Hurt man pretty safe in jet boats

The Tauranga man seriously hurt in a jet-boat collision had just set up sound and lighting equipment for this week's AIMS Games before the two-boat crash.

Dave Ramsay, 55, runs the hiring department of Triac Light and Sound and had started arranging equipment for the annual AIMS Games on Sunday morning but that's as far as he got, Triac Light and Sound owner Neil Turner said.

Mr Ramsay was flown by Westpac Waikato Air Ambulance to Waikato Hospital with head and chest injuries after the head-on collision east of Matamata that afternoon.

Mr Ramsay was in his jet boat with another man on the Waiomou Stream, a tributary of the Waihou River. The passenger, 31, was understood to be the son of Mr Ramsay's partner.

The impact shunted Mr Ramsay hard into the front of his boat. He was partially trapped and had to be freed by the other occupant under guidance from a St John ambulance advance paramedic.

His passenger was also injured and was in a stable condition.

The wife of the other boat driver, also from Tauranga, said they were all close friends.

Mr Turner said Mr Ramsay was a "pretty safe guy" and experienced with jet boats.

"He's not a thrill-seeker. He loves his jet boating but he's not stupid," Mr Turner said.

The river is considered to be a dead end for boats. It is believed one of the boats reached the end and turned around when it collided with the other on a bend.

"I don't think they were racing or anything like that. You wouldn't race if you're going in the opposite direction, and they definitely wouldn't have been playing chicken," Mr Turner said.

"I think it was just two guys out there having fun one afternoon. It was just one of those things."

Mr Ramsay used to race jet boats but stopped to focus more on recreational jet boating.

Mr Turner has taken over the role in setting up equipment for the AIMS Games - a national sporting competition for intermediate school-aged children.

New Zealand Jet Boating Association spokesman Doug Qualtrough said it was unusual to hear of two jet boats on the stream at the same time.

The stream was not considered commonly used by jet boats, however, it was understood there was a private run on the stream that Mr Ramsay used regularly.

"It's quite unexpected. Our details are still being pieced together.

"It's difficult, until we have conducted our own investigation, to know what really happened," Mr Qualtrough said.