Thunder on the Gulf
Thursday 5 February 2009, 4:40PM
By NZOPA
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An open sea race course off the Gulf Harbour marina, north of Auckland, will host the second round of the 2009 Rayglass New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Racing Championship on Saturday 14 February.
Gulf Harbour is traditionally a pretty challenging course, says Cary Gleeson, vice-president of the New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Association (NZOPA) and driver of ‘Doosan’, current leader of the superboat lite class.
“Some of the course can be very rough with other legs being fairly flat depending on wind against tide and wind direction. The race will always be interesting as some boats will be better set up for the rougher conditions – that can often produce an upset victory,” says Gleeson.
The 2009 series has a few less competitors than last year, but NZOPA president Wayne Valder denies there’s any loss of glamour or intensity of competition in this spectacular class of motorsport.
“We have some fantastic new talent in the series again this season,” says Valder. “Last year’s newcomer Tony Coleman, in ‘Cure Kids’, has already shown he’s fully competitive after a brilliant run in Taupo. Coleman, from Auckland, has seasoned campaigner Tauranga-based Chris Hanley alongside doing the vital job of managing the Skater 35’s throttles.
“The real challenge upfront in the superboat class is between ‘Cure Kids’ and the brand new Skater 34 ‘Fairview Windows and Doors’ of Auckland brothers Warren and Scott Lewis. This boat is the latest design off the Douglas Skater drawing board and arrived from the United States just before the opening round. ‘Fairview Windows and Doors’ has already taken its first race win in Taupo’s close-fought 100-mile race, but only after an intense side-by-side tussle with ‘Cure Kids’ during which ‘Cure Kids’ was just seconds away from going over. So there’s no lessening in intensity of the racing!”
In the superboat lite class, defending champion ‘Rayglass Boats’ only managed second in Taupo. Wellington driver Kelly Smith is aiming to defend her title with father Grant alongside, but has already faced a serious challenge from last season’s newcomer ‘Doosan’. Aucklanders Cary Gleeson and Sam Fillmore have repowered ‘Doosan’ with two of the new Mercury 300XS Eco friendly engines and finished way ahead of ‘Rayglass’ and ‘Barracuda Kayaks’ to take third in the 100-mile race.
Taupo’s 60-mile race was won by the Super 60 ‘Mark Diggelman Car Sales’, formerly ‘Financepoint.co.nz’ and driven by Tauranga’s Mark Diggelman and Grant Rowe, but only after early leader ‘Konica Minolta’ suffered a power steering failure. As Diggelman is not entering the whole championship this year, the points go to the recently repowered Super 60 class Force F19x ‘Konica Minolta’ with the Auckland-based crew of Greg Brinck and Eldon Archer able to overcome the mechanical issues to finish second.
“The Formula Honda class looks to be as competitive as ever with seven to ten boats confirmed for each round of the series,” adds Valder.
“With defending champion Wellingtonian Mikey Smith away on his ‘OE’, Aucklander’s Mike Knight and Shannon Thickpenny in ‘Building Solutions’ took the first Honda class win in Taupo. Whangaparaoa’s Mike and Debbie Urqhart came home second in ‘Auckland District Collections 2’. Expect the battle between these top runners to intensify as the season progresses.
Urquhart will race at Gulf Harbour with Darren Woods in the co-driver’s seat, and Barry and Mitchell Thompson are the other Rodney District representatives this year in this class.
“Also look out for ex-British four-stroke Honda champion Phil Haynes will be run selected races in ‘Honda Marine’. Having recently immigrated here, his race experience and hard-charging style will certainly add extra interest to the racing!”
Gulf Habour’s powerboat races start at 12:00pm with the Hammerhead Reserve on the ocean-side of the Gulf Harbour Marina home to the event for the day. Depending on conditions, the race is normally completed within one hour.
More events details will be posted on the NZOPA website, www.nzoffshore.co.nz, as are results once racing is complete and current championship standings. Highlights packages from each round of the 2009 Rayglass New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Racing Championship will screen on Sky Sport and Prime.
The Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championship continues at Maraetai in south-east Auckland on 28 February, Napier on 7 March, Wellington on 21 March, Whitianga on 4 April, Whangarei on 18 April and ends on Auckland Harbour on 2 May.