4:00 AM Tue 10 Nov 2009 GMT
Ski race boats powered by Evinrude? ETEC outboards dominated the new Formula 2 class in this year's Hamilton Bridge to Bridge water ski classic on the Waikato River.
The Evinrude ETEC-powered boats took the three podium places in the new class with 'Illusion' first, 'Big Bird' second and 'Konica Minolta' third. All three run the environmentally-friendly Evinrude ETEC engines from leading manufacturer BRP.
Held at the beginning of November, the 26th annual Hamilton Bridge to Bridge water ski race featured a new Formula2 (F2) class based on the world water ski racing F2 category for the first time for 2009.
The presence of Evinrude ETEC outboards were certainly a talking point at this year's event, says Jeff Weake, the Hamilton-based driver of 'Konica Minolta'.
'Some competitors have changed from Mercury outboards to Evinrude ETEC following the great results being achieved by the reliable, powerful outboards in water ski racing events in Australia,' says Weake.
The three Evinrude ETEC teams had faultless runs in the prestigious long race which covers 82km of the Waikato River, starting in Cambridge north through Hamilton to Taupiri, then back to Hamilton's Grantham Street bridge.
Team 'Illusion', comprising driver Brendan MacPherson, observer Hamish MacPherson and skiers Vaughan Cox and Bevan Scott, established some new benchmarks with the fastest-ever time for the SMOC (standard mono open cockpit) class as well as the record for the new F2 class with their time of 40 minutes and 39 seconds.
Second-placed 'Big Bird' was piloted by an all-Australian team, with driver Tony Rowe, observer Howard Hook, skiers Steve Rowe and Andy Ellis completing the long race in 42 minutes and 15 seconds.
'Konica Minolta', driven by Jeff Weake, observer Mike Dunstall, skiers Jordan Bradley and Adelaide Cox, finished third in class, less than a minute and half back, and also winning the 'ladies' category.
'We also took victory in the social water ski race from Ngaruawahia to Hamilton's Grantham Street bridge,' says Weake who was joined by observer Paul Mitchell and water skier Bevan Turksma to complete the one leg course. With Turksma using a standard size slalom DC social water ski, Weake piloted 'Konica Minolta' to speeds over 80mph and broke the course record with a time of 10 minutes and 53 seconds, just under a minute ahead of the next competitor.
'One particularly significant aspect of this success for the Evinrude ETEC-powered boats is that the engines are literally straight out of the box,' says BRP Evinrude New Zealand manager Richard Shaw. 'Under the F2 class regulations, the outboards must be standard engines with no enhancements. The award-winning Evinrude E-TEC outboards are well-known for their clean technology, power and reliability, and it's always a pleasure to see them perform well in a variety of events.'
Weake extends his thanks to sponsors Konica Minolta, BRP Evinrude ETEC, The Rock FM, Fish City Hamilton, Coverstaff Recruitment, RUST-OLEUM Industrial Coatings, Hamilton City, Altitude Bar and Nightclub and Force Boats for assisting the team compete with such great success in the prestigious Hamilton bridge to bridge water ski race.
The Evinrude ETEC teams now look forward to competing in the rest of the 2009-10 water ski racing series, details of which can be viewed at
www.skirace.co.nz
.
by Kate Gordon
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Garden Island, WA
