After a disappointing opening round DNF on Lake Taupo the previous weekend, Warren Lewis and Steve Whitford in the ‘Fairview Windows and Doors’ Skater Superboat got their 2010 Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championship campaign back on track with a spectacular victory in Gisborne.

  

It was the first time in Gisborne for the NZ Offshore Championship in nearly ten years, and another strong line-up of Superboats and Superboat Lights were on hand to put on a show for the thousands of locals that lined the Bay.

  

Overhead it was a beautiful Sunny day in Gisborne, but a combination of tricky swells and windy conditions further out on the course meant that the teams couldn’t afford to relax for the twelve lap, 100 mile race.

  

Soon after the start, in what would eventually prove to be quite difficult conditions, ‘Fairview’ and Australian Superboat ‘Team 3’ distanced themselves from Taupo winner ‘Doosan’, and ‘A1 Homes’. ‘Fairview’ and ‘Team 3’ were never more than five second s apart for the first seven laps of the race, with both boats pushing each other right to the limit around the course.

  

It was a classic ‘Trans Tasman’ battle to watch from the shore and on the water, but then Lewis and Whitford in ‘Fairview’ were able to extend their lead over Team 3 to around seven seconds on lap eight. The duo had just set the fastest lap of the race on the previous lap of 5 minutes and 55 seconds for the 8.4 mile (13.5km) course to extend their advantage over ‘Team 3’.

  

However, also on lap eight, just in front of the two battling Superboats, the reigning NZ Superboat Light Champions Kelly and Grant Smith in ‘Rayglass’ rolled their boat at the Southern end of the course. The pair had caught a rogue wave while making a turn, but with the assistance from the Marine Paramedics team, both were able to extract themselves from the upturned boat. Thankfully both were OK, but with divers in the water, that meant the race was red-flagged before the scheduled twelve laps were complete. With the final finishing order taken back to the placings on lap seven, ‘Fairview Windows & Doors' were the Gisborne winners from ‘Team 3' and ‘Doosan'.

“This win is a great way to come back after Taupo” explained Warren Lewis after the race. “The conditions were far more difficult than what we had expected from earlier in the day, but again, like Taupo, Steve also did a great job driving in just his second ever race in a Superboat”   

‘Doosan’ continues to lead the Championship after two rounds on 775 points, followed by ‘Team 3’ (675 points), ‘A1 Homes’ (619 points), and ‘Fairview’ (550 points).

  

However for ‘Fairview’, the Championship is now a lot tighter after the results in Gisborne.

  

The next race for the 2010 Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championship (Round 3) is at Gulf Harbour on Auckland’s North Shore, Saturday, February 20.

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The new ‘Fairview Windows and Doors’ combination of Warren Lewis and Offshore Superboat Rookie Steve Whitford had a disappointing end to the opening round of the 2010 Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championships on Lake Taupo last weekend (Jan. 31). 

Whitford, who has been helping to prepare the Fairview Skater Superboat through his Auckland based Marineworx business, joined the team during the offseason, with last years driver Ted Taiatini unavailable to race during the 2010 season. With some successful record breaking runs, a full off season rebuild, and a couple of successful tests, the team arrived ready for action for the 2010 season opener.

Wind and rain greeted the nearly thirty teams assembled at Taupo for ‘Thunder on The Great Lake’ on race day, but thankfully conditions improved markedly for the race start at 1.30pm. While still overcast, the wind was gusting in from the south east at between 25 – 30 knots making it tricky for some of the smaller boats, but not the four big Superboats.  

Lewis and Whitford in the ‘Fairview Windows and Doors’ 35 Foot Skater made a good start to the twelve-lap, 100 mile race, battling initially with the former ‘Sleepyhead’ Phantom Superboat “Doosan’, Australian Superboat ‘Team 3’, and ‘A1 Homes’, who had problems initially getting up on the plane at the start.

‘Fairview’ then worked their way to the front and traded the lead with ‘Doosan’ for the better part of the next six laps, with both boats putting on a great show for the thousands that lined the Lake Taupo foreshore.   

Disappointingly though for ‘Fairview’, all their hard work during the offseason came to nothing, as a power steering hose failed on the seventh lap while leading, bringing the big Skater to a standstill out on the course.

“To say I’m devastated is an understatement. It was a brand new part!”, explained Warren Lewis after the race. “We had the boat speed, and Steve was doing a great job driving considering it was his first time in the boat in race conditions. I know there are still seven rounds still left to go, but we’ve dropped four hundred points already to the Championship leader, but we’ll regroup and go for the win in Gisborne”  

The race was won in the end by Superboat rookies Sam Fillmore and Cary Gleeson in ‘Doosan’, followed by ‘A1 Homes’, and ‘Team 3’.

The next round of the Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Champion is this coming Saturday (Feb. 6) in Gisborne.

28/7/09
Not satisfied with their Great Barrier Island record run from one month ago, The Fairview Windows and Doors Offshore Superboat team of Warren Lewis and John McLean again reset the longstanding Auckland Harbour Bridge to Great Barrier Island and return record yesterday afternoon (Monday, July 27), lowering the previous mark of 1 hour and 18 minutes to a blistering 1 hour and 6 minutes. With a total distance of 112 miles (180 kilometres) Lewis’ and McLean’s average speed was over the 100mph mark. 

Chris Bartlett had set the previous record time of 1 hour and 45 minutes back in 1994 in a 19ft Ski Boat, a much smaller boat than the 35 foot long Fairview Superboat. In close to ideal conditions on the Hauraki Gulf starting at 2.50pm, NZ’s fastest Offshore Powerboat saw speeds of 130mph (208kph) during the record run, but was again slowed on the way out to The Barrier with some rougher water.

“Again we were caught out by just how rough it was further out towards Gt. Barrier, but this time it was the swells and wind speeds of 20 knots, rather than choppy conditions” said Lewis. “One hour and six minutes will be a time that will be tough to beat, but if we can get the right day in the future with the conditions we had closer to Auckland, I reckon a sub one-hour time could be achievable. The trick will be to get the absolutely right conditions, and that could well be a fluke rather than good planning!”

“We’ve got to say thanks to the Auckland Harbour Master, and Steve Whitford from Marineworx, especially for their efforts and patience shown over the last ten days while we’ve been trying to get the right weather window again to lower the record” added Lewis.

The Fairview Windows and Doors Superboat is a US built 35 foot-long Douglas Skater Offshore catamaran, and is powered by a pair of 525 horsepower V8 Mercruiser Big Block engines, producing a combined 1050 horsepower. Recently at the Flying Kilo Time trials on Lake Karapiro, Lewis and McLean achieved 136.85 mph (219kph) in the boat, the fastest ever speed recorded for a Superboat Offshore race boat in NZ.

Attention for the FMI Racing Team now focus’s towards the 2010 Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championships, starting again on Lake Taupo in January 2010.

 

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Press Release by Motor Mouth Media Ltd

Contact Jamie McCarthy

Ph.               021 727 884         021 727 884

23/6/09
The Fairview Windows and Doors Offshore Superboat of Warren Lewis and John McLean broke the longstanding Auckland Harbour Bridge to Great Barrier Island and return record this morning (Tuesday, June 23), lowering the time of 1 hour and 45 minutes set by Chris Bartlett back in 1994, to a blistering 1 hour and 18 minutes. With a total distance of 112 miles (180 kilometres) Lewis’ and McLean’s average speed was around the 86mph mark.

Former Formula Honda Champion Bartlett set the previous record in a 19ft Ski Boat, a much smaller boat than the 35 foot long Fairview Superboat. In ideal conditions on the Hauraki Gulf starting at 7.30am, NZ’s fastest Offshore Powerboat saw speeds of 130mph (208kph) during the record run, but was slowed on the way out to The Barrier with some rougher water.

“We were caught out by just how rough it was further out towards Gt. Barrier, but back on the return run we ran a slightly different course to avoid the rougher half metre plus swells” said Lewis. “If we can get the right day in the future with the conditions we had closer into shore this morning, I reckon a sub one-hour time could be achievable” he added, laying down a challenge to any of the other offshore racers around NZ. “It’s not as easy as you would think, and I can understand now why others have struggled to break the record previously.

 

The Fairview Windows and Doors Superboat is a US built 35 foot-long Douglas Skater Offshore catamaran, and is powered by a pair of 525 horsepower V8 Mercruiser Big Block engines, producing a combined 1050 horsepower. Recently at the Flying Kilo Time trials on Lake Karapiro, Lewis and McLean achieved 136 mph (218kph) in the boat, the fastest ever speed recorded for a Superboat Offshore race boat in NZ.

 

 

www.nzoffshore.co.nz

www.v8superboats.com

 

Press Release by Motor Mouth Media Ltd

Contact Jamie McCarthy

Ph.               021 727 884         021 727 884

 

With a brand new boat having only just arrived in NZ, and with little on the water and seat time, FMI Racing’s Warren and Scott Lewis sensationally won the first round of the 2009 Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championship on Lake Taupo in their brand new, state of the art, US built Douglas Skater, ‘Fairview Windows and Doors’.

 

The ‘Thunder on the Great Lake’ event proved to be just that, with an enthralling battle for outright honours on the water in beautiful sunny conditions, between the new Fairview Skater and Tony Coleman’s similar ‘Curekids’ Superboat. The two 35 foot long, 1050hp Superboats raced bow to bow, and side by side for nearly the entire 100 mile event, with Fairview earning the eventual opening round win late in the race, when Curekids tripped over another competitors wake at the final turn buoy with a lap to go.

 

“We’re ecstatic with the win” said Fairview’s Warren Lewis, after the hard fought race. “Scott and I haven’t had much time in the boat as yet, and that race more than doubled our seat time so far!”

 

“There’s some minor set up details on the boat we’ve got to sort out before the next round but we’re happy with where it’s at right now” Lewis explained. “To go head to head with Curekids here at Taupo with a year’s experience with their boat, is satisfying to say the least”. When asked about the difference’s between the teams older 32 foot long Skater and the new boat, Scott Lewis added, “ It’s hard to tell, because the condition’s were pretty calm here at Taupo compared to some of the other races around the country, but it feels good speed wise so far. The biggest difference is that Warren and I are now sitting beside each other under one canopy, not on opposite sides of the boat!”

 

The Fairview Windows and Doors Offshore Powerboat team now heads to Maraetai in Auckland for the second round of the 2009 Rayglass NZ Offshore Powerboat Championship, with the points lead, and renewed confidence in the new boat after their win on Lake Taupo.