Champ goes 'scouting' in quest for fifth title

Nobody would say that Mark Cromie goes into competition  unprepared.
The four-time world marathon jet boat champion is hoping to add a fifth title to his collection when racing in the 2009 World Jet Boating Marathon, which starts on Sunday.
Excellent conditions are expected, but Cromie isn't taking anything for granted and he has spent the whole week mapping out the rivers he will race navigate in the 800km race.
"We've got a pleasure boat here and we've probably done about 600km already on the rivers over the last four days," he said.
The pleasure boat still travels at around 100kmph, not anywhere near fast enough for Cromie to emulate race conditions,  but fast enough for reconnaissance.
"Before we race we'll do another 400km of scouting, so with the 800km we'll do in the race boat, we'll probably end up doing about 1800km - that's quite a bit of boating," he said.
The time scouting the Waiau, Rakaia, Waitaki and Waimakariri rivers, on which the event will be held over the next week, has given him a good chance to build up a good working relationship with his race navigator, the hugely experienced Neville Kelly, of Queenstown.
Water levels are  good  for the race and Cromie is happy with his progress.
"Basically, things are looking pretty damned good at the moment but you know that things can change pretty rapidly down here," he said.
The race starts with a lake sprint on Sunday, followed by racing on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday is a layday, with the final two days of competition next Saturday and Sunday.