THE Upper Hawkesbury Power Boat Club’s Bridge to bridge was hosted for the first time since 2014, with 222 Offshore taking out the title of the iconic race.
The power boat race followed the water skiing Bridge to Bridge in what was a huge weekend for power boats on the Hawkesbury River.
One person who unquestionably enjoyed the weekend was 222 Offshore’s Darren Nicholson, who along with Peter McGrath, steered their boat, which is normally an ocean race craft, up the Hawkesbury River to take line honours in the race.
Darren Nicholson, who won his second Bridge to Bridge, said he was stoked with how everything went at the weekend.
“It was good. We were trying to break the record but we had one motor that was a bit lazy,” he said of his run.
“Pete is very smiley about it all. I think he liked having all the horse power. It was a lot of fun having the boat jump and leap around like it did.”
Nicholson is from Lake Macquarie, but the boat is from the Gold Coast and he said it was a big effort to get it down to the Hawkesbury, but it was always worth it.
“The town is always super supportive, and it is great to come down,” he said.
“It is a fair commitment but it is worth it because of the enthusiasm of the locals.
“Coming up the river there are all these different spots, packed with people waving at you. We don’t want to be rude, but we can’t waive back.”
Upper Hawkesbury Power Boat Club commodore John Davoll said he was relieved the race was finally done, after spending a couple of years planning for its return.
“The club was very pleased with the support from all the competitors who had all been vying to get this historic race back on the calendar,” he said.
Davoll said it was certainly a challenge running two major events on the Hawkesbury River in the same day.
“With great help from all the course boats and RMS we managed to run a trouble free event,” he said.
The 222 Offshore boat completed the course in a time of 32 minutes and 10 seconds.
Finishing the race in a time of 32 minutes and 47 seconds was Team 3 boat driven by Tom Barry Cotter and Travis Thompson, while in third place it was Team 88 Racing driven by Michael and Gryff Ethol.
Hayden Sherry was competing for third place, while driving Paul Vella’s former hydroplane Impatient, however, he had engine problems not far from the finish and had to stop.
Hawkesbury drivers Tom Kaal in a 300 horsepower boat and Grant Jury in the 105-mile-per-hour class both won their respective classes at the weekend.
