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POWERBOAT RACING

First offshore powerboat championship wins for 'Cure Kids' and 'Konica Minolta'

Sunday 3 May 2009, 10:46PM

By Kate Gordon

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Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta Credit: Greg Olesen

AUCKLAND

Choppy conditions off Gulf Harbour, north of Auckland, didn’t detract from the sheer excitement of winning their first championship titles for Tony Coleman and Chris Handley in ‘Cure Kids’ and Greg Brinck and Eldon Archer in ‘Konica Minolta’ in the final round of the 2009 Rayglass New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Championship.

 

The season’s final race was delayed by one day due to high winds on the scheduled Saturday, so competitors were delighted to wake up on Sunday to bright sunshine and significantly less wind. With a steep chop still making conditions fairly tough for the shorter boats, thrilling on-water action was enjoyed by a good crowd as the boats raced a course off Gulf Harbour Marina, Whangaparaoa.

 

Coleman and Handley took out their first 100-mile championship title in ‘Cure Kids’ despite finishing second to fellow superboat ‘Fairview Windows & Doors’ during the day’s race. For Coleman, his second season in ‘Cure Kids’ has been about consistency and reliability, having finished every one of the seven races run in either first or second place.

 

Coleman, from Auckland, paid credit to main rival ‘Fairview’ driven by Ted Taiatini, from Rotorua, with Warren Lewis, from Auckland, on the throttles. “After seeing ‘Fairview’ flip over in Whangarei just two weeks ago, it’s great to see you guys here racing so strongly for the win. Well done. For me, it’s just amazing to win this championship title in only my second year in this class.”

 

Handley, the Mt Maunganui-based throttle-man on ‘Cure Kids’, added: “It means a lot to be able to carry NZ1 on our boat next season; it’s a real honour.”

 

Taking out their first 60-mile championship title and his first super 60 class title, Brinck and Archer, both from Auckland, were equally delighted with the third place that gave them sufficient points to take the championship over closest rivals Aucklanders Mike Gerbic and Haydn Mearns with ‘Espresso Engineers’ and ‘Holsam’ driven by Auckland’s Mike Cameron and Dennis Vivash.

 

“We actually had a problem with the oil feed system to the engine – our fault – but it meant the Evinrude engine went into a kind of safe mode. Once we got ourselves sorted, ‘Holsam’ and ‘Espresso Engineers’ were in front, but we held on for third place and ultimately the 60-mile championship title,” said Brinck who also won the Formula Honda class in 2005 and sport 60 class in 2007.

 

During the races themselves – the 100-mile and 60-mile races are run at the same time – both ‘Cure Kids’ and ‘Doosan’, one of the superboat lite class entries, came back to the marina just before the race start, said series commentator Jamie McCarthy.

 

“Tony Coleman’s crew managed to get ‘Cure Kids’ back out in time for the start, but Sam Fillmore and Cary Gleeson on ‘Doosan’ didn’t get back out until after the race started, so they joined in at the back of the field. Within a few laps they had whipped through the field to be about ten boats behind main superboat lite class rival ‘Rayglass’. And shortly after ‘Doosan’ and ‘Rayglass’ swapped places virtually every lap with just about the most exciting piece of powerboat racing I’ve ever seen taking place when the pair had a massive drag race right down to the finish line. ‘Doosan’ just made it to the line in front,” said McCarthy.

 

‘Rayglass’ had the points’ advantage to take the class win – the third consecutive superboat lite class championship for Wellingtonian Kelly Smith who drives the boat with father Grant alongside controlling the throttles.

 

“That was a fantastic race with ‘Doosan’,” said Kelly Smith. “It was the best race I’ve had in three years of racing; what a great finish! It’s been a great season racing with Dad, I’ve learnt a lot and I’m really looking forward to next year.”

 

‘Fairview’ throttle-man Warren Lewis paid credit to the efforts of their mechanical crew for making sure the newest superboat in the series could race at Gulf Harbour after flipping in Whangarei Harbour just two weeks ago.

 

“We’re just the two guys in the boat and we get all the credit,” said Lewis about himself and experienced driver Ted Taiatini. “But there’s a huge team behind us that do all the work. We really couldn’t have ended the season on a better note that a final race win. It’s just fantastic and shows what an amazing job the guys have done to prepare this boat after being completely submerged in Whangarei. It’s fair to say there’s unfinished business for 2010..!”

 

In the 60-mile race, ‘Holsam’ went out to an early lead, with the conditions suiting the longer style boats such as the classic class ‘Holsam’ and the inline v-bottom style of ‘Espresso Engineers’ over eventual championship winner ‘Konica Minolta’.

 

“The wind picked up during the race,” said McCarthy. “But basically ‘Konica Minolta’ just needed to keep ‘Espresso Engineers’ in sight to know they had the 60-mile championship victory.”

 

In the popular Formula Honda class, Whangaparaoa locals Mike Urquhart and Darren Woods in ‘Auckland District Collections #2’ took the class win, but couldn’t hold out Aucklanders Mike Knight and Shannon Thickpenny in ‘Building Solutions’ for the overall class victory.

 

Overall rankings in the 100-mile championship see ‘Cure Kids’ on 2825 points, 173 points clear of ‘Fairview’ on 2652. In third place, ‘A1 Homes’ driven by Warren Lewis’ brother Scott and Murray Tuffin, both of Auckland, has finished 100 per cent of the six rounds it’s contested. ‘Rayglass’ and ‘Doosan’ round out the top five 100-mile championship points’ scorers for 2009.

 

In the 60-mile championship, ‘Konica Minolta’ ended the season with a 50 point advantage over ‘Espresso Engineers’. After ‘Holsam’ in third, the Formula Honda boats ‘Building Solutions’ and ‘Auckland District Collections #2’ completed the top five in this championship.

 

Information about the 2010 offshore powerboat series will be available on the website www.nzoffshore.co.nz late in 2009.

ENDS/

 

 

100 mile race results

Ted Taiatini (Rotorua)/Warren Lewis (Auckland) ‘Fairview Windows & Doors’ 1, Tony Coleman (Auckland)/Chris Handley (Mt Maunganui) ‘Cure Kids’ 2, Scott Lewis (Auckland)/Murray Tuffin (Auckland) ‘A1 Homes’ 3, Sam Fillmore (Auckland)/Cary Gleeson (Auckland) ‘Doosan’ 4, Kelly Smith (Wellington)/Grant Smith (Wellington) ‘Rayglass’ 5

 

60 mile race results

Mike Cameron (Auckland)/Duncan Field (Wellington) ‘Holsam’ 1, Mike Gerbic (Auckland)/Haydn Mearns (Auckland) ‘Espresso Engineers’ 2, Greg Brinck (Auckland)/Eldon Archer (Auckland) ‘Konica Minolta’ 3, Darren Walker (Auckland)/Danny Roberts (Auckland)/Grant Valder (Auckland) ‘Jackety Jack’ 4, John Purchase (Auckland)/David Roderique (Auckland) ‘Eliminator’ 5

 

100 mile championship points (final)

Tony Coleman (Auckland) ‘Cure Kids’ 2825 1, Ted Taiatini (Rotorua) ‘Fairview Windows’ 2652 2, Scott Lewis (Auckland) ‘A1 Doors’ 1950 3, Kelly Smith (Wellington) ‘Rayglass’ 1553 4, Sam Fillmore (Auckland) Doosan 1463 5

 

60 mile championship points (final)

Greg Brinck (Auckland) ‘Konica Minolta’ 2475 1, Mike Gerbic (Auckland) ‘Espresso Engineers’ 2425 2, Mike Cameron (Auckland) ‘Holsam’ 2325 3, Mike Knight (Auckland) ‘Building Solutions’ 1638 4, Mike Urquhart (Whangaparaoa) ‘Auckland District Collections #2’ 1606 5