January 4th, 2003 - Whangamata Beach
Round 1 NZ Inflatable Boat Championships
Thundercats are GO
What a great day at the office with everyone very
professional and on their best behavior. At
last some decent surf - 2 metres out the back and up to 1.5 metre
breakers saw lots of high flying and some very close calls for the
less experienced.
 The
large crowd were treated to some right royal entertainment judging
by the oow’s and rrr’s emanating from their midst, ever hopeful
of seeing some thrill and spills. For the few less fortunate crews like
Hydraulink, who exceeded the limits and managed to flip in a most
spectacular fashion between 'D' & 'E' buoys, if you can’t win
and still want to look after your sponsor you have to do something
spectacular to get that vital few seconds of TV time 'eh
John'!
The only other incidents of the day were Advanced
Timber Joinery’s co-pilot Ansley losing his helmet. He was
lucky that was all he lost judging by the size of the wave they
tried to drive through. The other unfortunate was Paul in the new
Signtech Digital boat who was thrown out by his rookie pilot
Justin. Both first time racers are keen to get to Himatangi
for the next round.
For those of you who read Monday's NZ Herald
Sports section, the photo of Paul & Cam in Matamata Motors boat
can be described as 'AWESOME' although I would like to describe it
as “WICKEDLY COOL”. You just can’t buy that kind of
publicity!
 The
boys to catch are Greg & Kevin in Waikato Sandblasting 2,
closely followed by ETA Ripples, Armour Linings and Signtech.
A little way down the order Matamata Motors,
Fletcher Reinforcing, Advanced Timber Joinery and Dirty Dog have
less than 100 points separating them.
 The
Nationals have kicked-off with a hiss and a roar but it’s wide open
with almost every boat entered capable of turning it on to create a
possible place for themselves in the TRANS TASMAN CHALLENGE NZ
TEAM. Good luck to you all - the selectors are watching every
event.
Once again I can say it’s a pleasure working
with our officials - Laura & Karen working like a pair of well
oiled machines, the marshals keeping control and the RD with almost
nothing to do except be proud of his team. Give yourselves a pat on
the back guys & girls. Many thanks also to
Hugo for great commentary throughout the day.
 Alan
Astrop
Race Director
See Race
Results for placings and championship points.
=> Jacques with Reece,
pilot of Arano Juice boat
- keeping their tradition of
boat & hair colour
co-ordination!
Hugo 
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