January 19th, 2003
Himatangi Beach, Manawatu
Round 2 NZ Inflatable Boat Championships
Thundercats experience Himatangi
Question?
Was this a TEST or a LESSON?
You can make up your own minds but my version goes something like
this - if you want to be in the Trans Tasman
Challenge team you had better have taken the test and learned the
lessons. I’m led to believe this was a typical west coast
day with 2m waves curling & breaking, helped along by a
building 40kph on-shore wind. These type of conditions are found
regularly in both Australia & South Africa so we had better get
used to racing on them.
The lesson was all about throttle control, balls to the wall was
not the answer thus we saw plenty of flips & near misses. Those that
drove hard out with fire in their eyes and no respect for the waves
failed the test. Though conditions were both rough & tough
on body and boat alike, there were a lot of drivers pulling off some
quite impressive overtaking maneuvers.
2 boats to stand out for the day were 'Waikato Sandblasting 2'
& 'ETA Ripples' who both looked polished & comfortable in
the rough conditions and did a good job of reading the
water. If ever the club required a coach/instructor,
then both these guys would be an excellent choice. Dark horse
of the day would have to be 'Mason Lowes Construction' with Rodney
& Darren coming 4th overall. No truth in the rumor that the MLC
boat has been seen practicing on the west coast eh
Rodney?
2 boats to go over were Armour Linings (first ever flip) and
Signtech who both said they were just pushing too hard & flipped
on the back of the course where the surf was breaking over a
sand-bar creating unpredictable conditions. 
Paul of Matamata Motors finished 3rd for the day but showed a few
cracks in his demeanor by getting rather let us say agitated, as
opposed to 'that man is PISSSED' about the RD's call to allow
another competitor to rejoin their heat. (Read rule 208.5) The
RD is approachable and will accept constructive criticism but it is
his job to call it as he sees it and the right to protest is
available to every pilot.
The TV cameras were rolling to get some amazing
action shots for our upcoming televising of the National
Champs. It was great to make it on TV1
& TV3 news two days running (thanks Reece from Arano
Juice for your efforts), not to mention the mass newspaper
coverage. The Himatangi Festival organizers certainly laid it
on with the RNZAF helicopter and Red Checkers aerobatic displays of
smoke trails and the whole nine yards. Around 5500 people on
the beach having an entertaining day despite the gusty
conditions. Things are done a little different at Himatangi
Beach where most simply driving their cars or buggies to a suitable
vantage point on the beach to park up & watch the fun.
Overall we did OK but we can do better. Well
done to all of our officials & special thanks to the IRB crew
from Himatangi Surf Club, Con Fraser & James Dench who put in
more time on the water that day than any of us.
Alan
Astrop
Race Director
Read Rod's view of
the weekend here.
See Race
Results for placings and championship points.
More
Photos ...
and even more
Photos ...
|
