Water sports: Determined Kiwi chases second title

NZH 01Oct11 - Sam Harvey was the first New Zealander to win a world title in PWC racing. Photo / Supplied

While most of us see PWCs (personal watercraft) as either exciting, adrenalin-inducing pieces of kit or a blight on the nautical landscape, for Howick marine retailer Sam Harvey they are a path to world glory.

Over the next nine days, Harvey will be competing in the International Jet Sports Boating Association (IJSBA) World Finals in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. He will be trying to emulate his success in 2009, when he won the Pro Runabout Open title, a class for modified PWCs.

Harvey's win was notable for several reasons. He was the first New Zealander to win a world title in PWC racing; the first non-American entrant to win a world title and the first winner not to be backed by one of the major PWC manufacturers.

Given that Harvey had competed, without success, at the prestigious IJSBA world finals for every one of the previous 11 years, it was also a typically Kiwi tale of perseverance and determination overcoming a lack of funding and corporate backing.

Harvey, who earlier this year won his fourth New Zealand elite nationals title, will be particularly focused on producing a good result in this year's championships - especially after a "small mechanical failure" last year ruined his chances of defending his world title. To this end, he has undertaken an intense fitness regime, and concentrated on further developing his Sea-Doo PWC.

"Last year we finished our development of the Sea-Doo GTX-S3 hull a little too close to when we left for the world finals," he says. "So, even though Sea-Doo has released a couple of new hull designs (with huge potential for the modified Pro Open category), we decided to stick with last year's race-ski."

Harvey says he felt there was still huge potential in the older model and has been working on improving its handling and performance.

"We've removed more weight from the hull and focused on reliability," he says. "The old saying 'to finish first, first you must finish' is entirely true. This is what we achieved so well in 2009 when I won the Pro Open world title and that's the strategy we're aiming for this year."

To prepare himself for the 30th anniversary IJSBA event, Harvey has been training extensively. This has included two or three on-the-water training runs each week, going to the gym or doing kick-boxing twice a day and keeping to a performance-oriented, alcohol-free diet for over a month before his departure.

"This year I am competing in the two classes for modified race-skis: GP Runabout and Pro Open," he says. "For each class, I need to be one of the top 20 competitors to qualify for the finals. If I'm successful, I then compete in two moto races in each category."

Harvey believes his biggest competitors are likely to be last year's defending champion, American Dustin Farthing, and former world champions Craig Warner from the US and Frenchman Nicolas Ruis.

The world championships are staged annually on Lake Havasu (on the boundary of California and Arizona) in front of a purpose-built stadium. This year they will run from October 1-9.

Racing takes place in more than 45 classes and there are likely to be more than 50 competitors from around the world in Harvey's favoured class, the Pro Runabout Open.

World finals

Where: Lake Havasu City, Arizona, United States

When: October 1-9

Kiwi hope: Sam Harvey, 2009 world champion

Riding: Modified Sea-Doo GTX-S3