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Thunder on the Great Lake

Lake Taupo , Lake Terrace, Taupō

Ticket Information

• Free Admission
• Sat 1 May 2021, 12:30pm–2:00pm

Restrictions

• NZ Offshore Powerboats

Round two of the 2021 NZ Offshore Powerboat Championships the event is based at two-mile bay boat ramp, best viewing across the road from the Northcroft reserve on Lake Terrace. Two half-hour races first race 12.30 pm second race 1.30 pm. Check out the boats and meet the teams at the Two Mile Boat ramp from 8 am 1st May.

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Doosan takes first victory in Taupo offshore powerboat race

Sunday 31 January 2010, 9:00PM

By Relish Comm

The well-known, championship-winning superboat formerly called ‘Sleepyhead’ and now called ‘Doosan’ by its new Auckland-based drivers Sam Fillmore and Cary Gleeson has scored the first 100-mile race win in the 2010 Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championship in Taupo. ‘A1 Homes’ with Scott Lewis and Murray Tuffin were second and Australian superboat ‘Team 3’, driven by Steve Nugent, from the Gold Coast, and Whangaparaoa’s Craig Archer on the throttles, were third, after the other top-running superboat ‘Fairview Windows and Doors’, with Steve Whitford and Warren Lewis, had to retire with a steering system failure. The 60-mile race was taken out by former class champion Tauranga’s Mark Diggelmann and Cambridge’s Kevin Ireland in the Ocke Mannerfelt-design ‘Mark Diggelmann Car Sales’. Another Ocke Mannerfelt Super 60-class boat ‘Espresso Engineers’ piloted by Mike Gerbic and Dave Vazey was second with local Taupo entry, the classic class boat ‘Thunderbird 1’ with Haaker Le Sueur, Gavin McGrath and Joel Moses coming home third. Nearly 30 boats took to the choppy waters of Lake Taupo for the opening round of the eight-round, Rayglass Boats-backed series. The changeable weather created challenging conditions for most of the competitors, according to series commentator Jamie McCarthy. “There was half a metre of swell, low cloud and 25 to 30 knots of wind, and some boats clearly coped with the conditions on different parts of the L-shaped course which took competitors clockwise along the main Taupo lakefront, out across the bay towards Rainbow Point and back into the lakefront,” said McCarthy. New to the New Zealand series, Australian superboat ‘Team 3’ won the initial drag race from the start and lead the first lap. Then ‘Doosan’ and ‘Fairview Windows and Doors’ got in front of ‘Team 3’ and traded places for the lead. “You could see that ‘Fairview’ coped better in the heavier conditions at the southern end of the course, while ‘Doosan’ had the edge along the waterfront stretch,” said McCarthy. “Then ‘Fairview was in the lead on lap seven when the steering failed and driver Steve Whitford did an amazing job to maintain control. This allowed ‘Doosan’ a relatively cruisy run to the finish with ‘A1 Homes’ and ‘Team 3’ having a good old battle for second with ‘A1 Homes’ getting home ahead of ‘Team 3’.” In the superboat lite class which also runs the 100-mile course, Aucklanders Bob Smith and Andrew Koolan in re-engined 28-foot Skater called ‘NZ Blokes’, formerly ‘Family Boats’, had the initial lead. ‘Rayglass’, driven by Wellington daughter-and-father crew Kelly and Grant Smith, and ‘Red Steel’, the rebuilt and re-engined ‘Placemakers’ run by Brook Faulkner and Tony Carson from Napier, were right on ‘NZ Blokes’ stern for several laps. “Tony [Carson] told me that ‘Red Steel’ was performing better and better as the fuel load lightened and this played a part in them getting to the front of their class and ultimately coming home the class winner and fourth overall,” said McCarthy. “‘Rayglass’ also passed ‘NZ Blokes’ on the last lap to round out the 100-mile results. “The race was reasonably incident-free for the 60-mile competitors. You could see that the V-hulled, Ocke Mannerfelt-design boats ‘Mark Diggelmann Car Sales’ and ‘Espresso Engineers’ were having a better run through the heavy conditions than defending 60-mile champions Greg Brinck and Jeff Weake in ‘Konica Minolta’.” The AB Marine Formula Honda Offshore category again proved the most popular class with ten boats entered. “Wellington’s Mike Smith – Honda class champion two years ago – and Matt Hopkins took the class win in ‘Rayglass’ from last year’s class champion Mike Knight with a new co-driver Yael Pook, both from Auckland, in ‘Honda Marine’. Fellow Aucklanders Mike Urquhart and Darren Woods were third in ‘Auckland District Collections 2’. “Both ‘Mark Diggelmann Car Sales’ and ‘Thunderbird 1’ were ‘day entries’ so the 60-mile championship points go to ‘Espresso Engineers’, ‘Konica Minolta’ and the first of the Honda class boats ‘Rayglass’.” The Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championship moves to Gisborne for its next round on Saturday 6 February with a 1pm start, before continuing the series at Gulf Harbour (20 February), Napier (6 March), Wellington (27 March), Whitianga (10 April), Marsden Cove outside Whangarei (24 April) and the final round in Auckland (8 May). More information and updated championship points’ tables can be found on the New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Association website, www.nzoffshore.co.nz . NZOPA thanks Destination Lake Taupo, AB Marine Services, LiquorKing, LavaRock Café, MarineWorkz, Pub ‘n’ Grub, The Lion Foundation, Marine Paramedical Services, YouthTown and the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board for supporting this event.

2010 Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championships Results from Round 1, Taupo, 31 January 2010 100-mile Championship (Top five) Sam Fillmore (Auckland) / Cary Gleeson (Auckland) ‘Doosan’ 1, Scott Lewis (Auckland) /Murray Tuffin (Auckland) ‘A1 Homes’ 2, Steve Nugent (Gold Coast) / Craig Archer (Whangaparaoa) ‘Team 3’ 3, Brook Faulkner (Napier) / Tony Carson (Napier) ‘Red Steel’ 4, Kelly Smith (Wellington) / Grant Smith (Wellington) ‘Rayglass’ 5. 60-mile Championship (Top five) Mark Diggelmann (Tauranga) / Kevin Ireland (Cambridge) ‘Mark Diggelmann Car Sales’ 1, Mike Gerbic (Auckland) / Dave Vazey (Auckland) ‘Espresso Engineers’ 2, Haaker Le Sueur (Taupo) / Gavin McGrath (Taupo) / Joel Moses (Taupo) ‘Thunderbird 1’ 3, Greg Brinck (Auckland) / Jeff Weake (Hamilton) ‘Konica Minolta’ 4, Greg Crawford (Thames) / Mike Morse (Cambridge) ‘Open Windows and Doors’ 5.

The New Zealand Powerboat Federation

NEW ZEALAND JET BOAT RIVER RACING ASSOCIATION INC.

The NZJBRRA administers the sport of jet boat river marathon racing.

Racing takes place on rivers throughout NZ.

Secretary – Tim Guthrie c/- Steve Woodside PO Box 6605 Upper Riccarton Christchurch 8442 Phone : 0276-418814 Website : www.riverracingnz.com

NZ Jet Sprint Association Inc.

The NZJSA administers the adrenalin pumping sport of jet sprint racing. All classes of jet sprint boats race on tight purpose built circuits with only a little water to race in.

Secretary – Pip Thompson PO BOX 3468 Hawkes Bay Mail Centre Napier 4142 Phone : 021-02481421 Website: www.jetsprint.co.nz

NZ Offshore Powerboat Association Inc.

If blue water racing is your thing then join the NZOPA. Offshore powerboat racing takes place on inner and outer harbours around NZ and on larger lakes such as Lake Taupo.

Secretary – Rebecca Lewis PO BOX 51-911 Pakuranga AUCKLAND Phone: 021-995750 Website: www.nzoffshore.co.nz

NZ Power Boat Association Inc.

Circuit boat racing is controlled by the NZPBA. Many different classes of powerboats including hydroplanes, tunnels, flatties and vees race on short courses set on lakes, rivers and sheltered harbours throughout NZ.

Secretary - Rachel Jones 100 Hinemoa Street Levin Horowhenua 5510 Phone: 021 298 5579 Website: www.nzpba.com

Thundercat Racing Association of NZ Inc.

Thundercat Racing is for those who love the beach and racing in the surf. All boats are light inflatable catamarans powered with 50hp outboards. Some race meetings are circuit racing or longhaul endurance events.

Secretary – Brad Brown PO BOX 39353 Howick Auckland 2145 Phone: 021-2377284 Website: www.thundercatracing.co.nz

Gold clam threat sees major Lake Taupō powerboating events banned

The Lake Taupō event ban will affect competitions such as the powerboat racing series. Photo / Jacques Li

Taupō iwi Tūwharetoa is banning public boating events due to fears about the spread of invasive gold clams.

At least two major powerboating events - the Hydro Thunder scheduled for January 27-28 and the NZ Offshore powerboat racing on January 28 - have been told to re-submit their applications. The IronMan 70.3 event planned for December 9 was still allowed to go ahead.

Organisers of the powerboat events say they pose no risk of spreading the clams and the biggest risk comes from recreational boaties moving from place to place.

Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board holds the title for Lake Taupō on behalf of Ngāti Tūwharetoa and its announcement would mean all events involving vessels that have previously been in the Waikato River would be cancelled.

The order comes after Biosecurity New Zealand announced a Controlled Area Notice, which banned wake boats that had been used elsewhere from entering a large stretch of the Waikato River.

The Taupō ban does not apply to recreational boaties, but all users of Lake Taupō were asked to report sightings of gold clams and follow Check, Clean, Dry protocols for all watercraft and equipment.

Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board chief executive Rakeipoho Taiaroa said the move to ban certain boating events was necessary to minimise the serious threat of gold clams being spread to the lake.

“We are attempting to reduce the spread of this invasive freshwater clam and ensure we uphold our responsibilities as kaitiaki [guardians].

“We recognise this will impact on those event organisers and participants, and we sympathise with them.

“However, we need to take a precautionary approach at this time until our understanding increases and we have confidence in the biosecurity measures necessary to prevent further spread.”

NZ Offshore president Paul Greenfield said they had been asked to re-submit a plan for their event to reassure Tūwharetoa they posed no risk.

He said the Lake Taupō event was the only one they held in freshwater. All of their other events were in the ocean. The boats were also thoroughly cleaned and stored out of the water for months in between events, whereas the gold clams only survived for five days.

He said they get good support from the community and they also inject funds into the local economy.

“We hire hotels and eat and drink and buy fuel.”

He wasn’t sure what it would take to get their event approved but they would hopefully be able to come up with a plan that was satisfactory.

Hydro Thunder race organiser Denise Preece said they had submitted two plans to Tūwharetoa for their event and had been declined twice.

They had just finished racing in the South Island where there were no gold clams and had offered to cancel their next event in Mangakino to ensure there was no chance of spreading gold clams into the lake, but had still been declined.

“We don’t understand it. We are a controlled event, we don’t have bilges, we don’t even put the trailers in the water. They are performance boats so they are cleaned and polished.”

She said they had already booked accommodation and arranged for crane hire and security. The Taupō leg of the series was one of their larger events and also the penultimate round of the series, before it headed to Lake Karapiro for the finals.

She said the public posed a far greater risk of spreading the clams around than organised regattas.

“We totally respect what they are saying. We don’t want it [the clams] in there as much as they do and we will do whatever we can to prevent that.”

Gold clams were first found in the Waikato at Bob’s Landing in Karāpiro in May this year, and have since been located in several other parts of the river system, including Lake Maraetai and Port Waikato.

There were concerns the introduced species would compete with natives for resources including food and habitat.

They are capable of rapid reproduction and consume the same foods as species such as koura, as well as causing damage to infrastructure such as hydro stations and water pipes.

Attempts made to eradicate the clams elsewhere in the world have been unsuccessful.

The Ministry for Primary Industries classified the species as an unwanted organism in August, meaning it is an offence to knowingly move the clams, or water which may contain it.

The 14 Te Arawa Lakes in the Rotorua region are also under Controlled Area Notices, with additional restrictions applying to Lake Ōkataina.

Tūwharetoa has been approached for further comment.

• Report gold clam sightings on 0800 80 99 66 or at report.mpi.govt.nz/pest .

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