2008 Top End Sprint results

Race report Race photos Official race times

Hyper Active makes it two from two!

After a number of years of the race not being conducted, the NSW Hydroplane Club (NSWHC) have resurrected the Top End Sprint power boat race. The race getting its name from the race course being from Sackville to Windsor in the upper reaches of the Hawkesbury River. 2008 being the second year that the NSWHC has conducted the race.

The freshly restored silver cup trophy being presented to hydroplane racing regular, and Hawkesbury Valley local, Rick Howard, driving Hyper Active. The race winning time of 8m 14s was just 10s outside Rick’s own race record. The big orange hydroplane, powered by a Big Block Chev V8, successfully tamed the river once again, after taking out the legendary Bridge to Bridge Power Boat Classic outright win and race record earlier this year.

But Rick didn’t have the race all his own way. In the earlier stages, it was a three-way battle with the Formula1 tunnel boat Simply Marine, driven by John Tiscounnis, and the awesome supercharged inboard tunnel boat, Tattoo, driven by Matt Ferris. The three boats, each jostling for the lead in the first reaches of the winding river. The fast pace of the lead pack causing terminal engine damage to Tattoo, ending Matt’s race early. This left the trophy up for grabs for the remaining two boats. It was Rick Howard’s local knowledge of the river that proved to be invaluable, as he was able to put his hydro in the right position on the river for the upcoming twists in the river. Simply Marine was relegated to second place, then having to follow Hyper Active’s wash up the river.

While Rick acknowledged the speed of his challengers, John has vowed to be back next year with a better
understanding of the river to present a genuine threat to the hydroplane stranglehold on this race.

Other Superclass entrants included fellow hydroplane stalwart, Paul Vella in his 5litre Chev powered Howard Hydroplane, Impatient. Paul coming home in third place. Corey Whittaker bringing the fuel injected 6litre Longshot up from Albury to take part. Unfortunately for Corey, it seems he didn’t happen to bring enough fuel with him. The boat running out of fuel on the last corner, with the finish line in sight. Tim Bollins driving the second outboard tunnel boat, Bollins Racing, managed to push a conrod through the block of the clip-on at Pitt Town. Somehow Tim managed to limp the boat home to fourth place outright. Peter Corrick, a ski racing regular, left the skiers on the bank this year. His big twin turbo displacement, Bloody Mary, showing plenty of speed early in the race, but had to ease off due to dropping oil pressure.

This year’s race had 35 contestants in total. Ranging in size from the 27litre V12 Rolls Royce Merlin
powered hydroplane, Aggressor, all the way down to 850cc outboard ‘wing boats’ only 12ft long, with pretty much everything in between. The boats were split up into starting waves of Superclass, Unlimited Outboards, Inboard Displacements, Division 2 Hydros, and 1250cc and 850cc Outboards

Jamie Malony took his modified outboard mono, Black Thunder to a class win. Jamie sporting a new ‘aerodynamic’ Mohawk style haircut for the event. The Unlimited Outboard wave was not only the biggest with 10 entries, but also the most competitve, with all finishers only separated by a couple of minutes. Surprisingly, this class also had the biggest number of DNFs, with three boats needing a call to the trailer drivers.

Inboard Displacements were the next group away, including a bit of variety in powerplants. Mostly of the 6litre variety, with a couple of bigger V8s. And you wouldn’t read about it, but all of the log boats made it home at the end of the day (sorry log-boaters, but it doesn’t happen very often does it).

The 6litre displacement boat, Nightmare, being driven by the sole lady driver for the weekend, returned to the Top End Sprint again this year after entering last year as well. Other entries included Bridge to Bridge hydro driver, Steve Maybury in one of his own ‘bat boats’, Bat Outa Hell. And this time carrying his wife, Debbie, in the passenger seat.

The Div2 Hydro class was certainly a motley crew. The big thunder boat, Aggressor, had its first race for the big boat in over 20 years. The big old girl showed plenty of speed early on, but developed fuel pressure problems, which required a drop in outright pace for the rest of the run. Dave actually started in the second row of the Superclass, due to some issues at the start, but was officially part of the Div2 Hydro class.

The closest call of the weekend goes to Warren Hamaty driving the 253 HoldenV8 powered hydroplane, Get Roughed, in this his second race in the boat. Coming into the sharp right-hand bend in the river at Port Eringhi, the boat encountered some minor waves after bouncing off the cliff. In a bad case of timing, the combination of the waves and the right hand turn caused the boat to go into a flat spin. Warren got the boat running again, but additional water now inside the hull splashed onto the distributor causing it to stop sending spark. The hydro ended up stopping again at Cattai.

Warren has posted a video on YouTube with onboard footage of the wild ride caused by the spin.

Due to a mis-calculation in starting waves, Poseiden 1 ended up taking off with the Div2 Hydro class. The little white tunnel boat having a race long ding dong battle with the remaining limited class Classic Hydro, Miss September. Piloted by Nathan’s brother, Grant Mills, the little red rocket see-sawed position with Poseiden 1 the whole journey up the river. The tunnel boat getting away in the turns in the river, as the hydro bogged down, especially those dreaded right handers. Then the little Nissan V6 would then wind up and reel in the clip-on in the straightaways. The hydro driver got so frustrated in one turn that he actually whipped the side of the boat with his hand to encourage the boat along, as if heading to finishing post at Royal Randwick.

While not technically a hydroplane, Peter Randall ran his home built Cracker Box boat, Red Dwarf, up the Hawkesbury in the Div2 Hydro class. After a non-finish in the Bridge to Bridge earlier in the year, Peter was to have his revenge. The classically styled rear controlled flat bottom boat brought some more nostalgia to the event.

Two notable non-starters on Sunday were Wayne Hayter in Classic Racing and Scott Hermann in The Baron. Calssic Racing successfully completed a shakedown run on Saturday, after a recent hull restoration, but it was down to the driver. Wayne woke up on Sunday morning as crook as Rookwood, some might say. The physical effects of the flu just wouldn’t allow Wayne to best control the 21ft 454ci Chev powered hydro. Scott also had a run on Saturday, but some major fuel problems left the boat on the trailer on Sunday.

Another wide variety of hull designs and engines in the 1250cc (also known as F3) and 850cc outboard class. The smaller boats having some tunnels and a few ‘wing’ monos amongst them.

No matter what class entered, each competitor would have had their own story as to how they did or didn’t make it to the finish line.

It was a very friendly and social atmosphere after the finish at Windsor, with most drivers and crew discussing the events of the day around the NSWHC tent. A trophy and certificate presentation was made from the balcony of the Upper Hawkesbury club house, rounding out an overall great day.

The NSWHC would like to thank the sponsors of the event. The day literally would not have happened without them.

The club would also like to thank all of the officials, volunteers and helpers for the event. Acknowledgement also goes to Ski Racing NSW for the opportunity to be involved in such a great weekend.

The future for the Top End Sprint is looking good, with almost all competitors already vowing to run the race again next year. And not to mention additional entrants thanks to the spreading of good news of the event. Planning has already began to build this event even bigger and better next year.

Race photos

Race winner Rick Howard at the wheel of Hyper Active
Simply Marine		3rd place getter Paul Vella in Impatient
Twin turbo V8 - Bloody Mary		Corey Whittaker in Longshot
The ideal place for a sponsor's logo on Black Thunder
Menace Racing		Airborne
Boltn		Bullseye
If Only		Good Hustle
Pure Perfection		Pist'n'Broke
Bow Tie		Suspect
Phil Greentree with his race face on in Handfull
Liquid Kaos		Rock'n'Roll
Bat Outa Hell		Nightmare
Get Roughed		Miss September
Aggressor		Red Dwarf
Poseidon1		Poseidon2
C-Mac Marine		Growler
Tantrim		All of these photos courtesy of Ultimate Image Capture. Visit their website to purchase any of these images.

Above photo courtesy of Terry Paull (NSWHC)

Below are official race times from the 2008 race.