90-MILE JET BOAT JOURNEY IN 3 HRS.

Press, Volume C, Issue 29671, 15 November 1961, Page 14

90-MILE JET BOAT JOURNEY IN 3 HRS.

A journey of an estimated 90 miles up the Waimakariri river was travelled in a high-powered jet boat yesterday morning in a little more than three hours. The boat 17ft long and driven by an engine developing about 130 horse-power, was piloted by the designer, Mr A. S. A. Thomson, an engineer from Rakaia and the owner, Mr A. M. Buick, of the “Blue Mountain” station, Fairlie. Conditions for the trip were not ideal. The boat travelled against a strong nor’west wind and very low water caused considerable back-tracking in the last quarter of the journey to find channels of sufficient depth. The boat left from the main highway bridge at Belfast at 8 am. and the going was comparatively smooth, said Mr Thomson last evening, until they reached shallow water the other side of the Waimakariri Gorge. The boat reached its destination, the Bealey bridge, at 1124 am. Water was too shallow to make a return trip. The actual course of the river was about 77 miles, with about another 12 miles, travelled in negotiating obstacles and searching for channels with enough water

I to take the boat The depth i required varied from Sin to i Sin depending on the speed - the boat was able to travel, ! said Mr Thomson. So the boat could travel I as lightly as possible, and to ■ minimise hazard, the boat , was refuelled three times , during the trip, twice at i points manned by friends of 1 the crew. Gear for refuel- , ling, such as tanks and fun- . nels, was lent to the party by an oil company. The i boat used 28 gallons of fuel ;—a consumption which Mr ; Thomson considered good as ■ the boat was working against > a fairly strong current the ; whole journey. > The time taken to travel ; from the Main North road bridge to the Bealey bridge . was 3hr 23min. Stops for . petrol amounted to 20 min- ! utes, giving an actual travel- , ling time at 3hr 4min. The purpose of the trip, . said Mr Thomson, was to ! test the capabilities of the • boat. As well as designing . the craft he fitted all the installations. The hull, of marine ply fibre glass, was built by a Christchurch beat builder. It was first in the water about three months ago and yesterday’s trip was its major test to date. The trip was first scheduled for Sunday but was postponed until yesterday because muddy water had made the sighting of obstacles difficult.