemagic" team had left expired and that was the end of their assault on the champs. "Annihilator 2" parked up on the second lap because of a broken accelerator cable, but would be back for the second heat. The leaders ran in the order mentioned until the final turn when Cunninghams "GP-55" parked just on the exit pin leaving the door open for "Annihilator 1" to take the first heat win.

Heat 1 Results
1st Warwick Lupton Annihilator 1 400pts
2nd Ken Lupton Annihilator 3 300pts
3rd Bob Fisher Wasp 225pts
4th Tom Heffernan Dragula 169pts
5th Scott Coker Fair Warning 127pts

The second heat was led all the way by "Annihilator 1" who was chased hard by "Annihilator 2" the whole way home, with "GP-55" right behind the leaders while "Wasp" fought for fourth with "Annihilator 3" till he was stopped by a broken blower belt. The resulting damage would put Ken out for the day as did the broken gearbox "Dragula" suffered while racing with "Fair Warning" for the points.

Heat 2 Results
1st Warwick Lupton Annihilator 1 400pts
2nd David Alexander Annihilator 2 300pts
3rd Paul Cunningham GP-55 225pts
4th Bob Fisher Wasp 225pts
5th Scott Coker Fair Warning 127pts

Heat 3 was a battle royal between Annihilator 1 and 2 with "Annihilator 2" getting the win just at the post. "Wasp" ran in a comfortable third chased by "Fair Warning" for a couple of laps before he stopped. Sadly "GP-55" failed to make the start and had to watch from the top end of the course.

Heat 3 Results
1st Warwick Lupton Annihilator 1 400pts
2nd David Alexander Annihilator 2 300pts
3rd Bob Fisher Wasp 225pts

Final Results

1st Warwick Lupton Annihilator 1 1100pts
2nd David Alexander Annihilator 2 700pts
3rd Bob Fisher Wasp 619pts
4th Ken Lupton Annihilator 3 300pts
5th Scott coker Fair Warning 254pts
6th Paul Cunningham GP-55 225pts
7th Tom Heffernan Dragula 169pts
8th Ian Bryant Mathemagic 0pts

A.E.Baker Australasian Unlimited Hydroplane Championship.

A great first heat battle saw a repeat of the previous race with Annihilator 1 & 2 leading the pack, and David posted the fastest race time of the weekend for the win. Heat 2 sadly only had 4 starters as the day had taken its toll on a number of boats and looked like it would be a repeat of the last 2 but "Annihilator 1" broke exiting turn 1 leaving "Annihilator 2" to race home on his own and the maximum 800points for the magnificent trophy. Darryl Freind in "Terminator" and Malcolm Wotton in "Renegade" in their Grand National Hydros both ran well all weekend and were second and third in the last heat as well as the final results.

A.E.Baker Points
1st David Alexander Annihilator 2 800pts
2nd Darryl Freind Terminator 525pts
3rd Malcolm Wotton Renegade 394pts

World Modified Hydroplane Championship

The qualifying heats and final saw some great racing in this championship, the first time hosted here in NZ. 2005 world champion Dustin Echols came all the way down from the USA with a small team to defend his title and had his Esslinger powered boat "Miss Silver Cloud Inns" flying. 11 kiwi's and an Aussie in a kiwi boat lined up to attempt to take it off him. Nigel Zander in "Helter Skelter" and Allan Lewis in "Little Cracker" both got into the first turn with Echol's once each, Zander's being the closest when he and Echol's nearly touched coming onto the front strait. Lewis was able to run with "Miss Silver Cloud Inns" at times but Echols boat was far quicker and seemed to be able to drive away with ease. Great racing right threw the heats and final all the way down the field was spectacular, and there is already talk of bringing the championship here again in the future rumored to be 2008.

Final Results
1st Dustin Echols Miss Silver Cloud Inns
2nd Allan Lewis Little Cracker
3rd Janine White Predator
4th Geoff Robinson Summer Wine
5th Brendon Hall Armageddon
6th Nigel Zander Helter Skelter
7th Tony Hall Tempest
8th Alan Wells Bugga
9th Brodie Mathieson Meridian
10th Darren Pennington MacSheen
11th Daniel Pollack Undertaker

As I said earlier in this article the organization and entertainment at this event was fantastic. A huge success for our sport of powerboat racing, a very professional event that wowed the large crowds all day long, congratulations on a job exceptionally well done to the organizers, the NZGP Hydroplane Drivers Club.

Images from this regatta are available in our Gallery

Sad News.

7th February 2006

Lake Karapiro Sees Kiwi Win World GP

4th - 5th February 2006

Waitangi weekend is turning out great for the Annihilator team with Warwick Lupton in 'Annihilator 1' taking out the 2006 World GP and with David Alexander in 'Annihilator 2' taking second place coming in in third place was Bob Fisher over from Australia in his boat 'The Wasp'. 

The kiwis were edged out of the top of the 2.5 World Modified Hydroplane class podium by Dustin Echols in 'Silver Cloud Inns' from The USA in 1st place, but they still managed to fill 2nd and 3rd places with Alan Lewis in 'Little Cracker' in second and Janine White in 'Predator' in third.

AE Baker, Australian Unlimited Hydroplane Trophy:

this info was beamed to me from Kent via text 'live' from Karapiro, More info and plenty of images are sure to follow.

Heavy rain during the week prior to the NZGP Drivers club's flying lap and GP Worlds qualifying event on the Wanganui river was the cause of a lot of debris to come down the river, playing havoc with the organizers race program.

Both days saw the rescue craft working flat out to clear the track of logs and driftwood with very little time spent on the water racing. When the tide turned both days a small window of opportunity became available and some competitors took to the river, while others opted to be spectators rather than risk their equipment in the marginal conditions.

Quickest boat around the track was Malcolm Jamieson's "KRB Racing" Formula 1 tunnel boat with a 40.70 second lap. Second fastest and best of the GP hydroplanes was Paul Cunningham in "GP-55" with a 42.68. This time gives "GP-55" pole position for the first heat of the GP World Champs at Karapiro this coming weekend.

Ken Lupton in "Annihilator 3" was the best of the kiwi GP boats all day until the very last run when his father Warwick Lupton in "Annihilator 1" beat him into Pole 2 with a 42.81. Kens best time at 43.50 was good enough for Pole 3 in the first heat at the GP World Champs and placed him, 4th overall for the Wanganui event. Next fastest in the flying laps was Allan Dennis in his F1 tunnel "California Girls" with a 44.39, followed by Ian Thomas in "The Advocate" another F1 with 45.90. David Alexander in "Annihilator 2" came 7th overall for the day and was 4th fastest GP earning him Pole 4 in the first heat at Karapiro next weekend.

Steve Hughes in "Total Lubricants" was frustrated by engine gremlins in his F1 boat with his best time of 48.00 leaving him in 8th place ahead of Luke Sharp in "Sierra" 9th with a 51.60 lap time. Next boat home and pole 5 for the first heat at Karapiro was Australian Ian Bryant in his GP hydro "Mathemagic" with 53.92. Scott Coker in the newly enclosed "Fair Warning" placed 11th on the day in the flying laps with a 55.50 lap, putting him in pole 6 for the first heat of the GP World champs next weekend.

Australian competitor Tom Heffernan in "Dragula" gave the crowd the biggest thrills of the weekend when he flat spun prior to his first flying lap on Sunday morning. Tom recovered and then headed off for his timed lap and the boat pulled to the right and ended up in the mud at the end of the front straight. Some damage was done to the rear of one sponson but will be repaired in time for Karapiro. The other Australian entrant Bobby Fisher in "Wasp" failed to make it to Wanganui after being held up at customs, his boat was released but there were apparently issues with his tow vehicle.

Check out our Gallery for pictures from this event and also follow the link on our local links page to the NZGP Drivers Club website for more info and pictures.

MANAWATU GOLD CUP REGATTA
 

The 36th Manawatu Gold Cup was held this weekend in fantastic weather with a light breeze and an incoming tide making the tight river track perfect for the 30 boats that participated in the regatta.

Saturdays racing featured the North Island Championship for Formula 3 and saw great battles down the field in both heats. NZ F3 Champion Jamie Hargraves in "Instigator" won the first heat ahead of Scott Dennis in "Velocity" while the rest of the field fought over third position. Young newcomer Josh Preece in "Black Thunder" beat home Philip Stilwell in "Dupont" for third with Grant Pedder in "Wild Thing" hot on their heels the whole way, in the end finished 5th.

"Instigator" failed to make the start in the second heat leaving "Velocity" to comfortably take the win, again the rest of the field fought it out till "Black Thunder" blew his engine leaving "Dupont" second and "Wild Thing" third.

2006 Formula 3 Championship
1st VELOCITY Scott Dennis 700points
2nd DUPONT Philip Stilwell 469points
3rd INSTIGATOR James Hargraves 400points
4th WILD THING Grant Pedder 352points
5th BLACK THUNDER Josh Preece 225points

The other feature on Saturday's programme was the Carl Augustine Memorial Challenge Trophy for under 2 litre inboard boats. Steve Mathieson in "Midnight" has held this challenge trophy for the last five years and has had it hosted here at the Gold Cup regatta for all that time. He again won it in style leading the field the whole way with Tracy Gapper driving "Tempo Too" home in second place ahead of Brian Cardiff in "Miss Riff Raff", third and Brodie Mathiseon in "Meridian" finished 4th. Steve is now the winningest driver in the history of this spectacular trophy.

2006 Carl Augustine Memorial Challenge Trophy
1st MIDNIGHT Steve Mathieson
2nd TEMPO TOO Tracy Gapper
3rd MISS RIFF RAFF Brian Cardiff
4th MERIDIAN Brodie Mathison

The Series 3000 drivers club also hosted a round of its Drivers Club Series and had an impressive eleven boats start in the two handicap races. The racing was hard and fast and the handicapping great as the field bunched up towards the finish line. A large field of any class of boat is spectacular and these races were some of the best seen in a long long time. The second of these series races saw the first of the weekends two crashes, as the field bunched up, Graeme Stevens in "Maximum Boost" and Malcolm Packer in "Miss Weta" crashed into each other in the downstream turn. The resulting damage put them both out for the rest of the weekend. Thankfully both drivers were ok and will be back on the circuit soon.

Sunday the program was busy as the club hosted it's feature races. First up was The Sally Nagel Memorial for 3 litre inboard, open hull. 13 entrants for this race ment qualifying heats had to be run to narrow the field down to a 6 boat final. Lap times for the drivers were such that the six fastest qualifiers had only 2 seconds splitting them with the rest of the field spread by another 6 seconds. "Midnight", "Buckshot" and "Tempo Too" were all together on the run in, chased hard by "Madison Blues" and "Star Trax". Armageddon failed to make the start after breaking a header pipe while under the start boats orders up under the bridge, and had to spectate the race from there.

2006 Sally Nagel Memorial
1st Midnight Steve Mathieson
2nd Buckshot John Hallett
3rd Tempo Too Tracy Gapper

The Ross Knight Memorial, Open Hydro Cup was next on the program and most expected Steve Mathieson to do the hat-trick like last year, adding this to the two trophies he had already won this weekend. Tony Hall in "Tempest" had other plans when he made it to the start line having chased engine problems for most of the day. "Tempest" led the field comfortably with "Midnight" in pursuit and "Tempo Too" also chasing. Then "Tempo Too" stopped and a lap later in the same spot "Midnight" parked also, leaving the final two podium spots to be fought over by "Meridian" and "Miss Riff Raff".

2006 Ross Knight Memorial Open Hydro Cup

1st Tempest Tony Hall
2nd Meridian Brodie Mathieson
3rd Miss Riff Raff Brian Cardiff

The Bob Dunlop Memorial for unlimited racing runabouts only drew three entries this year but all made the start. Newcomer Terry McKinstry in "First Offence" and Evan White in "Wasted Nights" were side by side with Midge Mallet in the Ford SVO powered "Cobra" joining them for much of the race until with a lap to go "Cobra" lit up and ran for the finish line on his own.

2006 Bob Dunlop Memorial
1st Midge Mallet Cobra
2nd Terry McKinstry First Offence
3rd Evan White Wasted Nights

Manawatu's major feature race is the Manawatu Gold Cup. The run in saw defending Gold Cup winner Steve Hughes in "Total Lubricants" and the Procom flat bottom "Cobra" run side by side all the way to the first turn with "Cobra" having a slight lead. The F1 tunnels of John Hercock, "Advance" and Julian Stilwell in "Resene" were not far behind. Unfortunately neither "Tempest" or "Midnight" managed to make the start. As the leaders exited the first turn "Total Lubricants" was in front and over the next lap the other two F1 boats hounded "Cobra" till they found a way past. A great spectacle that saw the crowd on their feet for the three laps of the long track.

Congrats to Steve Hughes, who has competed at this event for some 25 years and now has 5 wins to his credit, the first of which came in 1988 in "Red Express".

All in all the weekend was a great success with a great crowd turnout and a good number of competitive boats and classes. The weekend's racing included one of the best fields of Series 3000 boats seen for some time as well as some great mixed and class racing for the top trophies.

As Steve Hughes said in his thank you speech on being awarded the Gold Cup for the 5th time - river racing is where its at - nothing else comes close! Lets hope the racing just keeps getting better with this weekend's GP regatta at Wanganui. Meantime, take a look at the Gold Cup photo gallery for shots of the weekend's action.

Formula 3 Drivers Series

Confirmed dates for some F3 series events are available in the F3 class information page

MANAWATU GOLD CUP

The next big event on the seasons calendar is the Manawatu Gold Cup Regatta, 21-22 January at Whirokino, Foxton. Saturday will see the North Island Championship for the Formula 3 class, The Carl Augustine Challenge which is the NZ 2 litre inboard Championship, and drivers club series races for the Mod H class and the new this season, Westview Aluminium F3 Driver Series along with support races for other classes.

Sunday is the day for the 36th Annual Gold Cup and the clubs feature races. The Sally Nagel Memorial for 3litre inboards, the Ross Knight Memorial for unlimited hydroplanes and the Bob Dunlop Memorial for unlimited racing runabouts, will all run along with class races.

GP WORLD CHAMPS

Following the Gold Cup is the NZGP drivers club event at Wanganui on the downtown river course. Eight of the worlds fastest Grand Prix hydroplanes will compete in the flying lap competition on the tight river track to qualify for their pole positions for the World GP Hydroplane Championships to be held at Lake Karapiro on the 4th and 5th of February.

The GP World Championship entrants are:
MATHEMAGIC Ian Bryant New South Wales, AUS
DRAGULA Tom Heffernan Victoria, AUS
GP-55 Paul Cunningham New South Wales, AUS
WASP Bobby Fisher Victoria, AUS
ANNIHILATOR 1 Warwick Lupton Wanganui, N.Z
ANNIHILATOR 2 David Alexander Wanganui, N.Z
ANNIHILATOR 3 Ken Lupton Wanganui, N.Z
FAIR WARNING Scott Coker Otorohonga, N.Z.

The World Championship for the Modified Hydroplane class will also be held at Lake Karapiro on the 4th and 5th of February and will see two international teams compete against the large field of local boats.
 

The Modified Hydroplane World Cahmpionship entrants are:
SILVER CLOUD INNS Dustin Echols USA
TEAM MACSHEEN Darren Pennington AUS
PREDATOR Janine White NZ
HELTER SKELTER Nigel Zander NZ
TEMPEST Tony Hall NZ
LITTLE CRACKER Alan Lewis NZ
MIDNIGHT Steve Mathieson NZ
ARMAGEDDON Brendon Hall NZ
MERIDIAN Terry Mathieson NZ

Also at this event the NZGP club will host the A.E.BAKER Australasian Unlimited Hydroplane Challenge trophy. This magnificent cup was won a few years back by Warwick Lupton in Annihilator 1 and the Australian teams will be doing their best to take it back across the Tasman Sea with them and the kiwis will be just as determined to keep it here. Drivers club series for Formula 1, Formula 3 and the Grand National classes will also run at this event.

For more info regarding these events please contact the respective club secretaries or visit the NZGP Hydroplane Drivers Club website via our local links page.

Mangakino, New Years regatta.

A good number of boats attend the New Years regatta at Lake Maraetai in Mangakino and the conditions were superb on the Saturday and the racing was close in all classes.

Formula 3 was dominated by Jamie Hargraves in "Instigator", but was pushed hard by Scott Dennis who has returned to the sport after about a 4 year layoff in his boat now renamed "Velocity". Philip Stilwell in his new boat "Dupont" battled with Garin Keane in "Too Keane" for the 3rd place spot most of the day and relative newcomer Peter Swinkels, "Strike Zone" and Grant Pedder in "Wild Thing" rounded out the class.

The hydroplane racing was close all weekend as many teams used this regatta as a chance to test set ups for the upcoming World Mod Hydro Champs. The feature event of the day for the hydros was a great battle led by Nigel Zander in "Helter Skelter" leading the whole way with Alan Lewis in "Little Cracker" and Janine White in "Predator" scrapping it out for the 2nd place and the rest of the field behind them were bunched up and battling close and hard as well.

Five Formula 1 tunnel boats were joined by the Mod VP "Anti Cyclone". Tony Latimer in "Patriot" won the first race for the class but severely damaged his engine as he crossed the finish line putting him out for the rest of the weekend. Peter and Ian Thomas were their dialling in their freshly imported from the USA "The Advocate". Julian Stilwell's "Resene" ran really well and was right on the tail of Luke Sharp in "Sierra Engine Parts" and Allan Dennis in "California Girls".

Series 3000 had a great field of boats and many have found extra horsepower and speed for the coming season, John Hallets "Buckshot" was quick and pushed by Paul Robertsons "Going, Going, Gone" and the Robinsons "Star Trax".steve and Bryan Denham debuted the "Venom 3" and saw close racing with the Packer brothers Malcolm and Bruce in "Miss Weta" and "Brooster" respectively. they were also joind by "Wild Thing" and the ProStock boat "Wasted Nights" of Evan White.

Racing for Day two, Monday the 2nd of January had to be called off at Lunch Time due to High Winds making the course too rough. The host club shifted the course in closer to the shore in an attempt to avoid the rough water on the back straight, but sadly the wind kept getting stronger and the day was cancelled just after lunch time.
 

Feature race results

Master of Mangakino
1st California Girls Allan Dennis
2nd Sierra Engine Parts Luke Sharpe
3rd Resene Julian Stilwell

Des Geddes Memorial
1st California Girls Allan Dennis
2nd Resene Julian Stilwell
3rd Midnight Steve Mathieson

3 litre Hydro Challenge
1st Helter Skelter Nigel Zander
2nd Predator Janine White
3rd Little Cracker Alan Lewis

The Geyserland club has introduced a new trophy this season, called the Dawn Cresswell Memorial Trophy. It is in memory of the partner, of the clubs Patron Mr. Colin Robertson, and is a top points trophy for the regatta competed for by the Series 3000 class boats. A great field of these racing runabouts battled hard and the inaugural place getters are as follows.

1st= Star Trax Jeff & Andrea Robinson
1st= Going Going Gone Paul Robertson
3rd Venom Brian & Steve Denham
4th Buckshot John Hallett
5th Miss Weta Malcolm Packer
6th Brooster Bruce Packer
7th Wild Thing Grant Pedder

Gallery Changes

We have made some small changes to the gallery to make it a bit more easier to use and to allow us to receive images that you, the public, have taken and wish to share with the boat racing community.  In order to upload your own files simply click on the @ symbol at the top and then click on the "Upload File" link, from here you can browse to find the file(s) you wish to upload and click on upload (please be patient as uploading the files may take a small amount of time due to file sizes), once the image has uploaded you are able to input a title and caption for the image. all images uploaded need to be approved by admin, and this will be done ASAP.

In order to be able to upload more than one file at a time you must be registered, registering gives you your own login for the gallery and enables you to upload up to 10 images at a time and also puts your name below the image giving you the credit for uploading it.

To register in the gallery now, Click Here and fill out your details

Manawatu PBC Opening Day

The Manawatu Power Boat Club successfully ran their opening day at Whirokino on Sunday Dec 4th. West - Nor West winds blew all day but with an early start and running on an incoming tide the water conditions were fine for racing.

All competitors were split into fields and had 3 races each with the final race of the day the Opening Day Cup for the day's 6 fastest boats. This race saw the best action of the day. Scott Dennis returned to racing in his F3 tunnel boat now renamed "Velocity" and battled race long with Series 3000 campaigner Paul Robertson who also has just returned to racing with his completely rebuilt McLeod flattie now named "Going, Going, Gone". Right on the hip of these two was Tracy Gapper in "Tempo Too" the 2 litre hydroplane. The 3 ran neck and neck for the first 3 laps before "Tempo Too" broke, then "Going, Going, Gone" nearly did its namesake with a big sideways shuffle and left the door open for Scott in "Velocity" to have a fairly easy 1/2 lap sprint to the finish for the win.

Two Hydroplane World Championships to be run in NZ in 2006

The NZGP hydroplane drivers club have now confirmed two entries from Australia for the upcoming GP world champs to be run at Wanganui and Karapiro this coming season. Tom Heffernan in "Dragula" who finished 3rd at this years world GP champs at Taree NSW is well known here in NZ as the man who maintains the hulls of the three Annihilator boats and has done so for some years, he will bring his boat to NZ for the first time, this beautifully presented boat has proven to be a very consistant and reliable competitor and is sure to be in the points at the end. The other Australian entrant "Mathemagic" owned by Ian Bryant from Pitt Town, NSW is a boat well known in NZ, formerly "Thunder Pumper" and "Big Cheif" the boat has been renamed after the teams major sponsor a computer based mathematics tutoring system. Three other Australian teams are looking at coming over for the worlds but as yet not confirmed. '04 Champ Grant Harrison may have his new hydroplane finished in time to attend, '05 World Champ Paul Cunningham in "GP-55" is sure to want to defend his title and of course the Burton owned "Warlord" are sure to want to be in the running for the 2006 GP World Champs. Add to these two confirmed Aussie entrants, the three Annihilators and the Coker hydroplane now being fitted with a capsule and blower and this could be one of the best GP fields assembled in NZ for many many years.

Results of the annual Central Zone Petrol Voucher raffle

1st 3924 Jeremy Thomas Upper Hutt
2nd 1854 L Cusin ??
3rd 1339 Val Hoyne Himitangi
4th 1501 Mashepend Wanganui
5th 3204 C Andrews Carterton
6th 1054 Nagel Waikanae
7th 3899 Jeremy Thomas Upper Hutt
8th 1378 Ken Marshall Carterton

 

News N Gossip

18/12/2005

The 3 litre McLeod flatbottom "Ambush" has sold and will have a V6 Nissan 300zx engine installed for power. The boat will be renamed "Miss Mika" and new owner Jeff Noble of Otaki works at KM Automotive in Waikanae and will duplicate the set up his boss Paul uses in his Series 3000 boat "Going, Going, Gone"

Razors Edge has also sold and headed north to Warkworth now owned by Tom Needham. Tom hopes to have the boat ready for the '06 Auckland/Manakau winter series, and will run a Ford XR8 engine. Former owner Kent Dunlop has now purchased a large cube supercharged engine which will be checked and modified slightly before being fitted to a brand new boat due here early next year to be ready for the '06/'07 season.

Goose Gregory has acquired another racing runabout, another 15' McLeod flatbottom that he intends to run in the Formula 3 class, engine choice has not yet been decided but rumour hasit that either a Honda S2000 or Suzuki 1300cc Hiabusa motorcycle engine may get the nod.

Team Denham are working flat out to get their boats ready for the New Years regatta's, Mike Denham is expecting his 454 chev back from the machine shop any day ready for assembly for "Captain Manta" and will run at local events this season. Steve and Bryan Denham are working over time to get their 3 litre Ryan Craft ready in time for the start of the Series 3000 drivers club series at Mangakino.
 

Malcolm Jamieson ran his "KRB Racing" Formula 1 tunnel boat at the final round of the Australian F1 Superboat Series in Penrith over the last weekend of November. Early testing at the event saw Malc set the pace with a lap time of over a second quicker than the next competitor. Unfortunately his final practise session saw his race engine throw a conrod and the team were unable to fit the spare powerhead in time for the Hot Laps. Because he didn't compete in the Hot Laps Malcolm had to start the first heat from the outside pole position with the teams spare powerhead. A good start off the dock saw the KRB Racing boat start working his way threw the pack until he got upto 5th before a blow over by another competitor saw the race stopped short of its full distance.

Heat 2 saw the team battling with the leaders until the power steering failed making the boat very hard to drive. Malc managed to get the boat home again in 5th position, even tho he was now battling a boat with extremely heavy steering. The team went to work on the power steering and made the third heat start and again battled with the leaders until the same problem with the steering from the previous heat reappeared. Again Malc was able to muscle the boat home in 5th place, he was dissappointed that the earlier lap times could not be maintained, but very happy with the performance of the boat. Congratulations to Malcolm and the whole team at "KRB Racing" on their assault on the last two rounds of the Australian F1 Superboat Series, sadly the result they were looking for (a round win) eluded them but the whole Aussie F1 scene were forced to take notice that the boys from the top o the South Island are a force to be reckoned with. The boat will return from Sydney to NZ in the next couple of weeks so as the team can start testing more gear for the season here in NZ, they hope to compete in both the local F1 and GP series events as well as a couple of feature races that Malcolm would like to get his name on.
 

SsangYongTeam Finish off the season with a Win!

The Ssang Yong Team capped off a successful 2005 season with an overall win at the final round of the FPS F1 Superboat Series at Penrith, just outside Sydney, on Sunday. However it was almost a disaster as tangling with Dave Trask in the final race of the day put a hole in the boat that was taking in water.   The weekend started well with Bailey first into the 36sec mark, well clear of the Trask brothers, Rhys Coles, vella and the Kiwi, Malcom Jamieson during Saturday’s practice. Coles later matched Bailey’s time late in the day but the team had declared themselves happy with the setup and elected to not run in the final session.   “Running at Melton, the weekend prior was the difference” said Bailey. I didn’t have to get into the groove, the team all new exactly what was needed to be done and we had tested a variety of setups. Actually it was fun, I am getting to know the boat and was able to really fly it out of the turns”.

Perfect conditions on the Saturday turned ugly for Sunday’s race day with heavy showers scheduled all day.

In qualifying the team finished in 3^rd, though the onboard telemetry showed a different time to that of the officials, but, Craig still felt with the a good start he would be able to challenge Dave Trask and Coles who were 2^nd and 1^st respectively. Dave had just come back from a fine 5^th place finish at the previous World Championship round in Qatar and was brimming with confidence.

It was a tight tussle right from the start with both Bailey and Trask eventually getting past Coles to go 1^st and 2^nd the whole way. The Ssang Yong boat had the legs but Trask was driving well to hold his position.

It was the same story in race 2 as both drivers soon lapped slower traffic during another close fought contest. Again Trask took the chequered flag from Bailey as both teams prepared for the final.

It was on from the start as Bailey knew he needed to make his move early if he was to get the prized inside line on the tight Penrith course. Side by side early on in the race Bailey moved up along side Trask and got his nose in front, both drivers probably doing close on 135mph. Bailey was wide out the turn and Trask started to drift wide as well, 2 doesn’t go into one and next thing both boat collided. 

‘ All I remember was the sight of Dave’s boat climbing up the decks and near my windscreen, it happened so fast. He had to stop which was unfortunate, I would have liked to race him the whole way. We holed the boat and took on water, I thought something wasn’t right as the boat kept getting slower and slower.   Bob Trask got me on the last corner, I knew I had the overall points for the day so I let him through, it would have been nice to have won the heat though”.   The win capped off a good 2nd half to the year for the team. The new boat is finally getting sorted and the team will be keen to run for the championship next year.

“A 2^nd at the Gold Coast round, winning the Arch Spooner and a win here at Penrith is great. It is a credit to all of my team, especially my crew chief Jason, whose wife is expecting their 2^nd child soon. Also to all of our sponsors for the year, thanks very much, I hope to have a few drinks before Christmas with everyone and hopefully we can all go for a championship next year.” 

Craig Bailey racing is also supported by:

SsangYong Australia

RedLine Oils

Andrew Short Marine

Kentan Machinery

Red Bull Australia

Signature Spas

Lewis Fabrications

Inner Circle Rum

Glasurit paints

Rigoli Smash Repairs

Tait Radio Communications

Fgi

Kennards Hire

DVD My Life

Waynes Injector Services

For more information go to www.f1boat.com.au

For further information contact Chris  Kuznetsoff 0418 975 819

SsangYong F1 Powerboat Team

The Ssang Yong F1 Powerboat Team will be out to take the win this weekend against very stiff competition at Penrith for the final round of the FPS F1 Superboat Series. Also, success for the team in Melbourne last weekend, Craig Bailey became the first driver to win 8 x Arch Spooner Gold Cup Titles, the Australian APBA Unlimited Outboard Trophy.   Regards Chris Kuznetsoff

Craig Bailey becomes 1^st Driver to win 8 Arch Spooner Gold Cups

 Last weekend the boys drove down to Melbourne to try and win the coverted APBA Arch Spooner Gold cup for the 8^th time and become the 1^st driver to do so. Prior to the weekend, Bailey jointly held 7 wins with Australian driving legend, Bob Halliday who first started winning in the mid 1970’s.

Luck was down in the first heat with local driver Gavin Bricker taking the win from Bailey, but the team kept their cool, made a few changes and went out to win the next  2 heats to take the overall win and the trophy.

“It was a great weekend for the team” said Craig afterwards “ we actually had 2 objectives, the first being to win the Arch Spooner, it has some of the greatest names in Australian powerboat racing on it and I am honoured everytime I add my name to it.”   “Our second objective was to finetune the boat for this weekend’s final round of the FPS F1 Superboat Series at Penrith just outside Sydney. The competition is hot up front and Dave Trask has been really quick. He just got 5th at the Qatar round of the World Championships last weekend so I guess his confidence will be up. The Ssang Yong boat is running well though, I’m very happy so we should do ok.”   Bailey is out of the running of the overall championship after missing the first half of the season.

He also took some time out recently to wed his longtime girlfriend Janelle on Byron Bay Beach. It was a big day (weekend) for all with many guests coming from overseas including former F1 powerboat star, Pelle Brolin from Sweden and top engine man, Ron Anderson and his wife Lynne from the US.

The stunning bride arrived in a brand new white Ssang Yong Rexton of course, courtesy of Ssang Yong Australia.  Our thanks go to Chris Michel for organising that.

Stay tuned for all the results from the weekend and the launch of our brand new website www.craigbailey.com.au.

Craig Bailey racing is also supported by:   SsangYong Australia RedLine Oils Andrew Short Marine Kentan Machinery Red Bull Australia Lewis Fabrications Inner Circle Rum Glasurit paints Rigoli Smash Repairs Tait Radio Communications Fgi Kennards Hire DVD My Life Waynes Injector Services

For more information go to www.f1boat.com.au

For further information contact Chris  Kuznetsoff 0418 975 819

Wellington Powerboat Club Race Season

Wellington Power Boat Clubs race season gets underway this weekend at
Onepoto, Porirua, with a club day and Christmas party.

CLUB DAY SATURDAY 19TH NOVEMBER 2005
START TIME - 9.00 AM
SCRUTINEERING - 9.30 AM
WATER OPEN - 10.30 AM

Come along to our “XMAS PARTY” ( this is been organized in conjunction with the Capital Rodders) At the Clubrooms
Time : 6.00pm Price: $23.00 per person, includes 2 course Meal provided by the Spit Roast Co
Or you may prefer to come later and just enjoy the entertainment.
As we need to know numbers for catering please contact:
raewyn_palmer@bnz.co.nz or ph 586 0919 to book your ticket by 17th NOVEMBER 2005

News Release

JJW Hydroplane Racing

22809 NE 159^th Street

Woodinville WA 98072

USA

American Racer to Compete in New Zealand

2005 Union of International Motorboating (UIM) World 2.5 Modified Inboard Hydroplane Champion Dustin Echols (driver) and Justin Weymouth (owner) of Duvall Washington will travel down under to Lake Karapiro Cambridge, New Zealand, on February 3^rd 4^th 5^th 2006  to represent the American Power Boat Association (APBA) in the 2006 UIM World 2.5 Modified Inboard Hydroplane Championship.

Justin Weymouth

Justin and Dustin will arrive in Auckland New Zealand on Tuesday, January 31^st to prepare the Silver Cloud Inns & Hotels www.silvercloud.com  “Ford Esslinger powered A20” for the short road trip South to Lake Karapiro where they will test on Friday February 3^rd in preparation for  two qualifying heats on Saturday and the final on Sunday. The Team will also compete in the Marsh Motorsport 10 km Grand Prix, the winner of this race receives the fabulous $30,000 five blade Swiss Rola Offshore Race Propeller.

The week after the World Championship the JJW Hydroplane Racing Team will hopefully celebrate by relaxing with some Marlin Fishing, White Water Rafting and maybe even a Verticle Bungy Jump, before the 15 hour flight back to Seattle, Washington.

Dustin’s Racing Career

Driver Profile

Dustin started a career in Boat Racing at the age of ten, he started in the “A” stock hydro class and worked his way up through the ranks. The 2004 season was his first drive in a Inboard Hydroplane and he earned the privilege of driving Justin Weymouth’s A-20 2.5 Modified Hydroplane. During Dustin’s first year in the category, he competed in both the Eastern and Western Divisionals as well as the Summer Nationals in Hampton Virginia.

With the help of the JJW Hydroplane Racing Team Echols finished second in the National High Points in his first full season of Inboard Racing, Dustin was also named Seattle Drag & Ski Club Rookie of the year.

In 2005 Dustin once again dominated the 2.5 Modified Hydroplane Class with first at Western Divisional Championship, World Championship National High Points, 2^nd at the Summer Nationals and most recently on Sunday October 16^th at Devils Lake Oregon set a new UIM World Kilo Speed Record at 137.2 mph. John DeVos driving the A-36 “In Cahoots” back on September 30th 1989 at Devils Lake Oregon last set this record at a speed of 132 mph. Dustin is currently in the running to join the American Power Boat Assosiation Hall of Champions which will be decided in January 2006 in Florida at the APBA National Meeting.

Media Contact:

Alan Lewis 

New Zealand

Mobile: 0274-869730

Email  : JJWTeam@jjwhydroplaneracing.com

Advanced Electrical F1 tunnel rebuild

Eight days later and it is starting to look like a boat again. Now with the capsule refitted and the new decks on it is not far away from being ready for the paint shop.
 

Geyserland Club Season Starts

The Geyserland Power Boat Club's season starts this weekend with their
opening day to be held at Lake Maraetai in Mangakino, Sunday 16th of
October. Good luck to the club and competitors on a good safe days racing.
We hope to have a report on this meeting on this site early next week.

Formula 3 Drivers Series Races

The Formula 3 class will this season have a drivers series to participate in, thanks to the efforts of Pete Stilwell, the Series Convenor, who has been negotiating with clubs and drivers, along with securing a major sponsor. The series will be run as 2 Scratch races at each of the following venues

Triangle Tracks at:
Mangakino, 1/2 Jan 2006,
Lake Karapiro, NZGP 4/5 Feb,
Blue Lake, 10/11/12 Feb,
Lake Kaniere Nationals, 18/19 Feb,
Porirua Harbour, 14/15 April.

Normal Tracks at:
Manawatu, 21/22 Jan,
Wanganui GP, 28/29 Jan.

At this early stage 8 teams have committed to support the series with an additional 3 or 4 who will make it to some of the rounds.

Series 3000 Race Dates

The Series 3000 Drivers club have confirmed their series race dates and officers for the coming year at their recent AGM in Taupo.

The Series dates are:
January 1/2 Geyserland at Mangakino
January 21/22 Manawatu at Whirokino
March 11/12 Wairarapa at Ruamahunga
March 18/19 Manukau/Auckland at Mangere

We decided at our AGM to only race the four venues this year hoping that it will attract fuller fields at these venues.

Officers elected are:

President - John Hallett
Vice-President - Jason Buttimore
Secretary/Treasurer - Andrea Robinson
PR - Jeff Robinson

Obituary

John Swanson of Masterton sadly passed away last Tuesday the 4th of October at the age of 75. John raced out of the Wairarapa club for many years, most of his boats were called "Swannee" as was he by his friends. John was instrumental in reviving the Wairarapa Power Boat Club along with a few other keen racers in the early 1980's, the club has always been fairly isolated with its race venue out on the Ruamahunga River way out in the countryside but the foresight of John and those members closest to him, chased sponsorship and introduced the Santano Paints Trophy to be run alongside the Barney Rhodes Memorial. The regattas of the mid to late 80's at Wairarapa were huge events that included kilo trials on one of the best kilo tracks our sport has, and saw racers from all over NZ attend in the hope of winning the cups, setting records and to be a part of a great event.

Our condolences to his friends and family.

Tony Latimer has purchased a Ryan-Craft skiff from the South Island and will fit a 350 Chev and run in the Prostock class. The boat is about five years old and was originally named “All Torque”, it has done very little racing and only been in the water 2 or 3 times and is very tidy, Tony will announce a new name for the boat, and driver in the near future.

Malcolm Jamieson is currently building a new KRB tunnel boat for Southlander Anthony Robertson, who for the last 2 years ran the very quick F3 “Tunnel Vision”. The new F1 boat is very near completion and will be ready for the new season and with Malcolm looking after the engines and set up it could quickly become a contender in the F1 class.

Jamieson will also cross the ditch to race in the final round of the F1 Super boat series at Penrith. The date for this event has been confirmed as 26th-27th November. If you are planning on a weekend trip to Sydney, then pick this one and check out the Australian F1 Super boat series and get along and support the KRB team.

Alan Lewis is currently in the USA, he attended a meeting at Rocky Forks, Ohio, where he again drove the rebuilt “Sho Nuff” of John Shrewbrooks before loosing an engine. He then got to pedal “Mr Bud” one of the best Hydros on the USA circuit. The following weekend he went to Wildwood, New Jersey where with a 1st and a 2nd in “ShoNuff” he won the 2.5Mod Hydro class for the weekend. He also got the chance to drive Dennis Macey’s 7 litre hydroplane “Menace” and managed a win after a great side by side battle with M.A.S Epoxies of Tom Heins.

Another generation of Stilwell’s has arrived with the birth of James Edward, at 8lbs 4ozs he arrived on the 30th of September, and will be cheering on his Dad, Julian and uncle Philip this season at the races. Baby, and his Mum Karen are doing well, and will get a visit this weekend from his clucking Grandma and Granddad.

Auckland/Manukau Club Day

The Auckland/Manakau club hosted a club day at Lake Dee earlier in the month, and had a good early season turnout with a number of racers getting in some laps before the regatta season starts. Allan Dennis was the quickest boat there in his "California Girls" NZ1 Formula 1 tunnel boat and ran the boat hard. Dave Harris and family had the ProCom flatbottom "Innocent Victim" as well as a newly imported american flattie with a new driver racing for the first time.

A couple of second generation rookie racers made the show. Garin Keane, son of F2 advocate John was there with the ex Schmanski Formula 300 tunnel boat, Garin's boat "Too Keane" now competes in the Formula 3 class with Evinrude 45ss power on the back, and runs very well. Also in a 45ss powered F3, another newcomer, Travis Robertson, was getting to grips with his newly acquired Funway Flyer, freshly painted bright yellow and sponsored by "Swashbucklers Restaurant & Bar", the son of 'Turbo Tonsils', (the well known race announcer and TV chef) also spent the day getting used to racing.

F3 veteran, but still only a teenager, Phillip Stilwell made the long trek north to try out his new boat. The old "Fastway Couriers" Hoffman tunnel boat now known as "Dupont Auto Finishes" saw a major rebuild this winter by Phil and his Dad Pete, and now sports a driver capsule, they had a few fuel delivery problems, but they already have that sorted and are rearing to get into the season proper. Great to see these 3 teenagers with well presented and sponsored boats out running early in the season, they were joined by one of the 'old' men in F3 Geoff Morrish in "Holiday Outboards" and all 4 F3 drivers had a win each on the day in the mixture of handicap and scratch races.

Also out on the water for a shakedown run was our new Driver Rescue Boat that has been custom built for the N.Z.P.B.A by Ramco Boats in Hamilton.  Unveiled at conference, the boat is very near completion and with the addition of a few minor pieces will be ready for this season. Initial trials of the boat went extremely well.

Check our gallery for a few pics from this event.

UIM Hydroplane Championships are all go.

Both the UIM Grand Prix and 2.5litre Modified hydroplane world championships will be run here in NZ this coming season.
The UIM (World Governing body)has agreed to the changes requested by the NZ Mod-H drivers club to the rules of the World 2.5 litre Modified hydroplane class so that the local 3 litre boats can compete in this event, programmed to run in conjunction with the World GP hydro championships at Lake Karapiro in early February 2006. The GP drivers club and the Mod H club are currently in talks with a number of teams and are hoping to get some commitment from international entrants in the very near future.

Obituary

Longtime Wanganui Motor Boat Club member and racer Bruce Carlyon passed away on Wednesday 14th of September. His funeral will be held at Dempsey & Forrest, 208 Guyton St, Wanganui, this Saturday (the 17th) at 2pm. Bruce will be remembered by many by his boats, the very quick Supercharged 2 litre hydroplane "Dyno" in the late 70's and early 80's before he switched over to the outboard classes where he finished his racing career. In his last few years of racing he ran his Tennesee tunnel deck "Hot Ice" with Evinrude CCC power in the old Y class (Unlimited Outboard Vee Bottom) with great success.

NEWS

8th Sept '05

Our sports 58th National AGM and conference was held in Rotorua late July and now with race dates finally sorted I figure it is about time I got this update finished.

Our Association now has a new President, James Knight who stood un-opposed for the seat vacated by the retiring Dennis Dustin. Jamie has been in the position of Vice President for the last two years and has spent a number of years racing and as an official in the Central Zone.

Dennis will stay on the Executive commitee as Immediate Past President and also retains his role as NZPBA delegate. The executive nominated Dennis Dustin as a life member of the Association in recognition of his many years of service to our sport and this was accepted by the conference.

The Vice President's postion was the one with the most nominations, with the final vote going to Bryan Denham to fill the position for the coming year. Bernie Walsh is again our Patron and the zone delegates to the national executive are now Allan Dennis and Geoff Robinson for Northern Zone, Ken Marshall and myself for Central Zone and John Ryan and Ben Ryan for the Southern Zone. Shirley Wotton and Peter McLeod both return to their positions as Treasurer and Secretary/Boat Registrar respectively and Denise Moughan also returns as our second delegate to the Federation.

Also at conference we were able to view the new rescue craft in the flesh, a boat that has been custom built for us by Ramco boats in Hamilton. This boat is currently undergoing trials and finishing touches and will be at all major regattas this season.

At the Saturday night dinner, Dennis was duly awarded with Life Membership of the Association and also presented with a plaque by the NZGP Drivers club for service to our sport and in particular his efforts for the GP club over many seasons. Presentations were also made to Darryl Friend for achieving his 100mph and 200kph awards, and Mike Ryan was awarded his 100mph award for speeds achieved across the flying kilo's in the past season.

The now finalised race calender will be up on this site in the next few days. Highlights include the NZ Nationals 2006 hosted by the Southern Zone at Lake Kaniere on February 18th and 19th, Wellington hosting the Matt Morrison Memorial at Easter, Manawatu hosting the Carl Augstine 2 litre Challenge at the Gold Cup in January 21-22, and the AE Baker to be run on Blue Lakes February 11-12th. And last and definately not least, the UIM World Champs for GP and Mod Hydro will be held at Lake Karapiro on February 4th-5th. Wanganui will hold the qualifying for the GP Worlds on the 28th-29th January.

 Check back here in the next few days as the official and complete calendar including Island championships will be up soon.