2022/23 PSP NZ Jetsprint Championship’s final round challenged the teams as they battled for top honours.
A tricky rotation for the 2022/23 PSP NZ Jetsprint Championship’s final round at the Novus Glass Aquatrack in Wanaka challenged the teams as they battled for top honours.
The first 10 boats went the wrong way and many others made errors throughout the day, which made the racing even more exciting for the large crowd. There were around 3500 spectators, who turned up on a chilly Saturday morning and stayed on as it turned into a beautiful hot day. A further 11,000 jetsprint fans tuned it to watch the racing via the livestream.
After a couple of big crashes, the organisers were running out of time, so they went from Qual 5 straight into a Top 6 final as the racing needed to finish at 4pm before sunstrike became an issue.
MouthFRESH Superboats
Australian team Daryl Hutton and Mick Parry driving the Broken Arrow superboat took first place.
PSP Racing’s Sam Newdick and navigator Shama Putaranui were leading the championship going into the final round but Newdick was unable to compete due to a family health situation. This opened up the championship race and Wanganui couple Rob and Ange Coley in the Poison Ivy superboat came out on top after finishing second for the day. The win meant a lot to the dedicated duo.
Sprintec Boats Group A class
North Canterbury couple Si and Sarah Gibbon were fast all day and were out to win on their closest-to-home track and achieved their goal. Mechanical issues at earlier rounds meant their points tally gave them 3NZ for the championship.
Jess Sit, who navigates for the PSP team’s Group A driver Ollie Silverton was ill and unable to compete and as her driver Sam Newdick did not attend, his navigator Shama Putaranui teamed up with Silverton for the day.
Silverton was hoping to notch up another win to take the clean sweep and was pushing hard in Qual 5 when he had a big crash, which ended upside down against the fence. The PSP team worked overtime to get the boat fixed and scrutineered to come back out in the Top 6 final. Silverton gave it everything but second was as high as he could get for the day, although he still clinched the Sprintec Boats Group A overall title.
MTW Group B class
In the MTW Group B class, local track knowledge paid off with Southern Jetsprint Club member, Clinton’s Richard Currie and Kymber Kennedy taking home the trophy on the day. They saved their best run for last and smashed out the winning time.
MTW LS class
Napier-based John Verry and navigator Leila Burder struggled with the rotation and were unable to get it right until Qual 5. It meant there were a few nervous fans wondering if they would get the clean sweep of wins from the five rounds. They pulled it together, clinching the deal and taking home the NZ1 title.
 New Zealand Jetsprint Association President Julia Murray says it has been a really challenging season.
