Wives Take Part In Speedboat Racing On New Waitaki Lake

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30741, 4 May 1965, Page 19

Wives Take Part In Speedboat Racing On New Waitaki Lake

The appearance of two man-and-wife speedboat racing teams at the New Brighton Power Boat Club’s recent regatta on Lake Forsyth roused considerable interest.

Mr and Mrs G. Hawkins in the skiff, B’wana, and Mr and Mrs D. McLachlan in the runabout, Jackie Faye, were all from the Otematata club.

“The boats actually ride better with ‘two up’,” said Mr Hawkins. “Anyway, we find it more fun and more easy to travel away if we have the wives interested. Man-and-

wife teams are not unusual at Otematata.” “It’s an idea—the wife to lug the petrol can round, while the husband signs autograph books,” said a New Brighton driver. The Otematata club now has one of the most unusual and finest speedboat courses in New Zealand. It is a manmade lake at the foot of the huge, 28 million cubic-yard Benmore earth dam. The dam, rising to 360 feet, gives shelter from the winds that tear down the Waitaki river valley. On Otago Side The lake, on the Otago side of the dam, was scooped from the riverbed when the river was cut off and while Lake Benmore, upstream of the dam, was filling. The lake takes the water that has passed through the turbines and holds it before it is fed slowly back into the riverbed. The lake is up to 12 feet deep in places and, of course, the bottom is clear of any obstructions, It is surrounded by a bank made with earthmoving machinery. The bank is being grassed and the whole area is being planted with trees. An oblong course on the lake gives the speedboats a lap' run of about three-quar-ters of a mile. The local drivers say it is a beautiful course to race on, and there opinion is not parochial. Drivers from outside clubs who took part in a regatta on it last month were most impressed. Exciting Race The regatta featured one of the most exciting New Zealand championship races for years—the B class outboard hydro. J. Keig, jun., in Moonshot, and R. Prattley, in Downbeat, both from Ashburton and both using Konig motors, battled it out for four laps, neck and neck. The lead changed hands each lap, but neither driver could shake the other off, and there was never more than two lengths between them. The two boats came up to the corner at the start of the final lap, bow to bow. Both

drivers decided, independently but simultaneously, to go into the bend hell for leather in a desperate effort to obtain a commanding lead. Barrel Roll Moonshot was the first to go—into a barrel roll which threw its driver overboard. Seconds later, Downbeat spun and spiralled—throwing the driver as well. J. Sagar, in George, who had been plugging away in the rear, waved to the unharmed drivers in the water as he sped past to take the race and the championship. It was the sixteenth time that Prattley had tipped out in a race. The Otematata club has another very handy course, at the head of Lake Waitaki. At Sailors Cut, near where the Ahuriri river now flows into Lake Benmore, the Ministry of Works have built a marina. It was completed before the lake was filled. This gives the Otematata speedboat club and sailing

club yet another course. However conditions on the lake can be tricky, with the wind making waves up to six feet high. Exploring the edges of the new lake has caused several mishaps, some boats being holed on uncharted underwater obstructions. Nevertheless, on a good day, a jetboat trip round the huge lake, which holds one and a half times as much water as the Wellington harbour, is a scenic thrill for the most blase tourist. One More Lake When the Aviemore dam is completed, yet another lake for aquatic sports will be available. “We not only have water for all types of sports—it is right on our doorstep. Otematata people are really taking advantage of it,’ said Mr Hawkins. “We are already attracting boaties and yachties from well afield, and the Waitaki river valley is going to attract more and more.”