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Cure Kids takes powerboat championship lead in Whangarei

Sunday 19 April 2009, 8:26AM

By Kate Gordon

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Cure Kids in action at Whitianga
Cure Kids in action at Whitianga Credit: Greg Olesen

WHANGAREI

Close racing among the offshore powerboats on a new inner harbour Marsden Cove course near Whangarei saw ‘Cure Kids’ the ultimate race winner and move into the championship lead with one round to go.

 

In generally sheltered conditions, 17 competitors lined up for the seventh round of the 2009 Rayglass New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Championship.

 

Greg Brinck, spokesperson for the New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Association (NZOPA), says there was very close racing between ‘Cure Kids’, ‘Fairview Windows & Doors’ and last year’s champion superboat ‘Sleepyhead’ in the 100-mile race.

 

“But then ‘Sleepyhead’ broke down, which left leader ‘Fairview’, with Rotorua’s Ted Taiatini at the helm and Auckland’s Warren Lewis on the throttles battling with Tony Coleman, from Auckland, and Mount Maunganui’s Chris Handley in ‘Cure Kids’,” said Brinck.

 

“Then ‘Fairview’ turned to avoid a shallow water marker and flipped right over. Luckily both Ted and Warren are okay – the enclosed superboat cockpits have oxygen masks for exactly this kind of situation, but unfortunately Ted seems to have sucked in a bit of water, so he’s a bit shaken.

 

“The major issue for the ‘Fairview’ crew is now getting the boat ready for our final round at Gulf Harbour in just two weeks. When the boats have been over and filled with seawater, it’s quite a big deal getting them right again with engine rebuilds and the like.”

 

‘Cure Kids’ won the 100-mile race from Scott Lewis and Murray Tuffin in ‘A1 Homes’ and Sam Filmore and Cary Gleeson in ‘Doosan’.

 

In the 60-mile race current series leader ‘Konica Minolta’, driven by Brinck and Eldon Archer, both from Auckland, were out in front from the start. “Mike Gerbic and Haydn Mearns in ‘Espresso Engineers’ were close for much of the race, but as we started lapping the smaller boats, we were able to pull away,” said Brinck.

 

When ‘Espresso Engineers’ suffered some gearbox issues, the ‘Konica Minolta’ crew were able to extend their championship lead.

 

Brinck says conditions on an inner-harbour course are traditionally challenging with tide and wind to contend with. “It could be tricky at times, but was generally sheltered. It was a high speed course; we ran at 80 miles an hour or more for the whole race.”

 

The event itself was simply fantastic, according to Brinck. “The team at Hopper Developments has created a superb facility at Marsden Cove. The atmosphere was great with drift cars, drag bikes and a lot of family activities to enjoy. A huge crowd came out from Whangarei to watch the event.”

 

The 2009 Rayglass New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Championship concludes at Gulf Harbour on Saturday 2 May.

 

ENDS/

 

Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championship

Results from Round 7, Marsden Cove, Whangarei

 

100 mile race

Tony Coleman (Auckland)/Chris Handley (Mt Maunganui) ‘Cure Kids’ 1, Scott Lewis (Auckland)/Murray Tuffin (Auckland) ‘A1 Homes’ 2, Sam Filmore (Auckland)/Cary Gleeson (Auckland) ‘Doosan’ 3, Kelly Smith (Wellington)/Grant Smith (Wellington) ‘Rayglass’ 4

 

60 mile race

Greg Brinck (Auckland)/Eldon Archer (Auckland) ‘Konica Minolta’ 1, Mike Gerbic (Auckland)/Haydn Mearns (Auckland) ‘Espresso Engineers’ 2, Mike Cameron (Auckland)/Duncan Field (Wellington) ‘Holsam’ 3, Mark Diggelmann (Tauranga)/Kevin Ireland (Tauranga) ‘Mark Diggelmann Car Sales’ 4, Travis Thompson (Whangaparaoa)/Ryan Bailey (Auckland) ‘HTR’ 5

 

100-mile championship

Boat, Driver, Hometown, Total points

1, Cure Kids, Tony Coleman, 2450

2, Fairview Windows, Ted Taitini, 2102

3, A1 Doors, Scott Lewis, 1650

4, Rayglass, Kelly Smith, 1309

5, Doosan, Sam Fillmore, 1163

 

60-mile championship

Boat, Driver, Hometown, Total points

1, Konica Minolta, Greg Brinck, 2175

2, Espresso Engineers, Mike Gerbic, 2050

3, Holsam, Mike Cameron, 1850

4, Building Solutions, Mike Knight, 1436

5, Auckland District Collections #2, Mike Urquhart, 1362

6, Morrell Motors, Logan Morrell, 953

7, Electropar, James Taylor, 865

8, Honda Marine, Phil Haynes, 834

9, CRD Automotive, Colin Dunn, 649

10, Outlaw, Derek Walden, 529

11, Back to Bay6, Glen Powell, 497

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

13, Ray Haslers, Brent Oldfield, 233

14, Jackety Jack, Darien Walker, 75