Whangarei's Marsden Cove offers new venue for offshore powerboats

The Marsden Cove Marina, opposite Whangarei Heads, offers a brand-new venue for the penultimate round of racing in the 2009 Rayglass New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Championship on Saturday 18 April.

With the race course set just a few hundred metres out from the marina to go past nearby One Tree Point and up into the Whangarei Harbour, spectators are assured of excellent viewing particularly from the point itself, says Greg Brinck, spokesperson for the New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Association (NZOPA).

Brinck, who also drives leading Super 60 class boat ‘Konica Minolta’, says as a competitor he’s delighted to contest the new course at Marsden Cove.

“The support we have had from Marsden Cove developers Hopper Developments has been phenomenal,” says Brinck. “The Hopper Developments team has helped us put together a great schedule to create a unique event dubbed ‘thunder in the cove’. We’re really looking forward to putting on a fantastic display for all the marine racing fans in the Whangarei district.”

The action kicks off with a ‘meet and greet’ on Friday evening at the Waterline Café at the marina.

“On Saturday, as with all our offshore powerboat events, it’s free to fans to come along before the race, stroll amongst the boats and competitors and just enjoy the fun atmosphere,” says Brinck. “With free children’s entertainment, it’s all set to be a really enjoyable, high action, low cost family day at Marsden Cove Marina.”

Racing starts at 1pm, with two races run concurrently on the same course with the 18 to 20 entrants all starting at the same time which creates a fantastic sight for spectators onshore. The 100-mile race is contested by the superboat and superboat lite classes, while the super 60, classic, sports 60 restricted, sports 60 and popular formula Honda classes compete in the 60-mile race.

Organisers also plan to race a helicopter against a powerboat in a side-by-side challenge that will be truly spectacular to watch, says Paul Shanahan from Hopper Developments. “It’s going to be really family-oriented day with fairground rides, market stalls, and food stalls as well as the amazing offshore powerboats.”

The battle for the 100-mile championship title amongst the super spectacular superboats is primarily between ‘Fairview Windows and Doors’ and ‘Cure Kids’. Just 127 points separates the duelling superboats on the 100-mile leader-board, so expect the intense rivalry to continue with either boat capable of taking the 475 points awarded to the winner of Whangarei’s second-to-last race of the season. Current series leader ‘Fairview’, with Rotorua’s Ted Taiatini at the helm and Auckland’s Warren Lewis on the throttles, having won four of the five races run this season, it could well be the favourite again in Whangarei. But not if Aucklander Tony Coleman and Mount Maunganui’s Chris Handley in ‘Cure Kids’ can position themselves for another well-deserved victory as they did in Wellington a month ago.

‘A1 Homes’, driven by Scott Lewis, brother of Warren, with fellow Aucklander Murray Tuffin at the throttles, holds third place in the 100-mile championship. Wellingtonians Kelly and Grant Smith (daughter and father) in ‘Rayglass’ and the ‘Doosan’ crew of Aucklanders Sam Fillmore and Cary Gleeson round out the big boat classes.

In the 60-mile championship, ‘Konica Minolta’ with Auckland crew Greg Brinck and Eldon Archer continue to hold a narrow lead despite not racing in the previous round in Whitianga after a bad broach going out to the start which left the boat and crew damaged. In second place, Mike Gerbic and Haydn Mearns, both from Auckland, in ‘Espresso Engineers’ are just 25 points adrift of ‘Konica Minolta’ and are strongly positioned to take both the 60-mile championship title and the super 60 class victory if things don’t run to plan for ‘Konica Minolta’.

Third in the 60-mile series and leading classic class boat is ‘Holsam’ with Aucklanders Mike Cameron and Dennis Vivash onboard. Mike Knight and Shannon Thickpenny, both from Auckland, dominate the popular Formula Honda class and hold fourth place in the 60-mile series.

Event details and results are posted on the NZOPA website, www.nzoffshore.co.nz. After the Whangarei event, the Rayglass New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Championship concludes at Gulf Harbour on 2 May.

Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championship – Points after Round 6, Whitianga

100-mile championship

Boat, Driver, Hometown, Total points

Fairview Windows, Ted Taitini, Rotorua, 2102

Cure Kids, Tony Coleman, Auckland, 1975

A1 Doors, Scott Lewis, Auckland, 1275

Rayglass, Kelly Smith, Wellington, 1065

Doosan, Sam Fillmore, Auckland 863

60-mile championship

Boat, Driver, Hometown, Total points

Konica Minolta, Greg Brinck, Auckland, 1700

Expresso Engineers, Mike Gerbic, Auckland, 1675

Holsam, Mike Cameron, Auckland, 1550

Building Solutions, Mike Knight, Auckland, 1234

Auckland District Collections #2, Mike Urquhart, Whangaparaoa, 1118

Morrell Motors, Logan Morrell, Taupo, 825

CRD Automotive, Colin Dunn, Auckland, 649

Honda Marine, Yael Pook, Auckland, 664

Electropar, James Taylor, Auckland, 719

Outlaw, Derek Walden, Auckland, 529

Back to Bay6, Glen Powell, Hamilton, 497

Auckland District Collections #1, Simon Freeman, Auckland, 300

Ray Haslers, Brent Oldfield, Auckland, 233

Jackety Jack, Darien Walker, Auckland, 75

2009 Rayglass New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Racing Championship calendar

Taupo - 24 January

Gulf Harbour - 14 February CANCELLED

Maraetai - 28 February

Napier - 7 March

Wellington - 21 March

Whitianga - 4 April

Whangarei - 18 April

Gulf Harbour - 2 May