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One Hell of a race at the Hi-Tec Oils Hawkesbury 120 Water Ski Race

Hi Tec Logo 2013 H120 Logo

IT’S GOING TO BE A HELL OF A YEAR !
In ideal Spring like ski racing conditions, the Hellrazor team have won back to back Hi-Tec Oils Hawkesbury 120 ski races in a dominating weekend for the crew.
Not only did they win the Sackville Sprint, missing Stinga’s 2009 record of 09.23mins, by just 2 seconds. Team Hell backed it up on the Sunday, with an outright win, 1st in Super Class and once again, they were just seconds off their own 2007 record of 41:08mins.
Peter Procter and Jason Walmsley skied hard and showed their river racing dominance will be continuing this season, for others to chase and aspire to.
Superman could not emulate their 2009 & 2011 wins and were relegated to 2nd place on both days, towing Daniel Graziano and James Buser.
3rd went to Merc Force in the fast conditions both days too. Daniel Cotton and Kris Knights are teaming up for this season and showed they can keep the others honest behind Don Gulley’s super quick Force boat.
Sapphire Racing, the Velocity/ Mercury package towing Tom Smith and Aaron McQualter, came flying home on the Sprint course to register 4th place.
5th outright Saturday went to Ben Hackett and Jack Houston, skiing from the Unlimited Inboard class. The young guns flew home, but just missed Agitator’s 2011 record by 2 seconds.

SOCIAL CLASSES
The weekend’s racing started with the Social Classes though and in Unlimited Social the win went to Bad Temper ( the Everingham Temper ), towing Jason Jones and Darryn Williams. It was great to see the old girl back on the water and on top of the dias again.
MOC Social was taken out by the flying Cyclone, Running Riot, towing Kane Marks and Ben Jefree. 2nd place went to the crew of Electric Shock.
F2 World Champions, Brent Wisemantel and Andrew Fyfe, crewed Team 50 to a win and record in Formula 2 Social, towing Jesse Burns and Dale Jamison. 99PC Team 4 were nipping at their heels, as were Top Gun F2, taking out 2nd and 3rd placings in the class.
SMOC Social saw identical times to the half way point for Hardback Racing and Slab. Kevin Dahlberg must have driven his heart out on the way home, as the HardBack Racing team came out the winner by just 5 seconds, missing the record time by just 14/100ths of a second. Robbie Skennerton and John Cartledge did the hard work out the back, just as did, Slab’s skiers Travis Patterson and Adam Forgacs. 3rd place went to Hornet Racing towing Joel Hore and Jarryd Tannenberg.
In the Women’s Social class, Dave Bishop guest drove Still Sparkin’ to a great win, towing Cara Procter and tayla Stent. 2nd went to Resident Evil towing Sarah Brooks and Amber Lees, just 31 seconds back. The Force trifecta went to Andy Smith’s Wild Thing, towing Jacqui Cadden and Stephanie Barens.
Loosin’ it had an all the way win in Stock 6 Litre, towing Michael Rodgers and Brendon Fogarty.
The Under 200hp Class is always close. Tony Mithen had his little green LabSport flying along to wipe nearly 2 whole minutes off the record. Mac Batchelor and Rhys Duggan did the hard work out the back to take it from No Fear, with Iceman unfortunately not making it home to claim 3rd.
70mph class saw the Roughnutz guys take the win, towing John Davies and Adam Jones. 2nd in the class went to The Irrigator, just 1 second slower on the way home, after identical upward leg times.
60mph Social is always a big class and this year didn’t disappoint. Natalie and Jason Martin’s Bullseye took back to back wins, but unfortunately Ross O’Brien and Aaron Beckhaus didn’t beat last years time on their home water. 2nd place went to the Broken Arrow crew, with Paul and Darryl Weir skiing and 3rd was Harrasment towing Brayden and Jacinta Harris.

VETERANS, DISABLED, JUNIOR SOCIAL.
The Veterans class was Danny Cropper and Rick Love’s to lose. They had pole position behind Hellbent, on absolutely flat water and boy, did they make the most of it. Although they didn’t beat the record time, both would have enjoyed themselves immensely, I’m sure. 2nd place went to the cheeky little boat, Smithy 2 racing, towing Tim and Jon Horbury and rounding out 3rd position were Chris Bennett and Robert Williams behind G6.
In an absolutely inspiring effort, Alex Handley, although missing a start, composed himself to not only, still beat the Disabled record by 3 seconds, but to hit an amazing 103mph on the course, behind Tiger Force racing.
His time was second fastest only to Hellbent in Veterans.
Senior Social was won by Melissa Parker and Lisa Nutley behind ASM.
Under 16 Social saw all 4 crews finish. Emma Barnes and Alyssa Long skied behind Critta and came in for the win. Korrupt was next home towing Brooke Hammond and Grace Savona and Georgia Coaldrake and Rochelle King came home in 3rd behind Coldy’s. 4th was Extreme Meltdown.
In the under 13 Social Blaze Branson and Riley Fogarty won the class by a country mile behind Teachers Pet. Air Force 1 were next home towing Lachlan and Ethan Brown and in 3rd place were Beau and Topaz Edwards-Dart behind the cheeky Labsport Medusa.
It was great to see Nellie McMillan skiing in under 10s behind Mum & Dad, carrying on the great McMillan ski racing dynasty. Nellie won by just 29 seconds from Merc Force towing Travis Pick and Atomic towing young Max Cotton into 2nd and 3rd place.

SACKVILLE SHOOTOUT AND TIME TRIAL.
As mentioned earlier the Sackville Sprint was taken out commandingly by the Hellrazor Team, missing the record by just 2 seconds.
Superman were the next boat to round the final corner and Daniel Graz and James Buser skied themselves into 2nd place. Merc Force, Sapphire Racing and Blazen were the next finishers in the Sprint, with only Burnin’ not completing the course. It was in this order that they finished.
For the first time this year, a new sprint opportunity became available to all competitors, to improve their starting position in their class on Sunday, and to also give crews another chance to race over the weekend, on the shorter Sackville – Windsor course. It proved to be a hit !
There were still the Unlimited Inboard/ Outboard racers too, all fighting to get a great starting position.
Stinga Racing took out the fastest time clocking exactly 10 minutes. Close behind were Wild Thing, the ultra quick 6 litre, Ultra Troublemaker, Temper (Force), Cyclone Racing 2, TopShot, Blown Inheritance, Hellbent, Gotta Go and Prima Donna.
All crews retired for the afternoon after the Presentation, to plan strategies, prepare their gear and swap ‘what if’ stories, before Sunday’s racing.

HI-TEC OILS HAWKESBURY 120 – SUNDAY.
The morning of the Hi-Tec Oils H120 ski race, the same dead still conditions were present, as was the heavy morning fog. It lifted and burned off with the morning sun, as competitors readied themselves for an ‘on time’ start and yet another glorious sunny Sydney day.
Mark Cranny launched Hellrazor out of the water on ‘Go!’ and within seconds their superstar skiers had their arms in the air and said ‘catch us if you can !..’ to the other crews.
One by one all crews, right through to 60mph, faced the starter and headed off to Wiseman’s Ferry halfway point.
When the spray settled it was once again Hellrazor in a commanding position outright, and ready to rumble on the way home.
At the finish line, the crowd were treated to live Hi-Tec Oils boat demonstrations, both on and off the water, as well as all of the static stalls covering the Marine Stadium.
The Top End Sprint’ was run for the Powerboat racers, from Sackville to Windsor, with a huge variety of race boats taking part and keeping the crowds entertained.
Word came through that all crews had been given their 10 minute siren at Wisemans and were preparing for the trip home.
Could Team Hell do it again ? Would Jason Walmsley remain the most decorated outright athlete in the race’s history ? ….All would soon be answered.
The anticipation built back at Windsor as the first Super Class boats were nearing home.
Everyone rushed to the grassy banks in time to see Mark Cranny, Damien Matthews, Jason Walmsley & Peter Procter come screaming around the final corner and up the last straight on full trim, to record the time to beat.
Try as they may, Superman was relegated to 2nd place and Merc Force 3rd, in Super Class. Team Hell had done it again ! 41.32 minutes to finish the longest 2Up river race in Australia.
Stinga had some trouble starting the boat at Wisemans Ferry, but got everything back in order and on track and they still won Unlimited Inboard in a time of 44:25mins. Wild Thing towed Jared Coey and Justin Cadden in to 2nd place, with Temper (Gerard Atkins, Zac Burns) in 3rd place.
In Unlimited Outboard, 1st place went to Cyclone Racing 2 towing Steven Berry and Craig Gordon to a back to back win. Watersports Marine placed 2nd and Ballistic Still came 3rd.
Super Slak Racing won 8 litre and took over 1min 40 off the record, towing Dylan Stevenson and Zac Welch. It was another Speedmaster hull, Carlton Dry Racing, that took out 2nd place by just 2 seconds from Pure Evil.
One of the most incredible 6 litre boats ever raced, Scott Nind’s Ultra Troublemaker, won the class and broke the record by over a minute, placing 8th outright. Skiers Ray Ball and Tyron Naismith beat home Joel Massey and Chris Bennett easily, behind Nothin’ But, to take the win.
The MOC class was also won in an amazing new record time, by Evinrude Ace Racing. The guys took 3:50mins off Twisted’s previous time ! Congratulations go out to their skiers Shane Floyd and Darren Reilly. That must have been a tough day at the office ! 2nd in MOC was Running Riot and 3rd went to Cyclone Raicey.
In Formula 2 it was great to see Miss Force and Team 50 go head to head in one of the biggest classes of the weekend. They both beat the record, with Miss Force coming home the faster of the two. 3rd placing went to Brimstone Racing towing Curtis Horbury and Donald Baker.
The Under 19 Boys class was won by Jack Heather and Sam Handley, behind Tiger Force racing, followed in 2nd place by Out Numbered towing Jamie Moret and Brayden Jameson.
Slab won the SMOC class by only 10 seconds from Hardback Racing. 3rd was Commited towing Ethan Davitt and Ryan Campbell.
Under 16 Boys saw Dave Coldy’s brand new Revolution hull, Warspeed, come home with the gold, towing Jack Coaldrake and Luke Harrison. 2nd Went to Bree Turner and Ben Moret behind Knackers and 3rd went to Meltdown.
In the Open Womens class Resident Evil towed Sarah Brooks and Amber Lees to a great win. Trudi Stout and Madeleine Brien registered a time, just 6 seconds back from them, to come in 2nd behind Ring of Fire. Gambler towed Madison Smith and Stephanie Barens home for a 3rd placing.
Loosin’ It took over a minute off the Stock 6 Litre record, towing Michael Rodgers and Brendon Fogarty home in a time of 58:09mins.
Brooke Langham and Crystal Gordon absolutely owned the Under 16 girls class behind Triple 666, leading home Brooke Hammond and Grace Savona, behind Korrupt. After a long time to the half way, it was great to see Holly Prazczalek and Shantelle King claw their way back into 3rd position with Rush.
The Under 19 Girls was won by Extreme Meltdown towing Lucy Savona and Ashlee Cuff. 2nd placed was Living the Dream Racing towing Paige Martin and Reilly Russell.
Noosa’s No Fear team won the under 200hp class, recording almost identical times up and back. They towed Greg Reason and Adam Smidt. Medusa and Messy Racing weren’t far behind, in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Zorro, towing Michael Hall and Jessica Smith, took 16 seconds off Still Kidn’s 2010 record in 70mph. They beat home Team Galaxie (Jason & Scott Whitfield) & Harrasment (Brayden & Aaron Harris), in this large class.
Under 13 Boys was won by Teacher’s Pet after setting identical times as Pop and Me, to Wisemans Ferry. The winning skiers were Riley Fogarty and Blaze Branson and 2nd placed were Carter Robertson and Alex Welch. The hard luck story of the day went to Critta, who made it to Wisemans almost 3 minutes quicker than the eventual winner. Just 50 metres from the finish line one skier lost their handles. It cost them the win, but they still came home 3rd after a gutsy finish that the crowd cheered loudly for.
60 mph saw yet another record tumble, with the crew from Wotdyamean taking 34 seconds off the previous time. 2nd place went to Burn n Wood and 3rd to the Broken Arrow team, in another full class.
The new ‘RaceSafe’ tracking system was used throughout the weekend and after a few hiccups, all reports and feedback from those that experienced it at home, on the bank, or in the boats was largely positive.
The Hi-Tec Oils Hawkesbury 120 Committee would like to thank everyone connected in so many different ways, that helped to pull together an exciting new H120. Thank you especially to those that spent their whole weekend sweeping the river for logs and manning the rescue boats. We all really appreciate it.
Last, but certainly not least, thank you to Hi-Tec Oils for their continued support of SRNSW and your major sponsorship of our events.

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