‘We literally did not see it’
World champion jet boat driver Dwayne Terry didn’t see the log that killed his best mate and navigator.
Terry and his best friend of 17 years, Duayne Insley, were jet boat racing on the Waimakariri River, north of Christchurch, on Sunday when Insley, sitting on the right side of the jet boat, crashed with a protruding log. He was killed instantly. The long-established racing pair were competing in their boat, named Constipated, for their team ‘‘Hard to Pass’’ on the second day of the week-long World Championship Jetboat Marathon.
The former world champions came to grief when they left the main channel of the river to go down a side channel in the hope of finding a short cut.
The bank was about 1.5 metres above the narrow channel, with the branch-less log lying across the channel and almost impossible to see at the 160kmh the jet boat was travelling.
‘‘We literally did not see it. I felt a bump, looked around and then realised something was wrong. I didn’t even know we had hit anything until after,’’ Terry said.
‘‘The log just happened to be at the wrong height and it just missed the roll cage, it missed the boat, missed everything. It just happened to hit Duayne in the head.’’
Terry said the crash was ‘‘just a freak accident’’.
‘‘No safety precaution in the world would have stopped what happened. There’s absolutely no blame to be placed on the race organisers or the patrol boats or anyone who had anything to do with the event.’’
It was ‘‘an impossibility’’ to expect every hazard to be cleared, he said.
‘‘We were looking at where we were going, but the thing that jumped out and got us we didn’t see, it was camouflaged.’’
Jet boat racing, like any motorsport, was ‘‘risky’’, Terry said.
‘‘It’s something every racer and navigator talks about. There won’t be a team in this marathon that hasn’t had the discussion about the what-ifs, but we love this sport. It’s exciting, it’s fun and we take every precaution.’’
Insley was ‘‘like a brother’’, Terry said. The pair had worked together at Dart River Safaris, based in Queenstown, for about five years, sparking their passion for jet boat racing.
‘‘We did it for a living and then we both started racing and I couldn’t think of anyone I’d rather do it with than my old mate Duayne.’’
Insley’s experience as a driver made him ‘‘the perfect navigator’’. ‘‘We’ve been successful since day one.’’
After they won the World Championships in 2013, they travelled to Monte Carlo with their wives for the prizegiving.
‘‘Ever since we’ve known each other, we’ve been extremely close – Duayne and Dwayne, we were best mates.’’
They started the weekend with hopes of finishing in the top five. They finished the first day in top place in their class and 12th overall.
‘‘We were really excited about the rest of the week . . . We were going really, really well, so it’s an absolute s... way to end it.’’
Terry said he had made a promise to his children he would never race again.
‘‘I couldn’t race with anyone else other than Duayne, without him I don’t want to do it.
‘‘I don’t think my head would ever be in the right space again after this tragedy.’’
He said the wider team was ‘‘sticking together’’ as they mourned Insley’s death.
‘‘We’ve all sat here and we know that Duayne has died doing something that he loved doing . . . It’s a blessing that he didn’t see what was coming – he went out on top.’’
Insley, who was a member of Glenorchy Community Association was well known about town, chairman John Glover said.
‘‘Duayne has served on the community association for quite some time. That’s reflective of the person who wants to give back to the community,’’ he said.
‘‘[He was] a man of action, very passionate about better outcomes for the town.’’
Graeme Jackson managed Dart Safaris when Insley was employed over a decade ago as a jet boat driver. ‘‘He was a good true-blue Kiwi. He’s just a loving man who would do anything for anyone.’’
Insley owned Glenorchy tourism company High Country Horses with his wife, Deana.
The company website said Insley came from the central North Island and moved south to work on the Routeburn sheep station in 1997.
The NZ Jet Boat River Racing Association said in a statement it ‘‘lost one of its family members’’.
‘‘It is with deep sadness we must acknowledge the loss of one of our jet boat racing family,’’ a spokesman said.
The association’s president and fellow marathon competitor John Derry said all the teams involved were saddened by Insley’s death.
‘‘Despite us all knowing the dangers of competitive motorsport it is never easy to deal with the reality of an accident that takes away one of our family or friends.
The competition was called off on Sunday after the accident ‘‘as a mark of respect’’ and would resume today on the Rakaia River south of Christchurch.
Detective Sergeant Joanne Parks said police were investigating on behalf of the coroner. A scene examination had been completed and the jet boat removed.
Parks declined to comment further.