2023 UIM Golden Homes World Jet Boat Marathon – New Zealand

Eight days of the ultimate jet boat river racing in the world. The 2023 UIM Golden Homes World Jet Boat Marathon features all the action, thrills and spills.

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[Music] welcome to day one of the 2023 marathon and what a shocker New Zealand weather welcoming myself the Canadian here it’s like like I brought this winter weather with me we’re here at the quad River for a 14 km pre-run this will be seating for day one up the dart River and back tomorrow let’s see what everyone does here in the challenging winter [Music] environment it was a challenge for everyone in weather like this not just the competitors you know golden homes have come along here and setting up the sponsor tent down there which is really good for today cuz the weather is just not playing games so tough start for the boys today but hey this is a different sort of a a start to the marathon where we’re doing a seating run on the coil uh the idea is today we’re just going to do a 14k one lap uh the boys will start on their start Zone we’re standing right beside the start zone now and the seating for today well that was unusual it was sorted yesterday at the sh and shine that was a bit of fun had something a little bit different where the boys went out to Highlands Park and uh just a bit of a boat show out there uh we did a bit of a competition out there bit of fun with the team and it was it was really good to get the seaing ERS but once we got them going that set the Run for the seaing order today so 32 boats starting and then uh they’ll go away one boat at a time so it’s a good chance that stretch your legs out show some performance get your speed up good clean River nice stretch of water they can get some good Pace up coming down through the start Finish Line here they’ll be tapped Out full Pace first tackle the time trial at speed was Adam Wilton in CX 229 there was no let up for the rain and he had no issues really but at the bridge with what looked like a patrol boat in his path he opted for an alternate route Up and Under the old control Gates it didn’t slow him down though his time of 7 Minutes 19 seconds wouldn’t be beaten by any other CX if you wanted to see some good action go to the bridge you know there’s a little bit of a drop off there it comes down onto a standing wave I think going up through it pretty straightforward if I hit it at PACE it’ll be it’ll get ugly um but coming back down through it’ll be straightforward for a race boat they’ll come through there easy but uh you know it’ll it’ll put them out of a little bit of shape if they’re not too careful Richie Foster clearly didn’t get that memo no issues with Downstream but his attack on the Upstream well that was [Music] impressive the rolling start me driver had little idea of the times needed to beat they just had to drive as hard as the conditions would allow and Richie Foster did just that coming up two second shy of Adam Wilton current CX title holder Dave Robinson had to settle for third in class while Andrew Scott in cx44 and Riley Smith in 166 were next how was it man man yeah good to get that leg done really um we obviously worked ourselves up a we bit about the bridge but oh we could have gone a lot faster up and down it but it was mint real good good conditions in in return to racing Dean lamb had the advantage of better weather running later in the day although some new additions to his equipment were testing him I’m talking about getting used to these Wings didn’t have these 21 years ago but uh enjoying it yeah being nice the wether Gods played for me pretty fishal Navigator yeah great to have my son along yeah really good think he enjoyed it yeah yeah he said I got it flying right towards the end so yeah we’ll see how we go keep him honest yeah keeping him honest making sure he’s going the right way as supp going fast enough yeah yeah I’d say so Tony euan’s prediction of full Pace past the start Finish Line was on point and the first of the gas turbines to try out was Brandon Crowley from the north island in the ex Nigel chromy gas turbine yeah we were a little bit cautious of the wear and those um FR waves was up the top but now we nailed all our corners and I think we’re doing close to 130 mph coming past the line here so now we’re St the whole intention of today’s Runners one it’s great for spectators it’s just a bit of a show to everybody get them in there get them settled in it’s a chance for us to make sure we’ve double checked all of our equipment the timing gears working the start orders are in place Patrol boats are in working our radio controls are working but it also means that the race boats can get in and go boat’s running well it’s doing what it’s supposed to be doing can get up and start it gets out of the water and they get a time and it’s just so they get a start order for the first River run tomorrow not surprisingly Kevin Hyde was the quickest the unlimited boats eating up the 14 km track in 6 minutes and 9 seconds feel on that it was good yeah no um went ran PL and to so that’s we’re after current nz1 Roger Preston might have been faster but the flame out Under the Bridge cost him precious seconds and it was just five he was short at the end of the day meaning he will follow U7 5 up the dart tomorrow yeah it sounds like we were on the money pool we just um yeah if we didn’t have to stop and restart up the top we we would have taken it out is it well it it’s a long way got to get the other end twice during proceedings racing was suspended to allow ket’s commercial operations to handle tourist duties perhaps Poetic Justice then that youth 307 highlighted by kjet owner Shawn Kelly and his son Joe was one of the affected team what’s the hold up uh TBS certainly only a minor issue for the Kelly and no time lost but for another local Father and Son Duo Phil and Ben Moody things were more serious A5 took an eternity to get up on step and when every second counts starts are where races are won and lost another to struggle River Racing Patron Rob pulley starting his Marathon more than three decades after finishing fourth in the 93 worlds crewman Glenn baitman forced o onto the deck to help the unlimited class boat up on the plane silver back racing seemed on song past the start Finish Line but on return to the trailer things weren’t as they should be later diagnosis determined the unusual noise in the bottom of the engine would end ROM’s campaign before it had really got a chance to get going from the largest V8 to the smallest FX class belonged to Stu Fitzgerald by just 7 Seconds over Craig plunket in FX [Music] 71 18 seconds further Back Rick Johnson in 63 filled the minor placings with Tyler coats [Music] next the American in his first visit down under picked up a penalty for shortcutting the island at the top of the race [Music] course but he lost any gain spinning at the bottom marker still he didn’t seem too disappointed back at the [Music] tra oh we made it feel pretty good yeah great B here first time here yeah spin out down here did you the I was wondering that probably ain’t the last one our other American is an a class and with more experience racing in New Zealand it was no surprise to see Ryan ringer second home behind the Kiwi Master Justin Hill who is koi about his [Applause] result I’m Happ with BS and just some fast Americans fast Canadians around here and they put down some good times cuz I pushing hard on the first day also pushing hard in his return to racing was Nick Sullivan here to settle a score after bowing out of the CX World title in 2017 running a ground in the river he’ll meet tomorrow gour Humphrey was next nearly 20 seconds quicker than fellow Canadian Dale Whiteside with three countries represented in the top four positions in the largest class this will be one to watch and watching will happen tomorrow on the dart [Music] Riven today’s weather in Glen make yesterday’s look like a summer holiday there was never any doubt racing would take place it was more how wet drivers Navigators and officials would be by the end of our four legs on the dart River firing Campbell didn’t have that problem his asec powered Black Sheep racing had trouble just getting to the river with a stroker engine in need of a scan tool well it looks like it’s an ignition issue um we’ve got a fuel injected motor of course the season jet voters have a good old-fashioned solution think we’re going to hear the end of it yeah carburetors and big coils and we need points cx21 was towed back to the ramp Bound for Christ Church to rectify the engine issue while the patrol boat one of eight stationed up and down the dart River return to position in Readiness for the next rescue there would be plenty of them today our American Racing rookies Tyler coats and Clayton Hilton made it to the river and continued what would be a day they could be proud of successfully starting and finishing all four legs in the atrocious conditions yesterday’s FX leader Stu Fitzgerald in 69 was playing second fiddle to 71 in the hands of southlander Craig plunket he pulled a minute on each leg throughout the day to lift him to the top of the FX and ahead of a handful of a CX and even an unlimited machine Rick Johnson was also pretty happy to finish the day almost blemish free in his return to River Racing albe it for a slight hiccup in the first Downstream L of the day well I’m probably starting to lean The River by fourth time today and uh yeah it was don’t know whether it was better but it was actually a cleaner run so happy with that uh yeah we had we push on the first Downstream the motor cut out and we had we Spin and ended up on a shelf and probably cost just 3 or 4 minutes but otherwise it’s all good this River has no favorites even the CX class leader got caught um yes knock up on us real quick just h a shelf little sandar right on a hard corn we turning really hard and um yeah spun us right around we didn’t have to get out we just fled Downstream for a couple minutes and managed to get back up and on the plan and um yeah so we lost few minutes but we were pretty lucky a few that weren’t quite so lucky in the same area yeah um Nick suiv I think he missed his start here and he was following us up the whole way and he spun out on the same one he had nowhere to go so we were in the main in the main race line is what it is isn’t it yeah it’s hard in these conditions he spun in front of us and um because we couldn’t see us well we tried to give him some room and and we we clipped the bank and spun as well the river’s great the boat’s great and the driver was a problem and the hel the helmet’s visib it didn’t get any better throughout the field Riley Smith visited the graveyard as [Music] well been stuck in the very simil spot to that before and we were stuck but we just spun and we just Flo down the river a bit and turned the key off turn the key back on and got going very lucky yeah the CX class was being mixed up into a frenzy the fast Richie Foster was quickest Upstream but 1 second behind was Andrew Scott that would be the last leg the deow boat 44 would Trail CX 185 the leaderboard had had a big Shake Up by the time it counted with Andrew Scott leading Richie Foster and Dave Robinson into third Robinson’s morning upstream was notable for a miscalculation on the start and the subsequent chasing down and passing of those in front got to the bridge and we caught two boats they split off into two ways so we only had to pass one then we went another Channel got past both of them and then Andrew Scott P us after all that so huge change around Scott might have passed him but on the final leg nz3 was quickest to the flag elevating Robinson up to third place the leaderboard was not changing an a class not if Justin Hill had anything to do with it his might be the smallest a class engine but it was on song today and its driver was right in tune crossing the lake for the final Downstream leg right on the tail of John Derry confirmed that he had pulled a staggering 24 seconds from the nine times New Zealand Champion American Ryan ringer stayed the duration as highest placed International just outside the top 10 but second in a class any issues coming down just can’t see but other than that everything’s great you know no boat ran good uh Tim do a good job but uh just visibility so we got something going on we’ll figure it out hopefully uh tomorrow the sun’s out and margaritas Ben Quinn showed that driving his early quick Craft Classic and being from the north island was no handicap posting consistent times to finish third in the largest class although he was well aware of the traps on a river like this we’re being careful there’s a few nuggy patches here not going to be too hard to run the ground if you’re not paying attention so yeah just pull it back a little bit and boat it our Canadians were fighting for the next two places look a little tricky yeah going upstream was uh it was it was hard quite hard to see just with the the rain a little bit of fog and and the so it was a little tricky Upstream for sure Dale whide was lucky though forced to race the final two legs on just seven cylinders I don’t know what the hell going on don’t really know what’s going on just got a cylinder that doesn’t want to keep firing luckily for GU Campbell the patrol boats All Fired into life when he went awall in the final leg of the day a520 was so far out of the water the patrol boats opted for the shortest distance some 350 M across dry land the alternative a helicopter with a big rope and an even bigger invoice while many drivers in the unlimited were taking care to make it up and down with a dnf Roger Preston wanted to put as much distance between himself and the next gas turbine before heading into the braided Canterbury Rivers he quickly took the lead from Kevin Hyde and extended that lead to some 2 and 1/2 minutes but yesterday’s leader wasn’t concerned um yeah we just taking of time and trying to get up and down clean and then uh same tomorrow like we just want to get out of here um we’re not too worried about time yeah John der also wasn’t worried about time FR us going up terrible I think I got a bit of a j my just got and see so uh for us it was just a ble survival to get to the top uh coming down was marginally better but um again just it’s just one of those days if you can get through and you know let the guys at the front charge hard what they’re doing so um good on them but it’s always a bit of a risk and reward thingers and so I’ll wait for the rewards hopefully later time was something Lee Harrison was giving away though right from the start when his gas turbine sucked weeds into the grill and he struggled again on step the 4-minute deficit only spurred him on and he threw caution to the wind and rain hauling them back in one by one we have three boats left uh in front of us so manag to get two of the other boats um one up the top and one down the bottom which was good but yeah it was lucky we got them on places we could pass while Harrison did enough passing to climb back into fifth outright Brandon Crowley delivered four clean runs in new 310 to position him right behind Lee Harrison on the leaderboard by the end of the day and 10th on that lead leaderboard for day two was Tom Kelly and Matt Grant in the golden Holmes gas turbine having suffered a bad start in leg two yeah I we’re not too sure I we’re just trying to diffuse the options now but um could have picked up weed but we’re going to shim it out and see had to get all the way over to the re and and the shallows to get going so that was today and tomorrow is another day day three on the mukii [Applause] river [Music] [Applause] finally the weather gods were smiling on us gone was the wind and rain in their place sunshine and blue skies four legs on the Muki Toki River made up day three of the golden homes UI World jetbat Marathon beginning in Glendo Bay and racing out across Lake wanka at 1 minute intervals and around to the river mouth race leader Roger Preston’s plan to gain some Advantage before heading to the Canterbury Rivers was on track yeah we know these Rivers pretty well so we just got to try and get a we with an each yeah it was pretty difficult yesterday it was um really hard to see and we were going by memory most of the day yeah but um P off so for all the reasons Preston was pushing hard on Rivers new John deran u36 was taking care to start and finish each leg and will likely leave his push till the more familiar Canterbury Rivers for now just having blue skies is what counts what a contrast today to yesterday today was pleasant but um yesterday was awful so but it was nice clear water and um the Sun and sky but I tell you what you know what we push those things down those tiny Rivers at times Some Cuts and stuff we went down there doesn’t you kind of have to be on the M perfect otherwise it’s not going to end us so um yeah she’s a tough River and it’s really fast likewise Kevin Hyde was airing on the side of caution getting home to Canterbury was the objective and tomorrow’s white tacky will be a big Focus for this team North Islander Brandon Crowley pushed hard though in quick kiwi 40 seconds behind the Prestons but certainly the best of the other six gas turbines we were not far behind Lee once we got into the river and sort of kept him pretty close and he led us a little bit of stray up the top there um on a couple of little tracks but we just had to slow down as he did and both threw it and yeah so now we’re really happy we both pulled Justin and quite a lot too by the top and like Crowley Lee Harrison is new to gas turbines but he’s still got a ways to go with setup but he’s fast coming to terms with the extra speed know Brandon was hauling on the way mhm up um I just been want to get these Lake legs out of the way you know we haven’t tuned our boat for Speed um obviously no time prior and stuff like that so yeah we’ve swallowed up but getting a bit Tighter and Tighter turns mean you know more opportunity for us so yeah we we’re pushing today with without um obviously taking any dumb risks on that um still four 4 days left I think it is a lot of racing yeah but good starting to feel for the boat and his boat was feeling the bottom too on the last leg when he forgot the river had been dropping throughout the day Tom Kelly’s niggling issues with his gas Turbin’s gearbox seemed to be behind him which means he and Matt Grant are successfully banking finishes in Golden homes four more added to the count on the Muki Justin Hill knew his lighter handling piston powered boat would be on the money up the dart and the same would go for the Muki Tookie today I did sit today I think a little bit one of those rivers that I think having P power was uh going to help you just getting out of the corners and getting back to sort of Line to Line corner to corner s of thing no change at the top of a which won’t please anyone else in the class but third place Ben Quinn finds himself shuffled down the order by one of the Internationals at the midday break Quinn was frantically inserting a helic coil thread into the Hall to stay in the race the bot good thing we got this American team here with all the Imperial butts we need yeah right right it was gour Humphrey who slotted into third mind you he’s lucky with questions raised over his fuel management [Music] procedures yeah it was a little uh a little run out of fuel situation so yeah so our management to fuel is perfect despite the good performance consolidating second incl class Ryan ringer found himself distracted out in the river about halfway up the river Tim and I he used tell me where to go and I said hold up I said just look the sun had just poked through the clouds and hit one of these White Mountains and I said look at the side of that Hill it was absolutely stunning that just bright white uh Jagged kind of makes a guy want to put on some hiking boots and go find an animal but uh uh just beautiful morning here it’s cold really cold but uh that’s this is beautiful and things were far from perfect for fellow Canadian Dale Whiteside I just don’t think we’re getting enough water to the motor didn’t have enough time to sort out all these little problems before the race y now we’re starting to see them nothing like a race to sort them out well should have been one before this one trailing both Andrew Scott and Richie Foster Dave Robinson sliced up the river in the first two legs to narrow the gap on the lead to just 13 seconds oh it was dropping um but yeah we we had a sus so we’ll pushing real hard moments we crunched some gravel that’ be pretty normal though wouldn’t it yeah things only got better in the afternoon legs as the river level started to change the West coaster didn’t share his same knowledge on the East Coast Rivers so he was banking whatever he could while he could Yeah Richie’s good at the r and the Y Tey um Andrew Scott we good at that one so yeah hopefully I’m in the lead and see we go there’s no secret his race jet 600 Hall is a well set up race previously winning a CX World title in the hands of Jason Young so when Craig Robinson was looking to change holes he signed on the dotted line to have one built and this world event is its debut well yesterday I was sort of more of a survival so I sort of reverted back to just how I knew to drive and get up and back four times and or twice up and back and um yeah today is a little bit more um playing with the boat and trying to get it going a bit quicker and talking to and about how his handles and stuff really enjoying it Craig plunket leading FX is also from Southland and conscious of the Canterbury Factor these Rivers I’ve been on a lot over the years the canbury rivers I’ve probably been on three or four times like racing is the only time we go on them um so that’s ste’s home ground anything can happen it what it takes us a [Music] stoppage [Music] and a stoppage would leave the door open for Stu Fitzgerald currently sitting second in FX with Rick Johnson in third despite finding himself in a dead end he and Brent Davis retreated with help from the driver of 102 Dean lamb and they made the Finish inside the cut off so why was Dean right there ready to help push let’s roll the clock back a couple of minutes [Music] there you have it day three over and out a day you’d want to remember for its blue skies bright sun and white snow cap mountains and most of all for being so completely different than yesterday another pitcher Perfect Day greeted race teams as they assembled at the main road bridge the yacky River threw a curveball at the World jeto Marathon today it’s normally pretty predictable boating being damn controlled but today she was running above the expected maximum of 400 cubic m/s and that would prove a challenge Roger and Ben Preston acquitted themselves well aware this was Kevin Hyde territory but the river was on their side the higher water level suiting their longer boat still you need to stay in the Deep we missed a shoot to the right to get back to the North Bank about 2/3 the way up and um we ended up way over on the south bank and when we had to find our way back over to the north bank which we did so um it cost us probably 20 seconds I [Music] imagine lot of pressure Wes on the way up today we were we got thrown around in a few times times last time we come up stream we probably had the foot of the floor probably three qus of the whole league coming up this time we were lucky probably having Up full time quarter of the time these two lead gas turbines would fight the day out a leg win a piece for the day with Preston remaining on top it soon became evident that wings and water just don’t mix well at least water this High every time a boat caught air and kited off a wave a wing would be sacrificed with varying degrees of damage the overnight FX leader retained his lead despite the need for Wing repairs and holding off second quickest St Fitzgerald we definitely hit one we thought we were the only one coming up here and then everyone tells me don’t worry about it there’s a lot of other in a class Ben Quinn’s Immaculate classic quick craft got a remodeling in the tricky conditions uh well my ne’s been telling me to go hard nuts all week but I might have gone a little [Music] far yeah so what happened just TI it yeah just got a ton of air under the boat and then it come down and knifed around and yeah basically just had a full noise Spin and uh yeah pushed up the side of the boat a little bit incredible what it does isn’t it like no no trees no rocks that’s water right in the middle of the river not a tree nearest Robert White’s better known in jetboat circles for his sprinting so he’s used to boats flying through the air in his first foray into river racing in cx841 he discovered these machines can fly and be bent just like a Sprint [Music] boat [Music] we went over wave and it jumped up and I button off the gas and as soon as you let the gas off it it spilled and it spun around and just dug the dug the front nose in yeah no it’s all handing right just uh I ped off the gas and watch out of the water Got No Control in La of the GS Aiden flet didn’t bend his boat but the wings were taking a beating in the big white tacky water [Music] oh nothing to see here Paul nothing to see no is that kind of like trimming the wings a little is it or well yeah yeah we need to get this other side flying a bit higher cuz I’m heavier than the Navigator so we need to Pi his side bring his side down pick my side up and it’s just is it working no no um D I ask how the Run was up stream Dreadful but we got here we’ll get back down we’ll post the time and get back to town and looks like we got a late night tonight and maybe a full day tomorrow everywhere you looked it seemed wings were wounded or missing but Justin Hill had the secret he didn’t have too much fun coming up the is was very bumpy we hit we hit one earlier on it wasn’t too bad but I just worked out after that we could out lose it pretty quick if we uh pushed hard so now we’re real conservative just clean run there definitely wasn’t one of our fastest but name of the game you got to use your head when you need to and have clean one not everyone had Wing trouble but the quickest Canadian gourd Humphrey was watching his oil pressure slowly slip away along with any chance of improving his third place in a class V8 uh oil pressure countdown yeah we seen some smoke lot of cylinder made some smoke and we just watched the oil pressure and it just went away and so we just uh shut it off when it hit 20 lb and coasted to shore good old V8 stories from the lunchtime turnaround at kurau were full of Woe but most managed to affect repairs for the downstream leg including Brandon Crowley fired up on the start line at a gearbox pressure warning um which that’s connected to our alternator as well which wasn’t charging so we’ve actually broken the belt just on front deck of the boat there yeah so moment we’re rush rush to get this new belt on so drive shaft off and put the new belt in Brandon and George Ward soon found themselves passing slower boats after using valuable race time to replace the belt but before catching and passing 102 they witnessed a huge moment from the Father and Son entry keep right keep right we good y yeah we’re all good BR yeah oh holy okay bro yep go right go right go right straight straight sorry straight [Music] okay they okay got that on GoPro look to the left yep keep stra that’s what we don’t want to do brother yeah they’re lucky they didn’t end up upside down y that was pretty damn impressive round to the left y on board 102 young Navigator George lamb wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about he’d had a great day we got up all right and coming down we had fix spin just before which got caught on camera with the turbine Brandon Crowley following us and yeah big spin though American Ryan ringer is hanging on to Second and a class unlike several components in his boat oh not very gentle on boats I guess no yeah we straight stretch and found a green one came down and just tipped the right wing there on it it’ll be fine it’s just a battle scar while Brandon Crowley slipped a couple of places due to the late start he’s still in the hunt for overall sadly golden Holmes is out of overall contention though after the battery wouldn’t start the gas turbine for the Upstream leg leaving Tom Kelly to ponder the rest of the week not too sure wait for it to see L probably just um make up numbers and keep it strong for the for the uh world event but yeah pretty uh [Music] disappointing third fastest turbine John Derry wasn’t disappointed to get up and back with doing damage to his new tunnel Hall he surrendered third outright to Lee Harrison who is pushing hard all day tried keeping it pretty um controlled but EAS see them done when you you know s your foot up at those pressure waves and you know they’re on those Corners so you’re turning on them and yeah lucky this boat’s um a bit of a bullet through there so we’re finding [Music] out things got mixed up in CX in a big way on the downstream leg first with Dave Robinson who was maxed out straight lining the river come on we push it we got oh I didn’t think that was that big no no it’s a big bank I’m s that come on Robinson dropped three places allowing Andrew Scott to take over class honor duties for [Music] now unfortunately Richie Foster won’t get the opportunity to move up one more spot he sidelined himself after a wild ride of his own the late a will help him get back in the game but meantime our CX leader from day one Adam Wilton now moves back into second and wrapping up some of the highlights for day four we check in in with Marathon rookie Morgan Taylor in a 350 uh right this morning I got to cocky and found a pressure wave and um we did a we bit of a kite and landed backwards all of a sudden learning good big learning good all [Music] right over overcast skies and Warm Winds would greet teams when they arrived at the Raya Gorge 85 km from their start on the coast at the Raya Huts for second place FX racer St Fitzgerald it was a sight he unfortunately would not see there must have been a rock we just hit it and it spun us out got it back and then I believe the drive shaft’s done a Mischief on Startup so that’s us for the day the original start list for day six saw the return of Canadian racer gourd Humphrey after his engine oil pressure failed on the yacki but by this morning rumors surfaced that yet another engine had gone bang everyone else made it to the top with varying degrees of success nz1 Roger Preston took an ear bashing from his Navigator son Ben for going faster than they needed we had a couple of all moments yeah we cut we had two corners we were up on the gravel trying to get round uh but we got round them um yeah we pushed probably a bit harder than we should have we definitely pushed it more than we should have pull um couple of we um wide Corners you could call them bloody good though good to be here we’ll cruise down and hope we don’t lose too much more with a 5 and 1/2 minute lead the Prestons could afford to bleed some time if Kevin Hyde closed the one minute starting Gap and he did the battle at the top will only get more intense over the next 3 days Preston now in front by only 3 minutes and 45 seconds likewise there’s a fight for third outright and with John Derry starting 38 seconds behind Lee Harrison third place was his to win back if he closed up on him we caught Lee uh about halfway up I guess and and sort of followed him he was the guy we need need to get in front of so I think we both took a wrong Channel he went into um an irrigation Channel and we followed him in but uh we both managed to get out of it so yeah we um found an irrigation Channel picked it up turn around and then urn there and urn mainstream and yeah just kind of made sure we got to the top really still a long way to go Lee Harrison’s mistake was John der’s gain third place again by lunchtime just although Dairy would surrender the Place once again by the end of the day break it down now out of overall contention golden Holmes 377 wasted little time chasing down the slower boats to at least show what the gas turbines could do but there was still more bad luck in store when a bracket on the fuel control unit broke um we really enjoyed it right out we great we probably were going to we hard over some of that bumpy stuff and a couple of boat Wes and things on that so um you know has happened before and it’ll probably happen again we need to make a you bit of bracket a bit of system for that’s all the things say certainly learning in a class Justin Hill and Ryan ringer continued to be consistent first and second respectively in both legs oh my navigator did awesome had a great ride good night sleep last night sun’s out yeah everything’s good and everything’s mostly good with Ben Quinn in 624 after a big layday pulling the fuel tank out to check steering and other components that took a hiding in the pressure waves of the white tacki mind you we heard a whisper of some landbased testing near the Finish Nick Sullivan was third fastest in class on leg 12 Upstream surprising given he’d watched the oil pressure gauge drop to 10 lb enough to make the Finish but he opted to withdraw from leg 13 before the engine completely expired when Richie Foster’s boat was flown out of the white tacki by Chopper because he smashed the jet unit he wasn’t certain he’d be back no not we thought the marathon was at an end for us but not the boys have had a massive effort yesterday for good 12 hours or more and yeah lot of new shiny parts and we’re up and running and it seems to be G reasonably well so we’re happy is there was even more reason to celebrate too with a personalized bacon and egg pie for lunch the boys in 166 were at home on their home River and they thought it was good how good bloody good actually um couldn’t get better conditions be nice if the sun was out up here but River itself and good neck best neck I’ve raced in a long time in terms of where you are um are you kind of happy with where you where you are uh you always want to be further up the field but um no we’re happy to be in it overall like us finishing overall is a big achievement and that’s what we always try and push for Americans um and the rest just sorts itself out but the local Lads were 30 seconds slower than the fastest CX but as you heard they’re not worried they’re still in it for overall placing and not means starting and finishing every leg yeah what was that like not really good yeah the fog lifted and Riv was good so yeah kill this no work leave Miss mother blow Andrew Scott continues to lead in the CX class but Adam Wilton took 28 seconds out of his time and while his new race boat has a lot to do with it so does his experience in the Navigator seat I think it speed it’s um it’s always hard to um get used to it took me quite a while to get used to that speed coming up saying things um so yeah I think that’s definitely helped over the years here Dave Robinson lost valuable time yesterday when he and Kirk Thompson spun out but they were back on the case today playing cat and mouse with the gas turbine of Brandon Crowley who is also trying to game back lost time from the Y tacky starting a minute behind Robinson the higher horsepower machine was always likely to haul the CX in but Robinson was enjoying giving Crowley a run for his money while he could break it down on the return leg things were close again and our Mexican River Racing guests flying high above were more excited when nz3 found a shortcut near the end of leg [Applause] 13 witnessing the CX passing the gas turbine even momentarily using a shortcut at the river Mo there were more moments of magic in the CX class when 166 got a touch mism mothered and found the bottom yep 100% the home River curse I’m guessing what it was um coming down going good and it’s got to one bit the had three channels and didn’t know what to take so I just chucked it in that [Music] spun had a push for about 5 or 10 minutes a short push and pretty soon they were back in chasing down Phil moody in triple 5 and Wayne Boys in 726 who was back in the game after sinking his boat Bo in the Y tacky boys AKA bricky headed for one of his famous man channels which allowed Riley Smith to grab back a position and another when Phil Moody ran out of water the lower Raya became a bit of a parking Bay 841 nav Lisa glub watched on as American Tyler coats somehow crashed and bashed his way to the finish in FX 187 and for those of you who think the Untouchable Justin Hill might not be human take a look at the downstream track the A-Class leader took [Music] [Music] no the wow River has a reputation for being a jetboat engine killer in river racing but that wasn’t the case this year in the golden homes uim jetboat Marathon four legs made up the penultimate day of competition two Downstream in the morning from the wow Township bridge and two Upstream running down Downstream is always a little trickier than Upstream river flows and elevation all conspire to make it more challenging adding a bit of sun strike in the morning and you’ve got a recipe for highlights the first challenge was just getting to the starter’s holding box boats getting caught in the shallow water brought out the patrol boats for early rescue duties nz1 Roger Preston let off without [Music] issue but the man chasing him Kevin Hyde got caught in the shallows and missed his start time by 30 seconds still he made up for it past the flag hauling in Preston to finish 40 seconds quicker and that’s excluding the extra 30 plus seconds he lost on the start line Preston on the other hand you Kevin Hyde would be on his tail all day oh that was more than a moment B yeah way we had a big up seat just weren’t too far enough to the left on the channel and we and um when we saw the shoot that we had to go down we couldn’t go around the end of it and we ended up just having to straight line it across the gravel was about a foot high bank and it just launched us and sailed us into the willow trees and spun around thing you were lucky to be able to keep going oh extremely yeah yeah we um asked each other if we were right because it was pretty bot on the spin and we were right so said see if we can get back on the plan now be right get some new Wings on there and we’ll give it another nudge they weren’t the only ones giving it a nudge even our most accomplished Racers were not off the hook NZ 2 Justin [Music] Hill although Dave Robinson had a slightly better line in [Music] [Applause] nz3 the other Robson Craig well you be the judge on his [Music] line oh it was just a um draw really it was just got got there and there was quite a big water down the right and um we pre-bed the left and was sort of left right left sort of in the middle cocked it up at least he’s on yeah yeah no he was honest about his mistake what did you think when it happened oh I just shut my eyes and wait for the pain to be over Rick Johnson was hoping to avoid the pain but didn’t even make the graveyard before coming unstuck on the return leg he and Brent Davis find themselves in a channel that g Campbell in 520 had already tried to get through he didn’t make it but the boys from Springfield felt they were a chance little birdie tells me the water’s overrated yeah we found some trees bushes sea gos what did you think you were going to do coming out what was your oh I don’t know I just said go go go go and we yeah and and yeah we so it was a joint decision it was and yeah we got into some little and then onto the bank and out and then PL and start the motor may we went yeah yeah yeah it would have been fun to watch it was Brent thanks for the heads up now while G Campbell hadn’t been able to get through that channel he had got through one earlier that Phil Moody and triple five wasn’t able to however you look at it this River was a challenge Robin tells me there’s a great little spot down the river there bits that you can walk around on here he dry landed a bit got going again so keep keep moving into the deep Waters Canadian Dale Whiteside got through the morning legs but was honest enough to admit the Run was far from clean and clearly there wasn’t a lot of local knowledge either absolutely anybody who knew this River uh would have had a lot better time going down than most of us did you be pleased to be back on the trial oh absolutely Y and he provides a quotable quote for a man who has shipped two boats from Canada to compete in the jet boating world’s Pinnacle event uh we’re just we’re just pleasure boating at speed now there’s nothing we can do to change a place or change a just get to the finish and don’t wreck the boat that’s a quotable quote isn’t it pleasure voting at speed Y in a world bar yeah yeah back at the W bridge where the serious business of a world championship is taking place the Gap is closing between Kevin Hyde and Roger Preston although the matter of Hyde’s slow start didn’t get overturned as he’d hoped before they set out for the final two legs of the day Hyde took 3 seconds out of Preston and leg 16 and a further 30 in the final of the day setting up for a dingdong battle tomorrow third overall continues to be Futo by the old and new guard nine times NZ champ John Derry versus the turbine rookie Lee Harrison so who’s more hungry for that win some people push a bit harder than others Lee is probably a good example he’s he’s kind of new newish to the scene and he’s going to be a hard charger for some time to come and I guess where I’m at my age and stage and and run a couple of things that I’m probably doing a little bit of the opposite I’m probably slowing down a bit more than speeding up so but we’ve still had a good run the boat’s going well no no major issues and Nick’s done a great job but and we’re getting faster as the week goes and sorting the boat out as it goes and it be great for the other Battle of the Young Guns that’s been ongoing for the past couple of days is between Dave Robinson and CX and Brandon Crowley in his Unlimited Boat completely different classes but somehow these guys have found themselves hit against each other once again but that ended in a dead heat of sorts in a dead end channel on the W out let’s see what the final day of competition brings weatherwise the marathon week ended like it began with rain but rain or shine everything came down to this final run on the Y maeri River in Christ Church first and second outright would be decided after two 60 km legs from State Highway 1 to The Gorge Bridge and back Roger and Ben Preston’s 2 and 1 half minute lead meant second place Kevin Hyde would need to pass them on the river to snatch the world title I think the river’s pretty tricky and the rain’s not helping at all but uh just see what happens uh yeah we got K on the tole we just got to keep it clean and and fast and and try and keep ahead of them on the Upstream leg [Music] really the Prestons were first at the top but not without a couple of moments that threatened to derail their entire campaign but then Kevin Hyde wasn’t as quick as expected either although he had Ned the Gap it was good we got good most of the way and then when we got near the top it was quite foggy and it got to be bit hard to see so we wer going obviously as Qui we like to be but as quick as we can see sure [Music] yeah Lee Harrison had his turbine sorted after discovering the spoon or lead into the jet unit was broken the oil leak in the engine wasn’t so easy to fix but a garden sprayer full of oil did the trick Harrison was quicker to the top than fourth place John Derry whose lines weren’t the straightest today perhaps his comment yesterday about the hunger to win might be ringing true for the multiple River race [Music] champion the dominance of Justin Hill and a class remained unchallenged all marathon and being beaten was hardly likely yeah that was a game plan just to uh put push hard earlier in the week and build a bit of a lead and then yeah just come to can and sort of pick our lines and not trying and Chase any shortcuts would be silly the next best in class was American Racer Ryan ringer he’d had a late night replacing a cylinder head on the engine after dropping a valve yesterday thankfully no damage but a loose Oil Fitting today was still causing issues slowing his Pace but not his position second in a class and despite all of his issues Ben Quinn in the early model quick craft running an engine he built himself secured third in class after a dramatic week of racing his first major Marathon completing each and every [Music] [Music] leg let’s not forget Wayne boy always the Entertainer and now now an A Class he turned it on for the camera on the final day his celebration will be a big one tonight for successfully finishing a World Marathon CG plunet planned to campaign FX for the world’s paid off a class win with a dominant display all week yep um always we knew those DS on M Rivers pretty well we pushed 100% on them the boat couldn’t have gone any faster um our theory was put the pressure on Stewie and hope he makes a mistake and it has panned out but yeah it’s good to see I’m back here today still keep this honest we should note though the American Tyler coats must be considered a winner too first time he had started and finished every leg of a marathon possibly only the second American to ever do [Music] so no didn’t think we’d make it this far we’re just coming to play and have fun two classes were going to the wire CX with Adam Wilton relying on local knowledge to improve his time to the line by the Upstream leg he pulled nearly a half a minute on leader Andrew Scott so the downstream run would be the decider less familiar with the Y maavi but a seasoned campaigner in CX class Andrew Scott did what he had to charging across skinny water to shorten on the race course in the end it came down to just 5 seconds after 8 days of racing and 900 kilom in favor of the man who’s been dominating the class for the last few days in unlimited class it was the Battle of the four turbines Roger Preston and Kevin Hyde for the win and Lee Harrison and John Derry for third Preston set off one minute ahead of Kevin Hyde with a 2 and a half minute buffer but Hyde quickly hauled in nz1 and overtook meaning Preston had to follow watching his opponent put more and more distance between him and the final flag Roger Preston defending his nz1 title and eager to secure his first world Crown crashed over gravel and did whatever he could to stay in touch [Music] d [Music] he [Music] in the end he finished 30 seconds behind Kevin Hyde enough to secure the world [Music] title his strategy to bank as much time as he could on Rivers he was familiar with had paid off of the nearly six-minute buffer he had it came down to less than one when he crossed the line [Music] we hadn’t um pre- boed this until last night so 100% help us um we kind of knew which side to the river we wanted to be on when we did but we didn’t exactly execute that too well today but it was good we knew that you could get away away with most of it like all the gravel hopping we have amazing amount of grael hopping on the way down and um we managed to keep the nose in the right we’re happy to be down to be here and uh boat boat still good you know but uh other than that no we’re all good and um it was a bit of a buger we we probably left to run a bit late and the high Rivers didn’t really doesn’t really suit us so yeah I’ve never been happy to be any you know normally I’m not winning I hate it but M feels like we win it so good so winners all around including John Derry who was beaten out of the final Podium position by Lee Harrison but still able to find the positive yeah what’s wrong with fourth place nothing at nothing no look for our team here uh Nick’s done a great job engineering the B just pleased to be finished to be H in the end so another the marathon that we started and finished um the marathon as as events run really well and you know congratulations to all the team behind the scenes getting up every morning at some on God and get into bed at midnight so uh without them this event wouldn’t happen and all credit to them and and all the guys that managed to start and finish every league and get I think we 25 startings coming down today so amazing uh results so yeah well done so there it is the golden uim World jet boat Marathon has been runin one after a 6-year wait thanks to the pandemic here’s hoping to see it again down under much [Music] sooner