New Zealand Grand Prix Hydroplane Drivers Club

Copies of Current and past New Zealand Hydroplane Drivers Club Newsletters can be found at the bottom of this page. The Major News from Each News Letter will be Posted here as well as any relevant News Story you care to Submit to Denise Moughan or Webmaster for posting on the Site.
Check for past News Stories on our News Archive pages using the Links at the bottom of the Page.

29th Augus2009 - Wanganui Chronicle Article
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They’ll be there during Wanganui’s “Speedweek” from December 26-29. Left to right: Richard Murray (jetsprinting, Upokongaro), ex Crusty Demon Mary Perkins (freestyle moto cross, Cooks Gardens), overall promoter Leighton Minnell, David Alexander (hydroplanes, Wanganui Flying Lap, Whanganui River), Perry Lett (sidecars, Cemetery Circuit), and Ken Lupton (Annihilator 3, background, hydro's).

If you want to stir the blood and sniff fumes after Christmas, stay in town. Petrolheads will be in a state of perpetual delirium from December 26 onwards, with promoter Leighton Minnell putting together a package of noise and power that will delight many – and maybe drive others to leave town! Not content with getting the Cemetery Circuit and the jetsprint Shelterview circuit working together last year, Minnell has put together a package of these two sports, followed over the next few days by the usual early February Whanganui Flying Lap powerboat meeting (probably involving eight Australian “logs” of 2000hp racing each other), and something new, the FMX (freestyle moto cross) flying through the air with the greatest of ease at Cooks Gardens.

It all goes under the name of “Raceweek”, and if Minnell gets his wish, it won’t stop there. Next year he wants to add a big-name concert act to go on at Cooks straight after the Cemetery Circuit. Other possibilities in the future are a major stockcar meeting, drag racing – and right at the end of the vision, a Red Bull Air Race over the Whanganui River. With pubs around town already getting live bands organized for the few days, Minnell just wants it all to become “petrolhead heaven” and a festival during which Wanganui just erupts. “It’s been two years in the making,” Minnell says. “I’m real keen to try to put Wanganui on the map as the petrolhead fun place to be.

With me promoting the Cemetery Circuit, I realise just how many people come to town – and how many leave again the same day. “So if we can put on some exciting events and keep the people in town, then it will jump. I want to whole town, in Raceweek, to be thinking Raceweek – with flags in town, banners on shops. “Really it came down to not creating new events, but dragging successful events that are already working, and putting them together.” The big-name concert is the piece of the puzzle “I haven’t quite put together”, Minnell said. Overall: “I know people come and stay for Christmas, so let’s encourage them to come and pump a bit of dough into town for a change.” It’s year 58 for the Cemetery Circuit this year – “I want Raceweek to be pumping by the 60th. I want little old Wangavegas to be recognised as the Petrolhead Capital of New Zealand.”
by David Ogilvie

29th August 2009 - Kevin Ireland
Kevin Ireland celebrates 40 years of Age Tomorrow

27th August 2009 - Wellington Powerboat Club AGM
WELLINGTON POWER BOAT CLUB INC
“ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING”
ON SATURDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER 2009
HELD AT THE CLUBROOMS AT 6.30PM FOLLOWED BY
"ANNUAL PRIZE GIVING"
AND BBQ WITH BAR FACILITIES AVAILABLE

Yesterday Denise Moughan was Elected President of the New Zealand Power Boat Federation.

The New Zealand Powerboat Federation is made up from Delegates of 5 Powerboat Sports in NZ, the NZ Power Boat Association, NZ Offshore Powerboat Association, NZ Jet Sprint Association, NZ Jet Boat River Racing Association & Thundercat's Racing Association of NZ.

The Federation is the acknowledged National Authority for powerboat racing in New Zealand and as such is this country's member to the Union International Montonutique (UIM). The UIM, based in Monaco, is the world governing body for all forms of powerboat racing. They administer the international rules and also allocate and preside over all World Championship events. The Federation is also very Active in promoting Safety in Powerboat Racing to Learn more visit the Website Below

Dennis Taylor Passed away on Friday Morning 21st August 2009

"Dennis was a Life member and Patron of the Northern Zone. He was the President of the Northern Zone for many a year. As a member of the old Manukau club he was a Life Member and a President for many years was the president when the two clubs joined together. As a member of Manukau Auckland he was a Life Member and the Vice Patron. I have personally know Dennis for over 30 years and all he lived for was powerboating didn't matter what was required Dennis would give it a go always at the workings bee's usually the first there and the last to leave.
He will be a hard man to replace."
From Peter Mcloud

Dennis Taylor's funeral will be on Tuesday Afternoon

Funeral Details:
Tuesday 12.30pm
GRANGE MANOR
400 DOMINION ROAD
MT. EDEN

22nd August 2009 - Manukau Auckland Speedboat Club AGM
The annual AGM and prize giving will be held at the
AVONDALE RSA
7 Layard Street
Avondale
Saturday 26th. September 2009. Starting time for AGM will be 3PM followed by Prize Giving and dinner starting at 6PM
John Weller SECRETARY.

21st August 2009 - Classic Race Boat Returns To Lake Mulwala

Bob Carter's "Rebound"

There was a time when timber powerboats with Chevrolet and Chrysler engines used to descend upon Yarrawonga for the annual Boxing Day/New Years Day festival of powerboat racing. In a welcome return to the past, the wooden boats are headed back to Lake Mulwala, but this time the ‘old girls of the 1960s’ will be taking it easy.
Members of the Classic Australian Wooden Powerboat Association (CAWPBA) will be bringing a fleet of golden oldies to join the spectacle of the Lake Mulwala Power Festival on the weekend of November 28th & 29th. Amongst the wooden boats participating will be classic family ski boats and inboard race boats too.
One of the fastest and noisiest boats amongst the group will be a 1968 race boat returning to the waters of Lake Mulwala where she once raced.
Rebound is a classic Lewis clinker skiff powered by a 327 cu in Chev Corvette engine. This boat is barely over 16’ long and the style of boat is one where the driver sits at the back of the boat with the screaming Chev with eight open zoomie exhaust pipes is literally at the driver’s feet.
“Rebound was raced by Mt Gambier powerboat legend Edgar McDonald,” said Bob Carter, current day owner and restorer of Rebound.
“Edgar had a reputation as being a fearless, hard charging driver and regularly traveled up from his home city of Mt Gambier to race against the best boats in Australia, at Yarrawonga.”
Today the 41 year old Rebound is still loud and fast. And although the boat has been fully restored to original race trim, complete with 427 hp Chev engine, it’s a long time retired as a race boat.
“We are more than happy to display our boats and put them on the water for demonstration runs,” Bob Carter said.
“Our boats have aged gracefully and they had their day at the top many, many years ago. To go out and push them hard now would be both dangerous and disrespectful to the heritage of a classic Australian race boat.”

For Bob Carter, running Rebound on Lake Mulwala at the Lake Mulwala Power Festival brings back a flood of great memories.
“As a young boy I used to read about the Yarrawonga festival in the boating magazines of the day,” Bob said.
“Then as a teenager I actually got to go to Yarrawonga for the powerboat races at Christmas. The excitement, noise, speed and spectacle of the great boats from Melbourne, Sydney and beyond was just amazing. I was absolutely hooked on the sport.”
Not long after Bob Carter became the Performance Boat Editor for PowerBoat magazine, the authoritative national magazine that covered fast powerboats and powerboat racing throughout Australia.
“For me PowerBoat magazine was the dream job. I used to go to Yarrawonga to photograph the races from a duty boat on the course and then write about the annual two day carnival. I have great memories of big fields of 5 litre runabouts, the supercharged boats from Sydney and of course the Merlin powered thunderboats.”
“More recently I have returned to the shores of Lake Mulwala many times as a spectator to see the Griffith Cup and Yarrawonga Gold Cup racing. The GP hydros are an amazing spectacle at full noise and in full flight.”
Whereas Rebound in her day was one of the top boats in Australia, the comparison between the ‘big’ skiff and the boats of today just shows how far the sport of powerboat racing has progressed in a relatively short time.
“I’m itching to get Rebound back onto the waters of Lake Mulwala; I reckon that the crowd will very much enjoy and appreciate seeing and hearing the skiff in action.”

Lake Mulwala Power festival has a vision not only to showcase the best powerboat racing in the country, but is also expanding the outdoor leisure show component which comprises a market, stalls, outdoor leisure sites, boat displays, model boat activities, caravans and more outdoor interests along with on shore entertainment for the whole family.
A full program of boating action and exhibitors will be revealed closer to the November Festival.
Be sure to diarize and keep free the last weekend in November 28th & 29th and head to Yarrawonga Mulwala for a great weekend of adrenalin flowing action and top entertainment for all the family.
For further information don’t hesitate to contact the Yarrawonga Mulwala Tourism office – 1800 062 260

18th August 2009 - Modified Hydroplane AGM
The 2009 AGM of The New Zealand Modified Hydroplane Drivers Club Inc will be held at the Board room.
Suncourt Motor Lodge
Taupo
Saturday August 29th starting at 1 PM. All interested parties welcome.

18th August 2009 - Formula One AGM
The 2009 AGM of The New Zealand Formula One Drivers Club Inc will be held at the Board room.
CRC Industries
10 Highbrook Drive
East Tamaki
Auckland
Saturday September 12th starting at 1 PM. All interested parties welcome.

16th August 2009 - Scott Coker Glenvale Driver of the Year

The Cambridge/Waikato Powerboat Club AGM last night, where Scott Coker was presented the trophy by Ivan Pizzini, Patron of the Cambridge/Waikato Club. Ivan was the initiator of this trophy and he was also the first recipient.

4th August 2009 - Sunday 9th Powerbuilt Sports TV1
2009 UIM Masport World Grand Prix Hydroplane Championship will be on TV1 program Powerbuilt Motor Sport this Sunday 9th August program starts at 3pm. Footage from Tauranga and Karapiro in a 24 minute Segment

29th July 2009 - Jeff Weake in the UK

Jeff Weake Flying the Flag.

Jeff Weake from Fish City was invited to fly to the UK to train and navigate for Suzannah Sorrell, editor of “1 Degree” magazine who had no boating experience at all. Suzannah had started her training with David Cowley, Sales Manager of Lings Honda, Lowestoft, champion 150hp driver from 2007 and current driver for Lings.com 225hp race boat, two weeks before the F4SA Honda offshore round at Lowestoft.
Suzannah was quick to get to grip with offshore powerboat racing conditions as she has had car racing and drifting experience.
With only a week before the big event Jeff and Suzannah spent some hours training in some testing conditions from one to three metre seas.
On Friday of race weekend at Lowestoft, the conditions were quit rough for testing as most of the teams only did the parade lap and then head back to the harbour, but not Suzannah. Taking any opportunity to get more practice in Suzannah and Jeff continued in the testing conditions until the end of the practice session.
Race one on Saturday saw much smoother conditions than the Friday practice, Suzannah and Jeff in H20 got a good first start out wide in the outside lane. Heading to the first mark they were up with the rest of the fleet. Some great driving from rookie driver Suzannah finished in ninth place from fourteen teams. A great start on debut.
The second race in the afternoon saw a change in the weather once again with the winds building and the seas growing; Suzannah was ready for the challenge at hand and headed to the muster area.
Once again starting on the outside grid, Suzannah and Jeff got away to another great start heading to the first mark again with the leading boats. Jeff navigated Suzannah clear from the other teams and handled the testing conditions of around two metres swell. Lap one down and sitting in the middle of the pack, things were going great until a moment occurred where the nose of the boat hooked and attempted to throw Suzannah from the boat. Clashing heads with navigator Jeff as the boat attempted to eject Suzannah out the port side of the boat. Kiwi Jeff managed to catch Suzannah from departing the boat and got her back into the driver’s seat and back on track. Loosing some positions Suzannah was determined to carry on and make up for the lost ground. The team negotiated the testing conditions and once again finished in the top ten, a great result for rookie Suzannah Sorrell and New Zealander Jeff Weake.

Suzannah Sorrell and Jeff Weake

Sunday’s race was driven by New Zealander Jeff Weake from Fish City, and Navigated by UK’s Chris Jary, navigator of the 225hp race boat from LINGS Honda. The team H20 got off to a flying start from the outside grid, with water conditions the biggest yet with over three metres seas. Heading to the first mark the Kiwi driven boat was in second place and the team set into a steady pace looking after the gear to insure a finish.
Dropping back a couple places during the course of the race it was clear that some of the leading boats were at risk of damaging gear which was what happen. Jeff and Chris were doing well holding onto third place with team FOX Racing from Jersey putting in a last dash for the finish line but to no avail as H20 crossed the line in third place.
A great finish to the weekend with the representation of New Zealand in the UK’s largest offshore powerboat series

Jeff Weake and Chris Jary

Photos and Story by Lyn Cowley.

28th July 2009 - Fairview Breaks Great Barrier Record

Another Record Run for Fairview
General Press Release 28/7/09

Not satisfied with their Great Barrier Island record run from one month ago, The Fairview Windows and Doors Offshore Superboat team of Warren Lewis and John McLean again reset the longstanding Auckland Harbour Bridge to Great Barrier Island and return record yesterday afternoon (Monday, July 27), lowering the previous mark of 1 hour and 18 minutes to a blistering 1 hour and 6 minutes. With a total distance of 112 miles (180 kilometres) Lewis’ and McLean’s average speed was over the 100mph mark.
Bartlett had set the previous record time of 1 hour and 45 minutes back in 1994 in a 19ft Ski Boat, a much smaller boat than the 35 foot long Fairview Superboat. In close to ideal conditions on the Hauraki Gulf starting at 2.50pm, NZ’s fastest Offshore Powerboat saw speeds of 130mph (208kph) during the record run, but was again slowed on the way out to The Barrier with some rougher water.
“Again we were caught out by just how rough it was further out towards Gt. Barrier, but this time it was the swells and wind speeds of 20 knots, rather than choppy conditions” said Lewis. “One hour and six minutes will be a time that will be tough to beat, but if we can get the right day in the future with the conditions we had closer to Auckland, I reckon a sub one-hour time could be achievable. The trick will be to get the absolutely right conditions, and that could well be a fluke rather than good planning!”
“We’ve got to say thanks to the Auckland Harbour Master, and Steve Whitford from Marineworx, especially for their efforts and patience shown over the last ten days while we’ve been trying to get the right weather window again to lower the record” added Lewis.
The Fairview Windows and Doors Superboat is a US built 35 foot-long Douglas Skater Offshore catamaran, and is powered by a pair of 525 horsepower V8 Mercruiser Big Block engines, producing a combined 1050 horsepower. Recently at the Flying Kilo Time trials on Lake Karapiro, Lewis and McLean achieved 136.85 mph (219kph) in the boat, the fastest ever speed recorded for a Superboat Offshore race boat in NZ.
Attention for the FMI Racing Team now focus’s towards the 2010 Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championships, starting again on Lake Taupo in January 2010.
www.nzoffshore.co.nz
www.v8superboats.com
Press Release by Motor Mouth Media Ltd
Contact Jamie McCarthy
Ph. 021 727 884

5th July 2009 - J. Michael Kelly Flips at Unlimited Race
J.Michael Kelly got off to a good start to the weekend winning a Heat Race on Saturday but blew his U7 Graham Trucking Unlimited Hydroplane on Sunday. J.Michael was had a few bumps but was otherwise ok and both he and the Boat are expected to compete at the Seattle Event.
Jean Theoret had a Test in his U37 Boat his first drive since his Accident but left the Racing Duties to reserve driver JW Myers who Finished in 3rd place in the Final to Jeff Bernard in 2nd and Winner Steve David in Oh Boy! Oberta

Click below to go to the Hydro Insider Website for Details and Pics & Video.

19th July 2009 - The Lake is Rising!
Yes, you heard it right! Lake Mulwala is rising.
Situated on the majestic Murray River between the two border towns of Yarrawonga and Mulwala, water sports enthusiasts and race boat fans need not be alarmed.
In fact the recent drawdown of the lake to empty stage has not occurred since 2002. This drawdown allows for works on the Weir Gates, and other major works to be possible for the official authorities in and around the lake.
The Lake was lowered to 5.4m below Full Supply Level. The refilling of Lake Mulwala has commenced, and during the past week the water level increased by 1.1 m to 3.4 m below FSL. A similar rate of rise is expected during the coming weeks, but will depend on inflows from the Ovens and Kiewa Rivers. To assist with the refilling of the Lake, the release from Yarrawonga Weir has been temporarily reduced.
The Lake has to be filled for the commencement of the irrigation period (by 15th August) as it is the storage pond for the longest irrigation system in the Southern Hemisphere. The Murray River continues to flow in its natural course.
If you have never seen Lake Mulwala empty it is an amazing and eerie sight! You still have a few weeks left to marvel at the amazing landscape from the foreshores or book a scenic flight and capture some unique aerial snaps.
To think that this is usually a pleasure play ground for outdoor activities such as social boating, fishing, water skiing on a beautiful open lake with only the remnants of many dead river gums in the distance! It is also home of the high profile international Lake Mulwala Power festival which features the world’s fastest power boats flying over the water at speeds of up to 270kph. One would not believe it possible that such varied activities occur only meters above.
Scattered on the floor of the empty Lake you can see remnants of massive cut down Murray River Red Gum stumps, an array of fallen trees, early dam walls built by our pioneers and even a sunken paddle steamer, the P.S.Pilot, whose paddle wheels were retrieved, restored and are actually on display next to the Yarrawonga Mulwala Visitor Information Centre.
However, come November the annual Lake Mulwala Power festival roars to life once again.
Lake Mulwala Power festival has a vision not only to showcase the best powerboat racing in the country, but is also expanding the outdoor leisure show component which comprises a market, stalls, outdoor leisure sites, boat displays, model boat activities, caravans and more outdoor interests along with on shore entertainment for the whole family. A full program of boating action and exhibitors will be revealed closer to the November Festival.
Be sure to diarize and keep free the last weekend in November 28th & 29th and head to Yarrawonga Mulwala for a great weekend of adrenalin flowing action and top entertainment for all the family.

For further information don’t hesitate to contact the Yarrawonga Mulwala Tourism office – 1800 062 260

Video Link of the Empty Lake Below

5th July 2009 - Jean Theoret Accident
This Morning at the Madison Unlimited Hydroplane Races Jean Theoret Flipped his Hydroplane in turn One on the last Lap. The Rescue Crews had to free Jean from the Upturned Hydro. Jean was Airlifted to Hospital at Louisville, Kentucky after assessment at the Nearby Madison Hospital. Jean is currently in a Stable Conditional is expected to recover quickly. At the time of the Incident he was Leading Heat 1b just in front of J.Michael Kelly.
The NZGP Drivers Club wishes Jean and his Family a Speedy Recovery.

Video and Audio coverage of tomorrows Racing is online at the links in the below story, and racing in the 6 heats will be between 6am and 9am NZ time approximately.

Click below to go to the Hydro Insider Website for Details and Pics & Video.

2nd July 2009 - Live Web Steam of Madison Regatta

Jack Lowe is a fan of hydroplane racing, having covered the two GP races that opened the season in Canada he then webcast the race in Syracuse. You might want to take in the webcast of the Unlimited Hydro's season opener in Madison this coming weekend. Jack may possibly be webcasting the GP race at Waterford, Michigan following the Gold Cup in Detroit. If He does we will remind you in due course.

View The Webcast at the following Link. Early Sunday and Monday Morning NZ Time.

You can also listen in to the Local Radio Station for More Information and Commentary of the Races.

2nd July 2009 - Winter

Photos from Steve Pope of the Lake Dunstan Race Site in Cromwell Today.
Below is a snap from their November Regatta in Spring Time.

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