Beaver Reliever making waves
Despite zero practice runs, missing the first round, and a broken arm in the second, a Pukekawa couple unwittingly claimed victory in the last round of the New Zealand Jetsprint Association Championships, stealing what was a shoe-in triumph from the season leaders.
Karl Beaver and partner/ navigator Jay Ammon wanted to conclude their rookie season by putting a good time on the board, in their boat
But, their race was so good, they were quicker than the best jetsprinting duo in New Zealand’s category B, Paddy and Jay Haden - who were unbeaten throughout the season.
Commentators during the race had already stated the Hadens had taken out the win, but Beaver and Ammon went out afterwards and unexpectedly flew through the course.
But, the pair had no idea they had taken out the win until officials told them they needed to do a victory lap. Beaver said it was an unbelievable feeling, going from zero to hero.
‘‘It messed up everyone’s points because the underdogs came through... We blitzed it right from the start of the day.
‘‘They (team Haden) had big sponsors and we are just the underdogs. We have secondhand gear that we’ve borrowed off everyone.’’
The Waitara win meant the duo placed seventh overall in the championship which Beaver said was a remarkable achievement considering they had never raced before.
Paddy and Jay Haden still retained the championship lead, but lost out on making it a clean sweep. Beaver, an engineer, built the boat from scratch and the couple borrowed everything else they needed - right down to their racing overalls.
The boat was not ready until the season’s second round of racing, which meant they had no time for a practice round, but dove straight into the deep end, which resulted in a broken arm for Ammon, because the boat was not handling correctly.
Despite the hiccup, they found themselves in fifth place, in their first ever race.
‘‘You’re supposed to build your boat and have a practice on the track and we went out, not knowing what the boat was doing and we went straight into the top six - we got fifth,’’ Beaver said.
They fixed the boat and they improved as the season went on - surpassing everybody’s expectations thanks to Beaver’s foresight to build a light boat.
‘‘We don’t have the money for big motors. Because we don’t have a big engine, being lightweight is a factor.
‘‘Our engine is light, but has less horsepower - at least 100 horsepower less than the other competitors.
‘‘Our plan from here is to pull the boat apart...we’ll just build on from what happened this year and we’ve got some more experience than when we first crashed.’’