A crazy race with so many memorable moments.
The 2023 Yamaha Rollos Marine Bridge to Bridge Water Ski Classic was memorable with so many moments in a crazy race that showed the race is never easy and you should never ever give up.
2022 winner Under Siege started on pole position after a dominant time trial win. Their run was stopped just short of the halfway point of the first leg, a blown fuse shutting the boat down and taking them out of the race. Boat 2 on the grid was the all kiwi team of Nordic Racing that didn’t fear much better with a faulty fuel pump taking them out early too. Boat 3 was Messiah and a fall just out of the start line really made their job tough right from the outset although they still managed to be the first boat through to the end of the first leg in Taupiri.
This really threw the door wide open and with white caps and tough conditions on sections of the river course, anyone could take the victory. Raptor were the quickest on leg 1, ahead of Highly Suspect and Little Man but margins were tight and it really was anyone’s race going into leg 2. Messiah with the clean water laid down with the quickest return leg time, was only enough for 3rd overall, 2nd was Highly Suspect in a solid run but Raptor hung on literally by their fingertips to take the outright victory doing their best to throw it away up the final straight after slack rope caused skier Harrison Galea to ski the last few 100 meters of the course with his arms out in front.
https://skirace.co.nz/bridge-to-bridge
