The Carson family's race within a race in Saturday's Napier offshore powerboat classic is back on with the replacement of a wrecked boat, an engine recovered from the ocean floor, and a couple of gun-shy young racers in the cockpit.
The return to the fray has been confirmed by Auckland-based Wayne Carson, who returns to the old home town to watch sons Max and Jamie take on the Napier team of uncle Tony Carson and his daughter Charlotte in the penultimate round of a family rivalry which has been a feature of the 2017 New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Association drivers championship.
But just 12 days ago the Sports 200-class rivalry seemed to be over for the season with the Auckland-based D&H Steel wrecked off Taipa in the Far North and Max and Jamie Carson rescued from the sea by "Uncle Tony" on the boat Red Steel and taken to hospital with injuries received in a crash in the series' Doubtless Bay debut.
Three days after the race Wayne Carson returned to Taipa to search for the boat, in a race against time as Cyclone Cook headed New Zealand's way from the Pacific.
"We found it using a sonar, which we dragged around for about three hours," he said. "Then we sent a diver down to secure a line. It was on its side and dragging on the bottom. We got it just before the storm, so we had a real tight time frame."