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1:13 AM Sat 2 May 2009 GMT
 | | ''Konica Minolta'with Rayglass 2009 NZ Offshore 60 mile series leader Greg Brinck at the wheel.'
Phillip Hoskyn
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With winds gusting to 45 knots predicted for Saturday afternoon on the Gulf Harbour race course, officials for the round 8, the final round of the 2009 Rayglass New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Championship have rescheduled the two major races until tomorrow when winds should have eased.
The final 100-mile and 60-mile championship races were scheduled to run on Saturday 2 May, but will now run on Sunday 3 May on the offshore race course out from the Gulf Harbour Marina at the end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
This morning Greg Brinck, from the New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Association explained ' At the present time, we couldn't even launch the boats from the marina boat ramp, so we've made the only decision possible today. The weather forecast for Sunday is good, with this front expected to have passed through by the morning.'
Racing has been re-scheduled to start on Sunday at 1:00pm based at Hammerhead Reserve on the ocean-side of the Gulf Harbour Marina.
Superboat 'Cure Kids' went into the lead of the 100-mile championship during the last round at Whangarei's Marsden Cove Marina and now has a 273 point advantage over closest rival 'Fairview Windows & Doors'. With a race win worth 475 points and second place 375 points, a close-fought championship finish between these two top superboats is expected.
Brinck and co-driver Eldon Archer have 'Konica Minolta' positioned at the top of the 60-mile championship leader-board, but with just 125 points' advantage over closest rival, fellow super-60 class boat 'Espresso Engineers', Brinck knows the championship title will go right down to the wire.
Three boats are in contention for the 60-mile championship: 'Konica Minolta', 'Espresso Engineers' with Aucklanders Mike Gerbic and Haydn Mearns, and 'Holsam' driven by Auckland's Mike Cameron and Duncan Field.
'Being a true offshore event, the Gulf Harbour conditions can be quite testing so the importance of finishing will be the priority, especially if it still rough out there,' comments Brinck.
by Powerboat-world.com
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Macquarie Island, TAS
