Both Wilson and navigator Jaimee-Lee Lupton were unharmed.
"It's just one of those things that happens, it was [going] the best run we've done all day," lamented Wilson.
Superboat driver Leighton Minnell rigged up portable lights from the pit area to cover the lost vision, although at the drivers' briefing a handful of visiting competitors wanted to stop for the evening, while the locals argued the rotations and light positions were still no different than 2013.
The delays meant the Top 3 finals were scrapped in favour of running the Top 5 eliminators as the last races, while the Top 12 Superboats were allowed to go out on a non-elimination run to test their vision under the temporary fixtures.
"If they're not high enough, their eye level is blinding, so it's crucial," said spokeswoman Julia Murray. Once everything got back to business, Wanganui 400's driver Hayden Wilson completed an excellent night with his 54.335s time enough to secure runnerup behind Taupo's Warren Farr (54.028s) for the second round in a row.
Even better for Wilson, rookie Hamilton driver Ollie Silverton, who also impressed at the last Wanganui round in December, managed to get up for third with a 54.708s time, dropping series leader Brett Thompson of Piopio to fourth as he could finish only in 56.083s.
Despite the Top 5 substituting for a Top 3 final, a delighted Wilson said the rules for the points spread stay the same, so Thompson missed two extra points for finishing off the podium.
"Ollie did me a huge favour.
"By my calculations, we should be even on points.
"I didn't expect to get all three points back in this round. All on for Wanaka."
In the Group A's, defending champion Richard Murray had hoped series co-leaders Sam Newdick and Paul Gaston might trip up, but those thoughts came back to bite him as troubles with his grille meant he was unable to get past the first island in the Top 8 eliminator.
Adding insult to injury was the Hamiltonian Newdick (49.075s), despite feeling unwell, and the Aussie Gaston with his Wanganui navigator Louise Blythe (50.501s) finished first and second respectively, with another Australian champion in Brooke Dixon (50.986s) coming third.
In the Superboats, 'Team Wanganui' were looking to make the impact as Rob Coley, Pat Dillon and Leighton Minnell all made the Top 5 against Christchurch's Peter Caughey and Australian Phonsy Mullan, whose crew was frantically making running repairs all afternoon to fix a fuel leak.
Coley and Dillon, who both crashed last time in Wanganui, drove great finals around the 50 second mark, while Minnell in his customary fashion set the pace after coasting in the earlier races, laying down a smoking 48.767s time.
However, like 2013, Caughey had it all under control as the multiple national and world champion put down a swift 46.757s under pressure, and Mullan could not haul it in despite an excellent 47.543s drive.
Caughey moves back into prime position after series leader Graeme Hill of Hastings had spun out in the Top 8 eliminator, ending a great run.
The Cantabrian, who has put down times around 45s on this track, said after Hill's accident his focus had been on getting the points.
"I think we went quicker before the lights went on. We wanted to figure out the lines because when it's dark, around 40 per cent of detail is lost.
"It changes your game and you have to play the middle of the channel, which is frustrating for a racer.
"If we didn't get into the Top 5, we'd be toast."
The series final round is in Wanaka on Easter weekend.
