2012 Top End Sprint Results

The biggest list of entries for the Top End Sprint's recent history, saw most the boats roll into scrutineering on Saturday. With the Top End Sprint once again being integrated into the Hawkesbury 120 water ski race weekend event, there was plenty of action and noise to check out once our entrants had completed their entry.

Race day Sunday bloomed with a cracker of a sunrise, along with a pretty decent frost in anround Windsor. Some parts of the Windsor Marine stadium almost looking like it had snowed, thanks to the frost. Luckily the cool bite of the morning melted with the sun revving itself up once above the trees. Luckily this happened just in time as the boats began to roll into the staging area of Sackville Ski Gardens.

Even with a couple of last minute non-starters, the final entry list totalled 36 entries. A record number for this race in the last few years. A couple of the hard luck stories for not making it to the start included Steve Moran and Beefa with fuel pump, and then suspected head gasket problems. Frustratingly for him, Steve's luck hasn't seemed to improve since last year's campaign. Another potential entry was going to be former BAD boat driver, and now prolific spanner turner for the Marland / Madness team, Norm Macmillan, towing a quick ski boat down from QLD to be part of the fun. But a clash in deadline and supplier commitment saw the boat without a suitable electrical system in time.

And it was a last minute call, from the opposite side of the fence, that saw Paul Vella and Impatient a late entry into the race after a very early start in the morning to get the race package ready. Even some final fuel system changes occuring in the staging area soon before heading to the ramp.

The appearance of the sweep boat for the first leg of Sunday's ski race, it was our cue to get things rolling, as the boats entered the water. With the race broken down into nine starting waves, the start boat managed to successfully herd the boats to the milling area, and then the lead up to the drop of the flag. The broad stretch of river at Sackville ensures a relatively comfortable start for all boats.

Superclass saw a good mix of boats and powerplants, with TIm Bollins in Anglomoil and Vella Racing (Shane Vella fresh from his recent successful Bridge to Bridge Superclass win) the two 'clip-ons' on the start grid. There was also a distinct lack of more KTs for the event, especially considering the pre-race banter about potential race winners coming from the KT camp. It was left to Dylan Greentree in Tunnel Vision to fly the KT flag.

Four Hydros were lined up to take back the trophy from last year's ouboard win. As mentioned, Paul Vella (no relation to Shane Vella) manged to just scrape into the race by the skin of his teeth, with Impatient. Another team that had their work cut out in getting ready for the race, was Andrew Petty with Stack Injection. The boat requiring major repairs after a disasterous end to the recent StGeorge Spectacular. Andrew confirming his entry after a final test run soon before Saturday's scrutineering. NSWHC Vice President, Shane Baker had the 6litre Chev in Loose Unit lined up for its first river race. The long awaited return of The Phantom was finally here after dramas for last year's Top End Sprint and this year's Bridge to Bridge, with Brendan Anderson at the wheel.

The drag race to the first right hand bend in the river was on for Superclass, with the two outboards showing a clean pair of heels from the rest of the field, except for Impatient keeping them honest (see video below of the start from Anglomoil's vantage point). Nearly all of the superclass wave hitting speeds of around 200km/h by the end of the first straight. It was Anglomoil that came out of the first turn with his nose in front, but unfortunately it wasn't to last, as the engine soon came to a stop, leaving Vella Racing to take the lead.

Vella Racing tried to extend its lead, but Impatient always remained within range. The outboard developing fuelling issues around the bigger right-handers. One bend in the river at Pitt Town, saw Vella Racing come to a near stop allowing Impatient to streak by to take the clear water. Back in the pack The Phantom was just out in front of Loose Unit and Stack Injection, but it was the notorious tight right-hander at Port Erringhi that brought a change of placing. The Phantom manging a flat spin at race pace, allowed the other two hydros to slip through, but Brendan gave chase once again. While down on power in comparison to the rest of the pack, Dylan Greentree kept his nose clean in Tunnel Vision, while constantly building his driving experinece in this relatively new race package. Loose Unit's race wasn't to be a happy story, with the engine's oil pump belt snapping while at race pace. Shane managed to kill the engine a couple of seconds after, but the end of his race frustratingly came around three quarters race distance.

Back at the front, it was Impatient to continue all the way to the finish line out in front. The big red Howard Hydro floating nicely down the final straightaway across the finish line. The blue and yellow outboard of the other Vella, barely 10 seconds later. Stack Injection, the next boat through, along with The Phantom rounding the last bend. But that was to be the final strech for The Phantom, as the boat had fuel surge issues in the last right hand bend leading to the finish lne. The boat came to a stop in sight of the ine. Continual cranking didn't help the desperate attempts to get across the. And the boat racing mad Greentree clan (Dylan a third generation racer, with Grandpa later in the pack) was happy to see the blue Tunnel Vision make it home.

Back at Sackville, the next wave away was the Open Inboard class with three regular river racers, in the ski race style boat of Kallawatta, the immaculately presented Promises and big cube, multi carb All Black. These guys are regualr entrants in Bridge to Bridge ad previous Top End Sprints, so they knew the course layout well with plenty of speed attained. And they didn't allow the fact that they didn't start in Superclass hold them back, as each of them pushing the speedo needle well around the dial. Kallawatta had to back off during the race, allowing one of the outboard tunnels from the later wave to catch him. The kiwi Grant Jury had the big brute force of All Black absolutely flying across the finish line. A race time worthy of outright 3rd place.

Framed certificates presented to the top placegetters:

The two ouboard tunnels of Brian Armstrong's Armstrong Racing and the smaller F3 type tunnel of Corey Davoll's Get Wet had the start stretch of river all to themselves in their own wave. Unfortunately Get Wet's race wasn't to last much longer at all, as the boat soon came to a stop. Armstrong Racing forged ahead and in the final strecthes of the river, managed to track down and catch Kallawatta from the previous wave. The tunnel boat absolutely singing across the finish line.

13 entries of mono type ouboards, required them to be broken into three different starting waves, loosely broken into their relative class and speed bracket. The ever competitve class had plenty of trash talk going on amongst the drivers at scrutineering and the morning of the race start. Even a couple of first time racers getting in on the action.

All of the outboard tunnels (including the open deck tunnel of 888 Racing) showed their regular reliability, with all competitors making it home to the finish, some posting very quick times indeed. The competitiveness lasting all race long for The Undertaker and Bullseye, with the boats literally finishing side by side on the line, both boats registering the same race time. While the boat did mange to finish, Brad Rose in Anti-Social manged to liberate a couple of pistons from the block bolted on the back. Troy Flood, also generating quick speeds in Loose Nut, but thanks to starting issues at Sackville had to surrender some race time due to starting in a later wave, once the boat got going.

The inboard wave (all various 6litre configurations), was another of the hotly contested classes, with friendly ribbing going on before the race - seasoned campaigners and new racers alike. The elder statesman of the Greentree clan, Phil, dropped the 6litre motor into the Bannister boat of Missprint. The team running well until a long way down the course before a problem developed. Phill pulling into the bank alongside the stopped hydro of Loose Unit. Phil fiddled in the engine bay before the boat fired into life again, and off he went. Mick Spano's Bloodshot and Craig Bowman's Deception, a closely matched pair, with Deceptin getting the upper hand in overall race time. Mick might have to consider loosing the ballast of a passenger to pick up a couple k's per hour next year. Tijuana missing the proper start grid had Jaysen Cook on the back foot early, but the boat showed good speed once underway. Trent Russo in 4Play's first river race wasn't to be a dream run, with the boat needing the trailer crew before the finish line.

The Classic Hydros represented the spirit of the race again this year, with Wayne Hayter finally having things fall into place to run the beautiful Classic Racing. The last few years, engine and logistics dramas, and even a case of the flu on race day, caused the boat to remain on the bank. And it looked as though Wayne was making up for lost time, with the big hydro flying along the race course. The combo was an awesome sight across the finish line. The battle of the smaller hydros was on between Rod Hodskin in Indy800 and Peter Randall in Thrifty Too. The two six cylinder rear seaters always a good match. Unfortunately Miss September and The Baron were non-starters due to hull and trailer issues developing at the recent Forster VIntage Regatta. Both of the little hydros not having a clean run, as Thrifty Too had some oil system issues, which turned out to be from the engine's crank seals, had Peter keeping one eye on the oil guage the majority of the race. And Indy800 was uncharacteristically down on speed a little, with what turned out to be a missfire on one of the cylinders. Somehow, the missfire cleared up with just a couple of kilometres before the finish. The boat back up to its usual pace was closing back in on Thrifty Too in the final metres of the race, but the damage was already done for a third place in the wave.

The small outboard wave was again campaigned by close competitors and good mates Glen Maddrell in Growler, Darren Skaines in Tantrum, and Terry Hey was giving Misty her last run. The engine soon to be transferred to a newer hull. A notable absence from the start, was the 'fourth amigo' Steve Scott in Voodoo, another last minute non entrant. The three boats getting away nicely, but Tantrum had an early exit. The other two boys checking in with Darren before heading off again. Another hiccup further up river had the guys register a slower than usual race time, but you could have almost thrown a blaket over the two asjust three seconds separated them at the finish.

Congratulations to all competitors who got home and/or recorded a personal best. Hard luck to those that didn't make it - hopefully next year will be better. Another successful Top End Sprint event for the NSWHC, thanks to the hard work, dedication and support from the officials, volunteers and helpers. A special thanks to Wayne Smith and the UHPBC for some late notice logistics assistance for the event. Also thanks to the Hawkesbury 120 ski race committee for once again integrating us into their event. Lets hope we get to do it all again next year.

Results table as per starting waves:

Photos below with boats in order of outright placings.

1st Impatient		2nd Vella Racing
3rd All Black		4th Promises
5th Stack Injection		6th Armstrong Racing
7th Sportfisherman Marine		8th Bullseye
8th The Undertaker		10th Team Evinrude
11th Menace Racing		12th Team Paradise
13th Argo F2		14th Dusty Devil
15th Tunnel Vision		16th Kallawatta
17th Deception		18th Classic Racing
19th 888 Racing		20th Addiction
21st Reload		22nd Bloodshot
23rd Tijuana		24th Thrity Too
25th Indy 800		26th Missprint
27th Anti-Social		28th Loose Nut
29th Misty		30th Growler

While they didn't manage to get to the finish line, the two superclass hydros were still high-tailing it past the photographer.

DNF Loose Unit

DNF The Phantom

Photos above graciously provided by regular Top End Sprint competitor, Andrew Sonter (Eight Ball). Contact Andrew to request/purchase any print quality copies.

This year there were many competitors that ran video cameras on their boats. Keep returning to the site as we include many of the videos as they become available.

Anglomoil shows just how fast the Superclass guys were running down the first chute, with the inclusion of the GPS speed display and two points of view. Fantastic first hand footage of the race start:

Onboard footage of Armstrong Racing giving chase to the Open Inboard wave.

And then from the bank, Armstrong Racing flying across the finish line:

More videos to come in the coming weeks.