WAVERLEY'S Ken Lupton and his Hydroplane boat Lucas Oils will not receive the EC Griffith Cup after a Victoria Council of the APBA voted to uphold the victory by Troy Marland in the Warlord boat at the start of the month.
However, plans may well be in place to run another EC Griffith Cup regatta in September or October, with Lupton and his family of racers still having their boats in storage in Australia.
The controversy came about on Lake Mulwala, north of Melbourne, when Marland's hydroplane was alleged by the Luptons to have gone full speed too early on the rolling start - going ahead of starter boat before the flag dropped.
Warlord won the race, with Ken Lupton second, followed by brother Jack (Rural Fuels GP57) in third, with family patriarch Warwick Lupton (Annihilator) and cousin David Alexander (Steeler) also in the race, along with former Australian cup holder Grant Harrison (GP1).
After the New Zealanders protest, an official committee disqualified Warlord and awarded the race to Ken Lupton, but this was overruled the following day by another Australian referee.