Caughey sets fastest time to top SuperBoat Podium

Caughey sets fastest time to top SuperBoat Podium

Mechanical gremlins fail to slow the defending champ

A nail-biting few minutes as a minor part prevented his SuperBoat from entering the water for the last elimination run of the MouthFresh SuperBoat class clearly failed to ruffle the defending champion’s icy calm.

Peter Caughey looked in command from the moment his ENZED boat shot through the start timer, and kept that poise as it sliced through the water and around the complex sequence of turns to cross the finish line in just 47.555 seconds, the fastest time of the day.

Australian Ted Sygidus was second, on 49.475, and Nick Berryman third, on 49.516.

A happy Caughey later said his team did an awesome job, and revealed that a single faulty plug nearly came between him and victory today.

“We’ve had an issue with reverse not working before, in this case it was a brand new German plug that had a problem.”

“Initially we thought it was the reverse actuator that operates the reverse bucket to get it off the trailer. You’re on a tight timeline at these events, especially in the elimination rounds, where it’s cut-throat.

“In the end we figured it was the inboard plug, which was brand new, so that was a real surprise. The boys ripped into changing that while my navigator, Shama Putaranui, and I jumped into the boat and got ready for the final. We didn’t let it fluster us.”

Caughey says it’s a sign of a good team that they can deal with that sort of situation and still come out with a victory, “Those are the moments that define a championship, right there.”

He had already had a few challenges with the boat earlier in the day, when the team trialled a new jet unit part during qualifiers one and two.

“Once I really got the jandal into it the boat was fast, very fast, but moving around too much – we couldn't get the handling I was looking for, and that’s where I did an extra 360. It wasn’t going to make corner eight to nine, so I figured a 360 was better than potentially damaging the boat.”

The ENZED team ended up with a DNF for the second qualifier, but the crew quickly changed the jet to Caughey’s favourite set-up.

“The motor was making some good power, we learned plenty, and Phil from TrackSport was there to help, which was good.

Caughey admits the racing was really close throughout the day, with a number of racers clocking times around the 50-second mark.

“It was a fast rotation, I picked Nick Berryman as a favourite and he ended up third after the most enjoyable race of his life,” Caughey said.

“It was a bit of a navigator track, we headed into channel seven three times, the first time we turned second right, the next time it was first left, then first right, and that does your head in, it’s easy to get out of sequence and a lot of people get lost, but we had it nailed.”

That’s doubly impressive when you realize how fast these boats go, with turns a split-second choice.”

Caughey wasn’t the only driver with a ‘moment’ on track, the most spectacular being from Stuart Latham in Group A, whose high-powered boat left the water and completed at least four barrel rolls, “which made a mess of his boat, but the occupants checked out okay.”

Meanwhile Caughey’s Sprintec business was also celebrating at the Altherm NZ Jetsprint Championship, with Sprintec boats first and second in MouthFresh SuperBoats and a Sprintec first in Group A, with Ollie Silverton, while Sam Newdick with Caughey’s old 575 motor showed real form in the qualifiers, dropping out in the top nine with an engine valve issue.”

The next points race is at Waitara on February 24, but Caughey’s also got his sights on the ENZED Stadium event at Baypark on January 25th, “It’s a jewel in the crown for the sport.”

Meantime he’s “pretty chuffed” with a fastest time of the day at Whanganui, “That time put a smile on my dial!”

RESULTS

Provisional, MouthFresh SuperBoats series, round 2

1 Peter Caughey 47.55 seconds
2 Ted Sygidus 49.475
3 Nick Berryman 49.516
4 Richard Murray 49.762
5 Rob Coley 50.082
6 Blake Briant 50.116
7 Baden Gray
8 Scott Donald
9 Sam Newdick

Provisional, MouthFresh SuperBoats points, top 5 after 2 of 6 rounds

1 Peter Caughey 60
2 Ted Sygidus 57
3 Blake Briant 50
4 Rob Coley 49
5 Nick Berryman 48

Altherm Window Systems NZ Championship - 2017/2018:

Round 3 - Waitara February 24, 2018
Round 4 - Hastings March 11, 2018
Round 5 Meremere March 24, 2018
Round 6 – New Plymouth, April 14

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