Former PSP Group A national champion Richard Murray's hopes of attending the world championships in the United States in August may have collapsed into the walls of the Oxbow Aquatrack after a disappointing finish to his NZ Jetsprint Championship Series on Friday.
Murray had hoped to hang onto third in the series, behind Hamilton's Sam Newdick and Australian Paul Gaston, at the final round in Wanaka, but a spin out in the Top 8 eliminator dropped him back to fifth overall.
Wife Julia Murray said they were all set to compete in America, but will have to assess the state of their Ford-powered Mean Machine when they get back to Wanganui.
"He hit the fence quite hard and it's all caved in one side of the boat. Once the [steering] skeg got knocked off, there was no holding it."
For Newdick, his victory in Round 6 buried the ghosts of 2013, when he had a comfortable series lead heading into the last round at Shelterview, before a wrong turn in the dark saw his shock early elimination and gave Murray the chance to claim the title.