Harbour thrills in title decider

It's sink or skim for four-times national powerboat champion Richard Shores tomorrow on Tauranga Harbour.
For the past few seasons, Shores and co-driver Wayne Carson have had the luxury of taking their hand off the throttle in the final round of the national offshore powerboat championship on Tauranga Harbour, arriving having already wrapped up the national open title.
But tomorrow promises an oh-so-different season finale for Shores and Carson and their $750,000, 1300hp catamaran, which is powered by twin V8 Buick engines.
The title race is wide open, with two did-not-finish results in the past month giving veteran offshore powerboat Jesse James, driven by South Auckland brothers Wayne and Grant Valder, a sniff of the national 100-mile championship.
The Valders bagged their first win of the championship in Whitianga last month and the James Gang, in their 30-foot, 1300hp Chris Craft, are hot on the heels of New Zealand's champion driver.
Peter Rolton, Placemakers' team manager, said today they would have liked to line up in tomorrow's race with some breathing space.
"It's been a rough year - we could have finished off the title race four weeks ago in Whitianga or two weeks ago at Thames but engine problems and the two DNFs have left things wide open.
"That makes it exciting for spectators tomorrow but also increases the pressure on every team.
"We're coming down to win it but, with the lead we have, we need to ensure we actually get to the finish line tomorrow, something that's proved elusive in the last couple of rounds."
Shores has been stuck on 29-career wins since round four in Napier in March 19 and a win tomorrow would nudge him ahead of Graeme Horne and Peter Turner to five national championships, the first driver to achieve the feat.
Shores and his crew have been working overtime in the past two weeks to get Placemakers, which can hit 195kmh in flat water, ready for the season's big one.
"We took the boat out for a trial on Wednesday off Auckland and everything felt good. We'd be keen for moderate conditions on Tauranga Harbour tomorrow, which seem to suit us best."
Snapping at the heels of both leading boats and keen to finish the season on a high is former four-times national champion Peter Turner in his 34-foot, Phantom designed, Sleepyhead.
Turner returned to the sport this season after a seven-year absence and made an immediate impact with two wins.
If conditions are flat tomorrow the three V8 superboats could be joined by the two Douglas Skater, class 3 six-litre catamarans of Auckland's Warren and Scott Lewis (FMI Racing) and the Wellington's Grant Smith and Dave Aldridge (Sytec Racing).
Sytec are the only team to complete every race this season and are just behind Sleepyhead in fourth position in the title race, having already secured the six-litre title.
The 60-mile sports boat race will feature the new Formula Honda class, with every boat and engine identical.
It is a concept that has taken off this season, with former racing car driver Greg Brinck dominating the class in Konica Minolta, winning six of the seven races prior to Tauranga.
Racing gets underway tomorrow at 11am, with boats on display at the Tauranga Yacht and Powerboat Club from 7am.
Top-10 overall 100-mile championship:
Placemakers (Richard Shores) 1900, Jesse James (Wayne Valder) 1675, Sleepyhead (Peter Turner) 1438, Sytec Racing (GrantSmith) 1407, FMI Racing (Warren Lewis) 1069, Chindit (Greg Crawford) 568, DMZ Global (Wayne Gardner) 423, Supercat (Perry Morris) 349, Alien (Dean Veal) 317, Just 4 Fun (Tim Fellows) 312.