HAWKESBURY boat driver Rhys Coles will look to defend his Dargle title when he takes to the water this long-weekend for the iconic race on the Hawkesbury River.
Coles has cleaned up at Dargle over the past two seasons, The Arch Spooner Australian Unlimited Outboard Championship, The Jack Howarth NSW Unlimited Outboard Championship, The King of the River Unlimited Open Invitation and the Dargle Gold Cup Unlimited Open.
The Butler Vehicles racer will surely have a target on his boat as he heads into the weekend of racing, but has proved his talent in the past and no doubt could do it again providing he avoids engine trouble.
Some of the other names to look out for at this weekend’s meeting are Simon Troy and Tate Ramsey.
Troy won his first F2 Championship this year, and will enter the weekend in great form.
He is a likely contender for the Dargle Gold Cup race in his 888 Racing boat.
He will also be racing against his partner Briney Pugsley, who will be driving in her BRP Racing boat, and just to make things even more daunting there will also be father-in-law Chris Pugsley in Shananigans in the same class.
Meanwhile Ramsey will travel from Victoria to contest the race.
Ramsey will drive his six-litre boat Zenith. His previous form includes a 2017 Jack Kavanagh victory, while finishing second in the EC Griffith Cup.
The major races this weekend are the John Burrows Smith Dargle Gold Cup and the King of the River Invitation. A new race called the Queen of the Creek has been added to the schedule, while there will be the ‘Grandfather Bertie’ for Unlimited Displacement and the ‘Casenails’ trophy for 6 Ltr and a round of the 4.2 Ltr Oz Boat Australian Championship too.
There a number of other classes including junior ones, while the visually spectacular hydroplanes also have a full class.
Over the weekend, money will be collected for the Children’s Hospital at Westmead by the event organisers.
For more information phone 02-4579-1291 or checkout the website www.dargle.com.au or the Dargle Water Ski Resort Facebook page.
