Napier Port Classic fishing's off, power boating and endurance run still on

The expectation of logs drifting in the ocean after yesterday's flood has caused the scrapping of the a fishing contest.

But the area's big annual offshore race is expected to go ahead.

Hawke's Bay Sports Fishing Club club president Neil Price said last night the club's public and family-focused Napier Port Classic fishing contest, which was to have been held tomorrow and Saturday has been postponed until the following weekend.

Aware of potential conditions for the time of year and because it is one of the club's highest-profile events, the club had take the precaution of setting aside March 17-18 as the tournament date in the event of a postponement.

He said the biggest worries were a swell of up to 2 metres expected on the seas and the possibility of logs drifting in the ocean after being washed down the rivers in yesterday's torrents.

New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Association national safety manager John McDonald, recently moved from the Auckland region to take over a motel in Wairoa, said the Red Steel Napier Offshore 100 powerboat race will still go ahead, starting at midday tomorrow.

There were initial worries about whether roads would be open time for the boats to reach Napier, where they are due by late today.

But with that worry eased when the Napier-Taupo road was reopened yesterday afternoon, the decision was made to go ahead.

Mr McDonald said he doesn't expect log to be a problem on the course, in the Westshore-Ahuriri basin.

"Offshore powerboat racing has changed a lot over the years," he said. "In Napier we don't go out past the port any more or north up to Whirinaki, so it's protected a bit from the southeasterlies."

Mr McDonald has been involved in running the races throughout the country since 1982 and said he had been involved in only two cancellations, and one was still able to be rescheduled for the next day.

Land-based weekend events such as tomorrow's Triple Peaks endurance event and the Relay 4 Life are still on, as is the 25th Tremains Triathlon on Sunday.