Picture: GRANT SCHWARTZKOPFF
IT was a huge weekend for Mount Gambier boat racers in the 40th annual Riverland Dinghy Derby, despite some machinery issues along the way.
The team of Nick Neave and Anthony Tos headed up for their second crack at the biggest race of the year and while they finished in seventh place in their class – compared to second last year – they left nothing in the water.
An accident in the week leading up to the event saw some rushed major repairs, which were not completed by the time Saturday came around.
However, the pair pushed on and ensured the boat was ready to race on Sunday, despite being somewhat slower in a straight line than some of their direct competitors.
The rushed repairs – which included the floor – saw the boat down in speed substantially, but through the twisty creeks the two pushed hard and made up valuable time.
In the end they went faster than their inaugural run last year and certainly seemed to enjoy the experience again.
“We did not go too bad really,” Neave said.
“The boat was slow and we could not do much about that, so we had to sit out on the open water, relax and wait for the creeks.
“That’s where we were making up our time.”
The week leading up to the event was supposed to be spent on testing and practice, but instead it required time-consuming repairs.
That meant little time at the event to check out the layout of the circuit, which put the team on the back foot.
“We had zero time to test leading up to it,” Neave said.
“But it is what it is – everyone has problems leading up to it.
“We went on the sweep boat so we could see the course for the first time since last year and we had a spare boat to cruise through the creek to see where the track went, but that was all the practice we got.
“Unfortunately the repairs made the boat slower, but it was too late to worry about it.
“We hoped to crack the top 10 and we got seventh, which was good.”
After a clean start to the race, Neave and Tos knew they had to make up time through the slower sections of the circuit.
While they managed to enter the creeks in around third place for their particular group, they need to pass as many boats as they could.
However, the pace the pair were running at through the twisty sections brought about further issues, as slower boats were rounded up, with little room for error.
“We were making time up in the creeks because we were a lot more confident after competing last year,” Neave said.
“Basically we had it flat the whole time and did not really button off at all.
“We passed a fair few boats and nearly cleaned up one we were trying to overtake.
“After jumping off their wash we went into the sticks a bit, got a heap of weeds rapped around the prop and thought we wrecked it.
“We got out into the open water, lifted the motor up to see what was on there, ripped the weeds off and kept going, so we were pretty lucky with that.”
Neave said they even joked about more drastic measures to remain towards the pointy end of the field.
“We were joking about cutting people off and getting the oars out to help us get along a bit quicker,” he said.
“The boat was the only thing holding us back.
“We were only doing about 65kph when the rest of the front runners were doing about 70-74.
“Once we get the boat right we will be a contender again, but we have to pull our fingers out and do some prep work.”
Neave said the weekend event threw up some interesting weather conditions.
“It is normally good weather up there, but they had a stupid amount of rain,” he said.
“We were sitting in the boat trying to sponge it out before our race and it was filling up as quick as we could sponge it out.
“That was crazy.”
Neave said their first crack at the derby last year was enjoyable, with everything new to the rookies.
He said they knew what to expect this year, but the accident turned their plans upside down.
However, Neave said it was “just how it rolls”.
“We probably had just as much fun if not more this year,” he said.
“We knew we were going to be slower so we did not stress too much.
“We just enjoyed it.”
