Jetsprint Championship kicks off in Hastings with Whanganui’s Ross Travers and Amanda Kittow placing

Ollie Silverton, of Hamilton, and navigator Jess Sit finished on top in the Sprintec Boats Group A class. Photo / Supplied

Whanganui’s Ross Travers and navigator Amanda Kittow have started with a second placing in their class of racing in the New Zealand Jetsprint Championship, which kicked off in Hastings last Saturday.

After last season, when the drivers and navigators had to stay at home due to Covid cancelling the series, they all had some pent-up adrenalin to unleash.

Racing in the Sprintec Boats Group A class, Hamilton’s Ollie Silverton and navigator Jess Sit battled with defending champions North Canterbury couple Simon and Sarah Gibbon for the win.

But after the Gibbons’ Novus Glass boat developed engine troubles in the top-six shootout after leading all day, they had to exit and that allowed Travers and his navigator Kittow to move into the runner-up spot.

In the MouthFRESH Superboats class, defending champions and pre-round favourites, Hamilton’s Sam Newdick and navigator Shama Putaranui, demonstrated exactly why they are such a strong pairing.

Their 1000hp PSP Racing boat held out against the hard-charging Wired superboat of Tauranga’s Aaron Hansen and Julie-Anne Shanks. The Bar’s Bugs superboat driven by Gisborne’s Blake Briant was third.

Whanganui racers Rob and Ange Coley were sixth, while fellow locals Richard Murray and Steve Edmonds were one place back in seventh.

Newdick’s campaign in the six-round national championship got off to the best possible start and showed why he made history when he won the MouthFRESH superboat title in 2021 — becoming the first person to win titles in every class.

Whanganui will host round three of the championships on December 27 at Shelter View.

*In a previous version we had mistakenly reported the Whanganui jetsprinter as Mark Travers. His name is Ross, not Mark.