March
1st, 2003
- Papamoa Beach
Round 4 NZ Inflatable Boat Championships
Wave pumping Papamoa
Well Papamoa really turned it
on with 2 metre waves, 3 metre swells, & light onshore
wind. The
weather just kept getting better by the minute turning into a lovely
summer day.
Several weeks ago I said our
crews had lessons to learn from Himatangi and I am pleased to say
99% of them have done so – resulting in just two flips at Papamoa.
The
experienced took on the bigger waves with most often good flattish
jumps - the exception to the rule being adrenalin junkies like Dark
Dog & GB Aquarius. Anyone
that saw the Dark Dog boat with Matt McKain & Gavin Ward could
have asked the question - Is it a bird? Is it a plane? – No!
it’s Superman (Gavin Ward) doing an amazing job of lifting the
boat to such new heights even the crowd were impressed! Falling into
the water instead of the boat certainly saved him a few
bruises. I think I will have to read up on Newton’s laws of
Gravity because superman Gavin had me thinking his flight was an
optical illusion - talk about hang time.
GB Aquarius managed to flip
turning on 'E' Buoy - just too much gas at the wrong time.
Tony came away unscathed but Jason had to be given first aid on his
shoulder and ribs - latest report is bruised but not dented so
we hope to have him back for the Orewa Long haul on March 15th.
Some results for the day were 1st
ETA Ripples, the old masters Kelvin & Kendall read the waves
really well. Only twice did I see them go astray but they were
quick to recover, giving them maximum points for the day.
Armour Linings was 2nd getting some good-looking air time
with lots of control but Waz & Flash being the lightest crew in
the Nationals did not appear to be getting their usual advantage
with power-to-weight ratio. 3rd were Greg & Kevin in the Waikato
Sandblasting 2 boat - they were solid as a rock all day but at
least twice a bad set of waves took away the slim lead they had over
ETA Ripples. 
In
4th place was Matamata Motors with Paul Collins and Cam
Adshead just getting on with the job and staying close to the
leaders, being consistent with minimum mistakes. 'Bring on the Long
haul' I think was Paul’s comment.
In 5th place we had Dirty Dog crewed by Ben Fuller
& Vaughan Laurent - though this is just their first season they
have a lot of previous experience in IRB’s and it looks like they
are learning all about Thundercat Racing real fast.
Several boats had to retire
early due to damage. Arano Juice split a highjacker, Uniden
had water pump failure, & Signtech Digital broke a carburetor
screw. Hard luck guys & better luck in the next race.
The overall lead amongst the
top boats has not changed but the points are now really close with
only two race meetings to go to finish the National Championships.
As usual thanks to all our
officials you’re the best.
Alan Astrop
Race Director
