After 100km of high-speed racing in choppy waters, the first round of the National Endurance Thundercat Racing Series at Waipu Cove came down to a sprint finish, with only a metre separating first and second. Auckland's Logan Pringle and co-driver Sarah Barrell onboard Smuggler Marine dominated the reduced 100km race forthe first four 20km laps, but the Jungle Coffee boat, also from Auckland, made a late move in the race to destroy Smuggler's hopes of winning on Saturday. "We drove really well on that back straight during the last lap and overtook them [Smuggler Marine] and we had about 50m on them at one stage," Jungle Coffee driver Glen Burnnand explained after the race. But Pringle and Barrell were not done trying yet and made up some ground on Jungle Coffee in the final stages of the race. The boats pulled up on the sand neck and neck, and co-drivers Barrell and Jungle Coffee's Greg Norman jumped out for a sprint finish up the beach. With an extra burst of speed, Norman triumphed the first round claimed by Jungle Coffee. Fellow Auckland boat Blackpepper, driven by Scott Radley and co-driver Cam Vernon, trailed Smuggler Marine, taking third place from the 21 boats contesting the round in what Burnnand, who has driven these boats for eight years, said were challenging conditions. "There were strong winds and a big swell about 1.5m in that back straight and we're not particularly used to it as we only do these long races three times a year," he said. The boats were back in action yesterday, in the fourth round of the National Surfcross Series. Surfcross is contested in a 200m square metre course in the surfline, where the boats spent much of the time airborne, entertaining spectators on the shore. Jungle Coffee led the series heading into round four, but flipped during the first lap leaving the podium spots for the taking. Blackpepper claimed overall honours, while Novo with Ribs Norton and Sam Mills on board, along with Smuggler Marine, were second equal.
Round five of the surfcross series is on February 13 at Wellington's Lyall Bay, while the second endurance race is February 14, where the boats have to make a return crossing of Cook Strait. Round six of the surfcross is at Piha on February 27, and the third and final endurance round is at 90 Mile Beach on March 28.
