Flippin' heck: It was my lucky day

SOMERSAULT: After rattling past the leader, Wanganui powerboat driver Warwick Lupton's Annihilator became airborne, before crashing stern-first back into Lake Dunstan last weekend. PHOTO/JEREMY WARD

Former world powerboat champion Warwick Lupton blames himself for the biggest crash of his career and a chance at the national title at Lake Dunstan in Cromwell at the weekend.

The Waverley farmer was still in one piece after a spectacular 300km/h crash on Anzac Day and admitted he was a lucky man.

"I missed the start by 300m and was last but making up ground every lap when it happened," he said. "I was pulling in Raymond (race leader Raymond Hart in The Boss) pretty quickly and actually passed him like he was standing still when I eased my foot off the gas.

"I should have altered the wing set-up, but just didn't have time at that speed. Easing off gives lift to the front of the boat.

"I'd just passed him when I flipped and went end over end in the air before crashing back into the water. The stern hit first and literally snapped the boat in two. I'm a bit sore, but the boat is well set up to handle these sorts of crashes."

While the boat, Annihilator Race Boats, affectionately known as GP007, was badly damaged after he flipped the 2000-horsepower hydroplane, Lupton is confident it can be repaired.

"We have all the moulds at home, so it will just be a matter of building each end and splicing them together again. We won't know how much damage the motor suffered until we get it home.

"The crash is by far my worst at that speed. A couple of years ago I went home with an empty trailer because the boat was smashed to pieces, but this was the highest-speed crash of my career and hasn't put me off.

"The crash was unfortunate, the boat was absolutely flying and they would have had no chance of catching me. Grant Rivers (Rivers Speed and Spares Wanganui) built the motor and also built Jack's. It's unbelievable, but hard work to control.

"I'll just have to head home and earn some money to put it back together. But seriously, I have some very good sponsors. Rural Fuels in Palmerston North, Mills Tui trailer builders in Rotorua and Power Tauranga are the main ones and funny enough incidents like this are probably good for sponsorship - it makes the news and they get mentioned," Lupton said, a little tongue in cheek.

The meeting at Lake Dunstan was the final round of the National Powerboat Championships and racing was called off following Lupton's crash. The wind got up and chopped the water up, forcing the cancellation of the final two races. Double points were up for grabs, although Lupton was always going to be up against it winning the series even before his crash.

Lupton missed out one round and two races after his boat caught fire at Lake Karapiro and was not ready in time for the South Island round at Lake Rotoiti.