KEY POINTS:
Powerboat racing returns to the Waikato River this weekend with the 25th running of the Rollo's Marine Yamaha Bridge to Bridge Water Ski Classic.
The event will see some of the country's top skiers (and several from Australia) towed behind boats at speeds that often exceed 160km/h.
The two-day spectacle is based in Hamilton and takes place on the river between Taupiri and Cambridge.
The main event springs into action on Sunday afternoon at 1pm. The Rollo's Marine Long Race is a flat-out sprint over 82km. It starts in Cambridge, runs through Hamilton city to Taupiri (where there is a quick stop) and then returns to Hamilton.
The record for this 80-plus kilometre journey is a mind-bogglingly quick 33mins 31secs, with the top competitors averaging around 150km/h.
According to organiser Brad Dutton, the adrenaline junkies who ski this race are standing on a single 2.3m piece of timber, some 67 metres behind the boat. Their only "protection" is a wetsuit and a crash helmet.
"Mainly, they ski behind single outboard boats with up to 300hp on the back," he says. "However, the top boats go for more power still: they generally run either twin outboards or big inboards."
Dutton believes that the Rotorua-based Warlord team, who have won the event for the last three years, will again be the favourite this Sunday - especially because they have managed to import current world No 3, Australian skier Daniel Campbell. Their team now consists of driver and boat owner Kevin Murphy, observer Tony Bradley and skiers Vaughan Hyde and Campbell.
Other top contenders include Junior Boys' World Champion Jaaron Fritz, who is only the second New Zealander to win a world skiing title, behind his dad's boat, Big Bird, with fellow Hawke's Bay skier Nick Taylor.
Adelaide Cox, who is just 15 but came second in the Junior Girls Worlds last year, is skiing with another Australian hot shot, Lee Hicks, behind the Tauranga-based boat Stinga.
Today's action includes the Masters (over 40s), Novice (first-time Bridge to Bridge racers) and Sub Juniors (Under 13s), followed by the Social and Family classes.
In the afternoon, the time trial for tomorrow's Long Race is complemented by a Poker Run, meaning anyone with access to a boat can cruise the river and check out the course.
Sunday's programme features the boats doing powerboat sprints (without their skiers) and there are also PWC (jetski) and Thundercat races before the main event roars off at 1pm.
Dutton says the best spot to view the race is at Grantham St Boat Ramp.
For more information, go to www.skirace.co.nz
