Race Day Summaries

SUMMARY

14 crews lined up for what was a cold wet day on Lake Taupo for the 2nd Winter Thunder race held on the weekend. Teams were doing their best to stay warm, some wore dry suites, some put heat bags down their wetsuits and others covered up with 2-3 layers of neoprene which all had to beg the question…why would anyone pay to do this? With a very harsh weather report from the harbour master threatening 20knot winds and a 1metre swell near the second checkpoint crews anxiously waited for the RD to raise the green flag and get things under way before the weather packed in.

With a reasonable amount of onlookers considering the weather, the RD raised the green flag to begin the race with the standard Le mans style start. The favorites for the event Black pepper got off to an early lead with PBS/ Urmuma and Dodge not far behind but the real surprise was the Hell Pizza boys who came from nowhere, fought their way into the lead pack and made it clear they were not going to be knocked out of trophy contention without a fight.

By the first checkpoint the top 4 boats had left the rest of the field in their wake to battle it out for the minors and there was plenty of action to be had at that end of the field. The driver of first time racers OPP was first to go swimming which according to the co-pilot lost them the race, the driver argued it was the coey forgetting to pump the gas bulb that cost them the win…in any case they recovered and finished intact. Next was Wellington crew TBC who had good pace up until a gust of wind and bit of chop saw them both end up in the aqua, to make things worse their lanyard broke so the key stayed in and their boat circled like a shark while they bobbed in the water. Meanwhile EMS who had technical issues on the start line were making a fast comeback and had caught TBC just in time to watch the chaos. Whilst TBC assured us that EMS did slow down and check they were ok I am told that EMS were laughing so hard at the 2 boys in the water that they could be heard 20metres away over the sound of a revving engine! Also in the minors our only female driver in Demon Red had broken the tiller arm yet still outran the marshal boat who was trying to come and help as her and her coey wanted to finish the race under their own power broken boat or not.

So back to the lead pack and the top 4 boats were still fighting for podium by the time they were nearing the 2nd checkpoint which is where PBS/Urmuma secured their number one spot by being the only lead team not to take the scenic route. So it was in first they stayed to the end taking out the win in an incredible 1hr 25min. The other 3 battled it to the very end with only 30 seconds separating the top 4 teams finishing times after 101km of racing! In the end 2nd place went to Blackpepper and Hell Pizza took out 3rh. See the race results page for a full list of placings.

All in all was a great race followed by a great yet somewhat hazy night at the Shed in town. Massive thanks to Michelle for helping organise the event along with Ocky, Bolds, Rory, Hilleard, Pip and Becky for marshalling. Also big thanks to DC Racing for providing some very funky sculptures for trophies. We will have them engraved before next year’s Winter Thunder. Hope to see you all again next year!

1) PBS/ Urmuma – 1:25:04
2) Blackpepper – 1:25:19
3) Hell Pizza – 1:25:34
4) Demon Energy – 1:27:51
5) Carson Construction – 1:30:24
6) Demon Black – 1:30:45
7) EMS – 1:33:54
8) A Class – 1:33:54
9) Grey Boat – 1:34:41
10) Knightbridge Builders – 1:36:03
11) TBC – 1:37:27
12) OPP/ Standox – 1:42.08
13) Demon Red – 1:52.08
DQ) Dodge