Annihilator 3 leads clean-sweep

by Kelly Exelby | 25th January 2010

All that was missing was some blow-up rings and front-mounted water guns as several of the big bangers got primal yesterday on Tauranga Harbour in the first round of the 2010 national hydroplane championships.

"It was like bloody bumper boats out there for a bit," said Waverley's Ken Lupton, surveying a damaged rear to his 1600hp Annihilator 3. "I cut across the line of one of the other boats and he tried to shut us down, although it's not as badly damaged as it was last year."

The 23-year-old last year punched a 3m-long hole in the side of his hydroplane when he hit a patch of rough water on Tauranga Harbour and had to fly out the boat's builder from Australia to carry out repairs.

Lupton's Annihilator 3 led a clean-sweep for the Waverley-based hydroplane team in the Masport Cup in Tauranga.

Warwick Lupton was second in Annihilator 1, after failing to get his new craft on the water in time, and defending champion David Alexander was third as the big boats cleaned up everyone.

- Read more in today's Bay of Plenty Times