February 15th, 2003
- Pauanui Beach
Round 3 NZ Inflatable Boat Championships
What a Day at Pauanui
Rather awkward conditions
with 2-3 metre swells, 2 metre clean breaking surf 100 meters out,
& lots of double rogue waves coming up in front of the boats
when least expected, causing quite a few position changes in the
blink of an eye. This gave some drivers & co-pilots
something to think about. There were also some lovely curlers for
good measure close inshore that gave few options. It was
either under or over, both equally as painful, and causing a few
crew fallouts and several minor injuries on the day, though most of
the injured kept racing.
Two
of our less fortunate co-drivers however, The Rock FM’s Aaron
Kelliher and Dark Dog's
Jonathan Merz, were flown to Auckland Hospital in the Westpac Trust
Helicopter. Both checked out OK with Aaron getting physio and
Jonathan a few days rest. Paul of Matamata Motors was also in
the wars and had 6 stitches without anesthetic instead biting down
on a bit of dry leather... oh sorry, the leather was for the anti
tetanus injection!
Stu in Arano Juice boat had to pull out with an
old injury, and was replaced by his fiancée Kelly... no truth in
the rumor that Reece won't have Stu back (something about better
looking and less chirpy).
Positions for the day saw Greg & Kevin of
Waikato Sandblasting 2 come in 1st. Kelvin & Kendall of ETA Ripples were equal 2nd with
Waz & Flash of Armour Linings. In 4th place was Ben &
Vaughan in Dirty Dog boat - a hard fought and well deserved place,
not much experience yet but lots of guts... you boys at the top
lookout.
Several warnings on the day but no penalties so
well done to all crews. A BIG thank you to the Pauanui
Surf Lifesaving Club, Pauanui Emergency Rescue Team, Westpac Trust
Helicopter and Auckland Hospital.
With people like Karen, Sharon, Karren, Bruce,
& Wayne helping, controlling, pushing, supervising and in the
background helpers like Corinne, Greg, & Rod, I feel for such a
small organization we do OK thank you all very much.
Alan Astrop
Race Director
See Race
Results for points & placings
