Marlborough duo claim their fifth NZ title
Marlborough’s John Derry, and navigator Brent Hefford, are the 2016 New Zealand Jet Boat Marathon champions.
The high-speed endurance event, which ended on Saturday, was run over 16 stages on several lower South Island rivers.
Derry and Hefford prevailed for the fifth time, a record for the event, heading home 23 rivals. Second was Queenstown’s Shaun Kelly, with another Marlborough driver, Greg Simpson, third overall.
‘‘The boat went very well,’’ said Derry. ‘‘A local lad called Matt Ryan came along and did all the crew checks on it and did a fantas- tic job. We didn’t have any mechanical problems all the way through.
‘‘The boys worked hard every night after we had finished racing to get it all going for the next day. I’m very pleased.’’
Derry and Hefford’s biggest obstacle came at the start of the event when they were held up by slower boats, putting them behind the top times and meaning they had to work hard to make it up. However, once they found their way to the front of the field, there was no stopping the multiple champions.
‘‘Once we got through that, we were just consistent and that’s what you need to be … just start and finish every leg.’’
Derry and Hefford won in a combined time of 5 hours 33 minutes, followed by Kelly, 6 hours 24 minutes, then Simpson in a time of 7 hours and 16 minutes.
Simpson, who has been racing for five years, competed with a ‘‘standard motor’’ in the ‘‘entrylevel’’ FX class. ‘‘We managed to pull one back on the big boys,’’ he said. ‘‘We only travel about 85-90mph, but at the end of the day you have got to finish every leg. I’m pretty stoked actually.’’
The week started badly for Simpson, along with navigator Wayne Duffy from Invercargill and mechanic Dave Kennington from Blenheim, when he ran aground during the time trial on the first 600m of river. However the incident, which did not cost them any time, served as a crucial wake-up call. ‘‘We decided we had to race more intelligently,’’ said Simpson. ‘‘So we mapped out the whole six days and boated accordingly.’’
He was full of praise for Derry, who he described as a mentor, suggesting it was advice from the fellow Marlburian that helped him win his class and get on the podium this year. ’’I’ve learned a lot from John. They are amazing ... a well-oiled machine ... a class act.’’
The week-long event concluded on Saturday following stages on the Waimakariri, Waiau, Rakaia, Waitaki, Clutha, Matukituki, Dart, Shotover and Kawarau rivers.
In 2017 the world jet boat marathon champs will be held over the same course.
Derry is one of the organisers of the worlds and said the idea was to hold the NZ champs at the same venues so local drivers could have a good look at the circuit.
If all goes to plan, the Blenheim businessman will race his 23 foot, turbine engine-powered craft against the world’s best next year and is looking forward to the challenge. His engine makes 1500 horsepower and can produce speeds of up to 140mph.
This was the first time Derry had raced this powerful craft in New Zealand, having brought it back from North America after campaigning in it abroad over four years.
‘‘The boat is all good to go. We haven’t damaged anything so it could pretty much go out and do another [race] tomorrow.’’