[BOATS] Spectacular Temora Superboat crash

23 November, 2009

When West Australian V8 Superboat Group A regulars Chris Kent purchased his brand-new New Zealand built Sprintec hull during the second half of the 2009 West Australian season, his plan was to come to the 2009 UIM World Championship events on the East Coast with 'B' driver Alan Carr with a view to being competitive against the best teams on the planet.

Little did they expect to become instant sensations amongst the national media, but that's the way things have panned out in the opening (of two) round of the world title chase after Carr and navigator Jo Price suffered the accident of the year, or as Channel Ten's 'Sports Tonight' so aptly put it; the play of the day.

"It was my fault," Alan admitted post crash. "I just clipped the right hand bank on the final run to the line, and couldn't make the last turn and went straight up the bank. I remember closing my eyes because I knew what was coming, but after a short while it went quiet so I opened them again and saw dirt, sky, dirt, sky and then water..."

Whilst a dramatic accident in anyone's language (see Brian Scott's sequence of images with this article), testament to the strength of build of these boats, and the safety equipment on board, both Alan and Jo emerged with only minor injuries.

Jo was taken to the Temora hospital for observation, where they felt she may have suffered an injury to her foot, although because of swelling they were unable to prove that conclusively, so she will attend a specialist in Melbourne on her way to the Melton round in just four days time.

From Alan's perspective, he was a bit shaken, but signing autographs for spectators just moments after the crash. "My left foot is pretty sore, they wonder whether I might have broken a toe, but I'm alright, just very disappointed. The focus now is on repairing the boat in preparation for next weekend."

At first glance the Peter Caughey built Sprintec is a write-off, suffering a huge bend in the transom and the rear end of the boat. Fortunately though neither the jet unit, nor the engine appear to have suffered damage.

"Peter Caughey (the winner of the Unlimited class at the event and a five-time world champion) had a look at the boat this morning and said he would work with us to fix it," Alan admitted with relief in his voice. "We're on our way now to Tremayne Jukes' Stingray boats (Jukes builds the major brand of Australian Superboats which competes directly against the New Zealand built machines) headquarters in Melbourne where he will assist us in rebuilding the hull, we hope in time for next weekend. Apparently the bottom of the boat (the most critical element to the performance of the boat) is okay, so we'll do our very best between now and Saturday to get it right again."

Teams now enjoy a few days to recover before action gets underway for the second and final round of the championships at Melton's McPherson Park on Saturday (November 28).