Blown away by wind kart experience
Combining a land-based need for speed with the intricacies of sailing has seen a Nelson man share his hobby with a growing number of adrenaline junkies.
Murray Shaw started Vortex Wind Karting six years ago, transforming a gorse-filled piece of land at the back of Richmond Racecourse into one of the region’s most popular summer attractions.
Shaw said he initially wondered if the location would present a challenge in bringing customers.
However, word of mouth has worked in his favour and most days will see carloads of new and regular blo-karters turning up to get their action fix, often with GoPro in hand.
Outside his Vortex operation, Shaw is one of around 20 members of the Top of the South Blokart Club including some retired sailors tired of the long preparations and maintenance involved with their marine vessels.
The fastest blo-kart speeds recorded are in excess of 120kmh. Shaw said that many riders can reach around 75kmh along local beach straights.
Fun was Shaw’s motivation for getting involved in the sport and while he competes in race events, very rarely does ‘‘white line fever’’ come into play.
‘‘Some of them get too serious...I just like going up on two wheels,’’ he said.
School groups were becoming increasingly popular, as are the after-school lessons for individuals looking to try a different kind of sporting pursuit.
‘‘They go away having accomplished something - there’s no motor obviously so they get to understand a wee bit about wind direction and sailing in general,’’ Shaw said.
The outlay for a kart of your own is around $3000 for the chassis, $1000 for the sails and $500 for the mast - all of which can be compacted to fit in the boot space of the average vehicle.
Fortunately, the alternative is to fork out $25 for 30 minutes of free wheeling fun. Admittedly, it takes a few minutes to learn the multi-tasking aspects of blokarting, be it steering the chassis, guiding the sail or looking out for a change in the wind.
However, it takes little more than a practice lap before a westerly wind catches the sail and sends the rider on their way.
Given that no-one has ended up in the Waimea Estuary to date, Shaw maintained that even in windier conditions, blo-karting was a safe and easy to learn activity.
However, some had taken longer to get the hang of it.
‘‘There’s a fence there and a few people have ended up running into that, or in the creek,’’ he said.