Sunken boat raised to race again

Press, 22 September 1980, Page 3

Sunken boat raised to race again

By LES BLOXHAM Any hopes that Terry Shields, of Tauranga, had of winning the world jet-boating crown were sunk with his boat Rock Vader in the Grey River on Thursday. Shields was at a drivers’ briefing when his crew, Roland Cleaver, decided to give the boat a final check. But the engine failed, allowing the boat to drift and founder. It sank almost immediately and disappeared minutes before the rest of the field raced off down the river. However, all was not lost. Members of the MidCanterbury Four Wheel Drive Club, who helped with the launching and retrieval of boats during the marathon, sent down a skin diver to locate the boat.

It was found upright and wedged alongside a pier three metres below the surface. Ropes were attached and the boat was raised sufficiently to allow Shields to reach in and, optimistically, switch on the bilge pump.

Surprisingly, after being totally submerged for more than five hours, the pump sprang to life and succeeded in draining the hull. The boat was then trailered back to

Trevor Allan’s workshop in Christchurch where the crew finished drying out the boat and checking the motor. By 2 a.m. on Friday they had it running again and ready for the start of the Rakaia River stages later that morning. Shields and Cleaver were given a standing ovation when they crossed the finish line. “It gave me a lump in the throat; it really made me feel

like a million dollars," Shields said, after completing the Waimakariri run on Saturday. He said the loss of his boat had devastated him and it was only the “fantastic” good will of the many who assisted that had spurred him on. “I may be tail-end Charlie, but I’m as happy as the new champion," he said.

Race report, Page 19