Blokart champs breeze by
It may be tenuous, but there is a connection between Team New Zealand’s America’s Cup bid, and the North Island Blokart Open at Sanson Domain on SH1 near Palmerston North this weekend.
The Manawatu Blokart Club’s Colin Cook said there will be 50 of the small, highly manoeuvrable three-wheeled single-seat land yachts from around the country competing in five divisions over the three days.
Divisionswere determined by the pilot’s weight, Cook said.
The sealed area of the Sanson Domain has recently been extended, courtesy of Pub Charity, increasing the sailing area by one third.
‘‘Blokarts can reach speeds of up to 90kmh, but on the Sanson circuit, they’ll only get up to about 50kmh.’’
Among the competitors will be blokart ’’inventor’’ Paul Beckett from Papamoa, and Bulls artist Cecilia Dalyrimple.
‘‘It’ll be the first time the public will be able to see a national blokart event, because in the past, they’ve been held at Ohakea and people haven’t been able to get in to watch the racing.’’
Manawatu is one of the only clubs in New Zealand with its own permanent course. Many of the others operate off sealed aerodrome runways.
As in the America’s Cup, there are pre-race manoeuvres.
‘‘Races start with a two-minute, what we call a ‘dial up’, with all the competitors circling across the start line in the same direction and judging their start on the two-minute signal.’’ But that isn’t the connection. ‘‘Team NZ has six blokarts in Bermuda they use for training purposes. Blokarts are the only sailing ‘vessel’ that can achieve speeds similar to those reached by the America’s Cup cats, though they are considerably cheaper and much easier to handle,’’ Cook said.
A blokart can also be disassembled to fit in an average car boot.
Cook said the club is in the process of applying to host the world blokart championships in 2020, and had applied to the Manawatu District Council Long Term Plan to consider new roadside fencing, tree thinning and entranceway landscaping, along with installation of permanent toilets on the domain due to the recreation ground’s increased usage. The biennial champs are being held in Spain in 2018.