December 7th 2002
Good surf at Waihi Beach
-A-W-E-S-O-M-E- would my description of the day,
15 boats arrived to do battle with the elements and each other.
As for the weather - arrived to heavy rain and
light winds, fog on the water with visibility 700meters! The
wind picked up throughout the day. As for water conditions -
a wave swell of about 2m breaking at 1-1.5m,
trying hard to look like a washing machine.
The comment from 'Mason Lowes Constructions' new
co-pilot Darren after a 2 lap warm
up was 'I’ve just been beaten up with a baseball bat and now you
crazy bastards expect me to do this another five times!' (5
Heats)
The first heat of the day went without incident
and saw James & Mike Astrop in Kamikaze win after fighting off
the rest of the field.
Heat 2 however, brought new meaning to the word
CARNAGE! The new guys in 'Get Smart' had Brent their co-pilot
fall out, 'CarPro' flipped, 'Eta Ripples' spun a bush in their
prop, 'Armour Linings' missed a buoy, & 'Waikato Sandblasting'
bumped a buoy. After three restarts 1st was CRC, 2nd
Dirty Dog, and 3rd Waikato Sandblasting.
Several teams had to pull out as the day went on
due to gear failure, fatigue & minor injuries. I
would like praise everyone for their tenacity - all went hard out
until the end. Cam was a Trojan as usual helping the crews who
flipped and any other team needing mechanical assistance. If
there was an award for True Grit it would have to go to the 'Get
Smart' boys John & Brent - they started every race and finished
all but one.
Thanks to all our helpers - they are becoming a
force to be reckoned with and make my life easier. It’s a
pleasure to be associated with you.
 Alan
Astrop
Race Director
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