Monday, 7 May 2012
To the Waikato Heads - Sun 29 Apr 2012
Monday, 12 March 2012
Monday, 27 February 2012
Sprint 1-12 - Meremere - Sun 26 Feb 12
The first Sprint of 2012
Here we are again. Who is going to take the trophy off Doug for the new season?
All the usual suspects were there and everyone ready to hit the water after the summer break.
The pond was full, thanks to Cam, but there was lots of weed, hence we were able to do two recon runs to try and clear the track a little.
We welcomed newcomer Jed Claude who has resurrected P17 from the deep south, and with the help of the Pred team, we all hope to see the boat competing real soon.
We had a quick rotation for the day and times were quick. Cam ran fastest time, Den followed next with Doug 3rd in P9, myself and then Rodger 5th in P9. What a busy boat P9 was.
Now to the real story and what really happened on the day.
For starters Den had trouble with boat and trailer. He drove off without P9 attached (twice) and then Doug had taken the bungs out and told no one.
Rodger was having problems, his boat dying due to lack of fuel in the carburettor, so the boat bummed out twice in the same place. He walked the boat back and found all the deep holes, especially at the ramp.
Everyone loves the sound of Wayne’s boat, but by day's end the sound was even greater than even Wayne’s expectations when the exhaust pipe decided to modify itself.
Doug demonstrated to Jed in P17 how a boat handles without a skeg - he ended up on the island before the start.
Nice to see Pam and daughter Rachael, who helped out with the navigating. Be nice to see Rachael driving P5 to build up the ladies competition.
See you all at the sprint on the 11th.
-Ree
Monday, 12 December 2011
Monday, 14 November 2011
Monday, 17 October 2011
SPRINT 8-11 - Meremere - Sun 16 Oct 11
Well, it’s a first for me - having to do a write-up for the Predator sprint class, and I will do my best.
The day started off with weather more like summer, with just a quick shower half way through the meet.
Today we only had three boats turn up, and four or five V8s made the trip as well. The day didn’t start off too well with Honda spitting the dummy with heating problems, so we were down to two, but that didn’t bother us too much.
Competition was evenly matched throughout the day, Ree starting off with good times (having me as navi helped ha!)
Wayne and I were having a couple of rotation issues, Doug and Den were playing with their toys (gps) and Rodger was Mr Consistent as usual.
All in all, a good even day’s racing, with Den taking the honours in Wayne’s boat, ahead of Doug and Ree.
Cheers, Andy
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Monday, 16 May 2011
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
SPRINT 3-11 - Meremere - Sun 17 Apr 2011
Sunday’s meeting was a series of firsts for me… First time not being hungover on a Sunday in a while, first time navigating for the old man in a while… first time driving a boat in the track in a while… First time taking the cake and winning the day for a while! And because I was on such a roll and feeling so fresh, knowing I wouldn’t suffer a bad case of Monday-itis since I wasn’t still hungover after a hard weekend.. I volunteered to produce a whopper write-up! Another first! Probably a last though ;-)
The wet, windy weather didn’t stop us Jet Boat enthusiasts from heading down to Meremere on the weekend! But the V8’s that were on must have! Where was everybody?
With only 4 boats and Doug’s M Sprint along for the day, we collectively had 6 drivers and what seemed to sound like 1 navigator… me?
With much contemplation and making my “non-hangover” Sunday one to remember (literally) I decided I would scrap navigating for every driver and drive myself.
I picked the red course. The red one. God knows why because I hate red? But oh well the course was set! Den was out with a seamless demo making the total 360 rotation around Baldy Island look easy!
So naturally in an orderly fashion, one by one we all went out on our reco runs to try the same and must I say, good work everybody! Not one single park up the entire day! A few boats were chocka full of weed however, but a good mow was much needed around a few corners!
Defining the law of “Weedy is Greedy” I took the pleasure of accompanying Dad whilst he threw our poor little “Mini Me” boat hard into 11 and practically split the Island in half! Needless to say the rest of the run was a slow clogged up one, but was super fun never the less!
An early quick pace of 1.14 – 1.15seconds were set by all the drivers so the day was to be a close one! With only 7 drivers (Den, Ree, Doug, Roger, Wayne, Dad and Myself) making the top ten and top five was inevitable so pressure was off until the final run!
I did take a while to get my groove back.. I dislike this new steering skeg.. whose idea was that by the way? But after thinking F*** it just go for it (and with help from my navi Rhys) I whipped 10 seconds off my first time, catching back up to the lead guys before having boat trouble on my cut off run due to an unhealthy engine which likes to shut off when it gets up to top speed… something it's probably not used to I guess?
So with two booster seats and pointed toes, I jumped into Roger’s boat to give that one a turn and WOW! What a boat! It took a run to get used to very light and very touch-sensitive steering, but by the top 5 final run I think I had it down packed with a smooth fast run timed at 1.12 seconds flat!
Pressure was on the rest of the field to match it! All day Wayne dropped a second or two off every run he went out! Ree was right up our rear ends also - she always is a tough match, this time racing Trevor’s boat. Roger stormed out and sadly went faster on his top ten run (1-13.74) then his final but still came in at 4th with a competitive time of 1-16.12, however, he did drop 6 seconds straight away when he swapped his 95kg navi for me! Den with Doug in beside him, raced to the finish at third with a 1-14.28 while Dad faced the same challenge as I did with mastering a borrowed boat in the last two runs. He was close! But no cigar, coming in second with a 1 minute 12.75!
The saying “a quick game's a good game” interpreted the entire day perfectly. We all helped out with timing, kept the running of the 4 boats continuous and everybody helped out with navigating for one another – great to see. Needless to say, we were over by lunch time so we could all go home quickly and enjoy the V8s! I’m not usually even out of bed by lunchtime on a Sunday, so wasn’t too sure what to do with myself after that…
As I said before, there were no exciting park ups (get ya mind out of the gutters please guys), no dork of the day (although Den did get close when he didn’t hook his boat onto the trailer AGAIN - lucky it stayed stable!) and no juicy club goss that generally circulates around! All in all it was just a fantastic day of racing! Thanks to the newbie Navigators Rhys and Andy who helped me and Wayne out! Was also cool to get a visit from Kerry and Tristan who came along for a nosey and a catch up!
That’s all from me - See you all next time!
“All in favour of Tahlia not borrowing your boat again say aye” ….aye aye aye aye aye aye
Sorry Roger xx
Catch yas!
Tahlia
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Sprint 2-11 - Meremere - Sun 20 Mar 2011
It was a misty morning when we left home, but as always, as the day progressed, the sun came out with a vengeance.
It was a day of differences for Den and me. First, driving the Honda boat (P8), the pedal must have been moved further towards me. I could never reach it before. Then Lucinha was left at home because she had the flu, so Den burgled Jackson for the day as our navigator.
It was nice to see the owners of P13 travel from Taupo, Robbie, Robbie and Belinda who all got the opportunity to ride/drive in the boats. Be nice to see their boat up and running in the pond.
With only eight drivers, Simon’s roundy-round rotation got the brain working. Some forgot which roundy they were up to (me), while someone else learned to never change your direction (Robbie) as you’ll end up on the bank, someone else forgot to put the bungs back in their boat before putting it back in the water (Greg), and someone forgot you don’t blitz the field on your first run, then again on the final to record FTD. Yay Cam.
With so few drivers it was nice to finish the day early.
See you all at the next sprint - April 17. - Ree
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Monday, 20 December 2010
It was a dark and stormy night and then it was morning and a damp and crappy one at that.
We had a go at making everyone happy, but as with all good intentions, it didn't quite work out that way.
The attendees were as follows: Sheila and Simon, Craig and Simon, Greg and Chen, Cam and Jackson, Roger and Cam No 2 and Wayne and Ja.
I was supposed to be somewhere else and the deal I had with my love interest was - I would do my 4 runs and then do a runner but as usual I forgot to do the runner part, so our family lunch in Whangamata became an early dinner (oooops).
The timing gear started to play up as well, so was just a bum titties day. Simon was on the pace straight away and was in the 60 sec bracket with only one run of 63 sec and a FTD of 59.58 and another round win and the series win as well. Yours truly did a 61 in the first timed run and then went progressively slower all day and finished with a 62.27 to come in secound for the day and for the series again. (This would get a lesser man down, but I just have to HTFU).
Roger's times are very consistent, so we know he can drive, so all he has to do is get the angry man out and we know his boat is quick - he ended up 3rd for the day and 3rd for the series, (see the pattern here?) Wayne was also consistent with his times and is getting it all sorted out for next season, but a good 4th on the day. Craig and Simon started with a 81.28 and ended with a 66.71 so a huge improvement on the day.
Rumour has it that Grimz now has the Big cam inside his engine and the story is that he is bringing up a huge can of whipass to the summer season, so we will know what he's got on the 20th Feb for the start of the new season - let's get into it and go hard or go home.
---The Jonesy
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
SPRINT 8-10 - Meremere - Sun 14 Nov 2010
HANDICAPS have all been updated - see how much your Handicap has risen! As well as the ones in BLUE below, both Simon's and Cam's have risen to the 99.99 maximum.
No sign of spring this morning; it was a dismal start to the day. Craig’s friend came down with his camera and beautifully captured the drivers briefing ritual and then the finger pointing going round in circles rotation learning ritual. (Photos will be posted soon)
The fun started when we hit the water with a bit of on track weeding being performed and a damsel in distress mission for Cam as he rescued Lucina from one of Den’s park ups.
P1 was not playing nicely, so Cam hopped in with Rodger and proved how quick P14 is, posting the fastest time of the day and taking home the trophy for the day. The DOD trophy finally found a willing recipient after being unclaimed for a while. Yep, Den the old master, left the boat on the ramp while a trailer extraction was performed. The resounding thump was heard clearly around the whole of the course, as was the hysterical laughter and applause that followed. Yup, no secrets out here.
Thankfully the day improved and by the time we were doing the top 5 the sun was out. After racing finished we had a quick flurry of activity weed eating and mowing the islands, starting the tidy up for summer. By the time prize giving came around it was back to a lovely day ,thanks to all for the help with the BBQ. Cam deservedly took the trophy home, saving his last run to post the fastest time of the day. Den and Rog shared second place with Simon coming an unusual 4th. I was quite happy taking it easy, slowly getting back into driving again, but really enjoying sitting in the silly seat flapping my hand.
Great to see Craig and Chris, our new drivers, shaving seconds off their times.
An enjoyable day for all and some great candid photos to take away too.
See you next month,
Sheila
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Sprint 6-10 17th October Meremere
out of the horses mouth !
better late than not at all
We left whiti at the usual time heading for Meremere but with a difference,Following close behind was Chris with P13 in tow.
We landed at the pond to find rodger the only boat there (as yet),Slowly the crews come through the car water course and backed up ready for a days fun.The weather was bleak with the odd shower and a cold breeze blowing through (brrr).
Boats and more boats turned up 7 to be exact,ps 1,10,8,14,19,13 and 5 great turn out.
Most boats did 1 or 2 runs pre racing on weed control (Chris it is fun LOL)and there was casualties.
Racing started and we all were having a ball,swapping nav's and boats running aground etc,(yes me 3 times,Chris twice and Doug was it 2 or 3 times?)
Vanessa up on the deck doing the timing god thing and every one helping flapping the flags. Thank you.
Once the racing was done it was off to weedeating and lawnmower racing around the islands,looking good,pity about Simon killing the new club mower ! Whats with that ?Price giving and BBQ to finish off .O for awesome.
1st Cam,2nd Simon(president)and 3rd Doug
1st Lady was the 1st Lady (Sheila)
Welcome to the new comers,Please come again and thank you for everyone for coming along.
GRIMZ
Ed's note,
Grimz got DOD and thanks to Craig (newbe)for BBQing the snags.
Sunday, 12 September 2010
I woke in the mornig to the sound of pouring rain and thought this is going to be fun but by the time we got to Meremere it had cleared into a alright day.
Rodger was the first there so we set about setting up the timing gear but that wasnt a happening thing so it was hand timing for the day,i think the old timing light has seen a bit to much water with myself, rodger and Grimz al trying to get it working but na.
A big thanks to Vanessa and Wayne for the timing duties,you cant stay on that deck all season Wayne !.
After two attempts at the demo we got it right and then it was down to racing.Myself and Sheila in P10,Rodger had his nav Sean again and Cam and Doug swapped around in P1 with Jackson and Grimz talked me into naving for him.Our cut off run didnt go to well with us picking up a bit of stick firmly lodging itself onto the front of the blade making us limp our way around to the finish.The track was pretty full due to the rain and lots of weed in the track saw plenty of weeds being pulled out of grates on a regular basis.All the boats ran pretty close over the day with only nano seconds between 1st 2nd and 3rd.Grimz reconds i wasnt allowed lunch to keep my weight down but you know what they say about a man and his lunch !
The rotation was nice fast and sweeping with a few new corners not tried before but there was no whoops and everybody nailed it quickly so the old dod award went unawarded for another month ,its funny how no body wants to take that trophy home !
After racing it was play time and i took Grimz boat for a spin to see if i could go any quicker than him but nooo it was about the same so Grimz jumped in P10 for a spin and found out just how different the boats handle.
So it was onto prize giving and stories and pack up to head home until next month.
Until then
s
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Sprint 4-10 *Whitianga* Sat 19 Jun 2010
Due to maintenance at Meremere sprint 4 was relocated to Whitianga at the track which had been made for the Speed weekend display.
**Thank you Grimz for organising the venue and tractor.
It was a very early start as I was travelling down with Den and Ree and they needed to leave their home at 6am. We travelled south and looked for the stars of Matariki which mark the Maori new year but too cloudy and misty.
Making good time we stopped in Tairua for a coffee etc then carried on to Whitianga to find a bakery {another story}. Txts exchanged with the others then all met and convoyed into the venue.
This was the first time I had seen the track, which is made in part of the waterways. It had plenty of water in it after all the rain. A long pond with tyres making the islands was the challenge for the day. Launching a bit hard with a car so Grimz had arranged a big tractor for that task. The boats all in the pond. Next, Rodger gives drivers briefing and a course randomly chosen. I had not been in a Pred since February so was looking forward to the days racing even if it was windy and cold.
Grimz had trouble demonstrating the rotation, which was good as it gave me a bit more time to get my head around it, knowing that the tyre islands were going to take a bit of distinguishing at water level, as they all look the same except for a little grass growing in some. The wind was cold but seemed to have little affect on the water in the track. Vanessa parked her truck in line with the start finish line to keep warm while time keeping, and soon the days racing started. There only being 6 drivers it did not take long to get through to the final where all but Ree managed their best run for the day.
**Well done Simon on taking out the day with a great run of 57 secs closely followed by Den then Doug and Rodger =3rd.
The Round had finished quite early so it was decided to have another little competition where all drivers had one go only driving Grimz's P19 around the same rotation with the same navigator. Rodgers nav Charlton was elected and off we all went. One time best time drive in same set up - what a great little bit of fun. It showed how close all the drivers are getting with less than 3 seconds covering the field.
**Well done to the master Den who took it out, over 1 second clear, ahead of the rest of us.
**Grimz thankyou for the use of your boat but I guess it shows you it can get around a bit faster than you or I have managed to yet.
With all the boats back on the trailers we set off to Grimz & Vanessa’s house for a great cup of coffee and warm up out of the wind. The day’s results announced and decision to cut the series to 4 rounds was agreed and then the series results announced.
**Simon with navigator Sheila in P10 took out the series win, a great effort with some nice consistent racing.
**Prizes from our great sponsor CRC where given out, then we set off home.
Thanks to all who came out for the day. I had another great day of Predator jetsprinting, looking forward to the next round.
Doug D
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