'A pretty wild ride'

FEEL THE POWER: Auckland boat Fairview flies across the water with a logging boat in the background during the Thunder Out East round of the New Zealand Offshore Power Boat Racing series on Saturday. Fairview was one of two superboats that competed and in the hands of Warren Lewis and John Shand, it proved too strong in both races. Competitors were tested by the choppy conditions. 'It was a pretty wild ride,' said one racer. Pictures by Rebecca Grunwell

Turanganui-a-Kiwa/Poverty Bay echoed to the roar of the New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Racing series on Saturday as hundreds of spectators were drawn to the city beachfront to watch the action.

Choppy sea conditions made for a wild ride at times for the 10 craft involved in the Taan’s Thunder Out East event — the second round of series.

“The very choppy seas made racing interesting,” said race spokesman and contestant Chris Lankshear.

Conditions settled a bit for the final stage of the second of the two half-hour races.

There were just two superboats racing but they were truly spectacular as they charged across the bay at speeds of around 160 kilometres an hour, with sheets of spray billowing out behind them.

“Fairview from Auckland, driven by Warren Lewis and John Shand, was too strong for Outboard Pro from Whangarei, with Haydon Spiers and Allan Branch on board,” Lankshear said.

In the 600 class, the winner was Rainbow Haulage from Northland, with Espresso Engineers from Auckland second.

The only finisher in the 400 class was HiJinx from Auckland.

There was also just the one finisher in the 300 class, Bonbon Factory from Whakatane, driven by Josh Edlin with 15-year-old son Callum his co-driver.

“Along the beachfront the racing was nice but it was pretty intense further out in the bay at the top mark,” Edlin said.

“It was a pretty wild ride, especially for an open boat like ours.

“It felt really good to finish and for Callum, it was only his second-ever race, so even though it was rough, he still came out of it with a smile on his face.”

They will definitely be back next year

. . . “and we hope to step up a class”.

In the 70-mile-an-hour class, the winner was Equaliser from Hamilton, with Gisborne’s Wild Child, driven by Lankshear and daughter Molly-Kaye, second.

“It was very difficult conditions for our boat. The chop did not suit it at all,” said Lankshear.

“Molly-Kaye and I were looking forward to it. Racing in your home town on your home waters really means a lot.”

The Lankshear boat suffered damage in race one.

“So we had to nurse it through the second one. We were a fair bit off the pace but it was fantastic to be out there.”

Most of the race participants paraded through the city centre on Saturday morning

The Highland pipe band led them, with eight of the power boats towed down the street and some vintage cars in the parade as well.

“Great crowds turned up at the launching ramp at the wharf to watch the boats go into the water,” Lankshear said.

“The feedback from the visitors was again outstanding.

“Even though conditions were very testing, they loved coming here again and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

“We hope to have Gisborne included in the series again next year and have more boats.”

Lankshear said the reason the field was smaller than expected was that a number of other boats sustained damage in the Taupo round two weeks ago and were not ready to race again in time.