Jetboating: Canadian rules Shotover river

When Paddy Stratton travelled from Canada this month, he left enough room in his suitcase to take the world jetboat marathon silverware home with him.

On the opening day of the event yesterday, Stratton and navigator Donavon Yanke made their intentions clear, powering to victory in the opening two legs to lead both the overall and A-class ranks.

"This is the Holy Grail of jetboat racing," Stratton said. "We're giving it everything we've got to win."

Racing from Queenstown Bay up the Shotover River, Stratton completed the opening 20km run in just 7m 2s. Fellow Canadian Spencer King was just 3s adrift.

Queenstown's Neville Kelly was the fastest of the New Zealand contenders, powering up the course in 7m 28s, just 2s ahead of Rob Pooley, of Nelson.