They could have afforded a safety first approach, with enough points in the bag to cruise to consecutive wins, but Warren Lewis and Andrew Koolen didn't back off on Tauranga Harbour on Saturday as the curtain came down on the New Zealand offshore powerboat season.
Lewis and Koolen, on boardFairview Windows and Doors, their 10.5m Skater craft with a topline speed of 228km/h, only had to finish the 100-mile (161km) race to finish as champions for the second year in a row in the national Superboat class.
But they took off like a rocket, beating rivals Schick Hydro and Fujitsu Better Heat to the first mark, and led the entire race, although the finale was not without drama as Fujitsu's Tony Coleman and Chris Hanley battled the whole way, sitting just three seconds off the pace before disaster struck on the eighth of 13 laps when the boat jumped off a wave and the steering broke.
Lewis, who flipped his boat near Matakana Island the last time he raced in Tauranga five years ago, said they were in two minds about keeping the throttle open or protecting their series lead.
"We knew we only needed to finish to top the series so it was very much a mind game all day. Our expectation was to run conservative but the choppy conditions were perfect, with the boat running incredibly well in those conditions."
Koolen and Lewis won six of the eight rounds, with Fujitsu pipping them twice.
In the Superboat Lite class Tony Carson and Brooke Faulknor sealed their place at the top of the table with eight wins from eight races.
In the 60-mile (96km) race there was also plenty of action as the boats burned up the course. Several of the boats found the Mt Maunganui end of the circuit challenging and there were plenty of dramatic leaps and splash-downs as the drivers contended with rough water. The win and championship title went to Mikey Smith (Konica Minolta).
