A thrilling weekend of powerboating action was enjoyed by all as the first of four South African National events kicked of the 2018 season at Gonubie Beach on Saturday and Sunday.
Cape Town competitors turned out to be the big winners, claiming overall wins in two of the three classes while a Port Elizabeth crew kept the Eastern Cape flag waving high by taking the win in the thirdevent.
“The East London Gonubie National was absolutely spectacular and the incredible weather contributed to the success of this event,” said Border inflatable boat club chairman Chad Romans.
“The waters were slightly choppy on both days, however it was perfect racing conditions, which allowed for the Joburg competitors to experience some of the EL waves.”
It was in the Pro Stock class that the Eastern Cape duo of Kyle Kolbe and Ross Templeman took the win after a superb weekend overall.
They claimed the win in the surf race, which was battled out on Saturday, before being beaten in Sunday's Long Haul by former world champs Stefan Lindeque and Tony Ingram from Cape Town, but still took the overall points win ahead of Lindeque and Ingram, with Raynor Becker and Hugo Erasmus from Stilbaai finishing third.
In the modified class Cape Town’s Wade Ball and Bobby Shaw took the title, ahead of the fancied home hopes of Romans and Candice Hatting who had to settle for second.
Another local crew of Michael Hatting and Nathan Ashington rounded out the top three after a solid performance over the two days.
The stock class then saw a Cape Town one-two-three as Marias van Zyl and Franco Cilliers took the title coming out on top ahead of fellow challengers JC Colombo and Nico Merwe le Roux who finished as runners-up, while Christiaan Aggenbacht and Henco Visser rounded out the top three.
“In the heats on Saturday, the competitors kept the crowd entertained with a few flips, but luckily there were no injuries,” said Romans.
“The Long Haul on Sunday was then an exciting race, as all classes raced together. Beach runs kept the crowd on their toes and left pilots anxiously awaiting their co-pilots to return to the boats, in order to start the next lap.”
With this being the first national event in East London since 2012, Romans was very happy with how it all went and was eager for it to return to the city a lot sooner next time.
“Overall, the event was absolutely brilliant and the support from the East London community was greatly appreciated by all competitors,” said Romans.
The powerboaters will now look ahead to the next national event taking place in Blouberg, Cape Town in March, with them all hoping to pick up valuable points towards qualifying for the World Championships taking place in September.
Revving great show as Cape teams sweep decks
Cape Town competitors turned out to be the big winners, claiming overall wins in two of the three classes while a Port Elizabeth crew kept the Eastern Cape flag waving high by taking the win in the thirdevent.
“The East London Gonubie National was absolutely spectacular and the incredible weather contributed to the success of this event,” said Border inflatable boat club chairman Chad Romans.
“The waters were slightly choppy on both days, however it was perfect racing conditions, which allowed for the Joburg competitors to experience some of the EL waves.”
It was in the Pro Stock class that the Eastern Cape duo of Kyle Kolbe and Ross Templeman took the win after a superb weekend overall.
They claimed the win in the surf race, which was battled out on Saturday, before being beaten in Sunday's Long Haul by former world champs Stefan Lindeque and Tony Ingram from Cape Town, but still took the overall points win ahead of Lindeque and Ingram, with Raynor Becker and Hugo Erasmus from Stilbaai finishing third.
In the modified class Cape Town’s Wade Ball and Bobby Shaw took the title, ahead of the fancied home hopes of Romans and Candice Hatting who had to settle for second.
Another local crew of Michael Hatting and Nathan Ashington rounded out the top three after a solid performance over the two days.
The stock class then saw a Cape Town one-two-three as Marias van Zyl and Franco Cilliers took the title coming out on top ahead of fellow challengers JC Colombo and Nico Merwe le Roux who finished as runners-up, while Christiaan Aggenbacht and Henco Visser rounded out the top three.
“In the heats on Saturday, the competitors kept the crowd entertained with a few flips, but luckily there were no injuries,” said Romans.
“The Long Haul on Sunday was then an exciting race, as all classes raced together. Beach runs kept the crowd on their toes and left pilots anxiously awaiting their co-pilots to return to the boats, in order to start the next lap.”
With this being the first national event in East London since 2012, Romans was very happy with how it all went and was eager for it to return to the city a lot sooner next time.
“Overall, the event was absolutely brilliant and the support from the East London community was greatly appreciated by all competitors,” said Romans.
The powerboaters will now look ahead to the next national event taking place in Blouberg, Cape Town in March, with them all hoping to pick up valuable points towards qualifying for the World Championships taking place in September.
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