Next Gen finals reward composure
The Next Gen elimination rounds delivered one of the clearest examples of how pressure reshapes racing.
With only three boats left, the focus shifted away from outright speed and onto execution. Cooper Silverton timed his run well, producing a sub-50 pass in the final to take the win. It was clean, controlled, and exactly what the moment required.
Mason Hareb followed with a solid run to secure second. Summer Hareb, pushing hard for the time, rolled while chasing the pace. She exited the boat safely, but her run highlighted just how narrow the margin is once the eliminations begin.
Group B settles into a familiar order
Group B followed a steadier path through the elimination rounds, with consistency proving more valuable than risk.
Hamish Clark and Lisa Seator remained composed as the field thinned, building speed without forcing the issue. Their approach paid off in the final, where they delivered a clean run to secure the win.
Behind them, Gemma Johnson and Richard Currie maintained pressure through each elimination, finishing second. Andrew Craig and Scott Gouman completed the podium after managing their way through the later rounds without incident.
It was a class where judgement counted, and the final order reflected it.
LS Class delivers late intensity
The LS Class eliminations brought some of the tightest racing of the day.
As the field reduced, the focus shifted firmly to reliability and recovery. Paddy Haden and Jay Haden delivered their best run in the final, posting the quickest time of the class to take the win.
John Verry and Grace Alder recovered from water in the hull earlier in the eliminations, regrouped, and produced a clean final run for second. Connor Nairn and James Tuckey stayed in the fight throughout, holding onto third after a series of closely matched passes.
The top three finished separated by less than a second, underlining how tight the class has become once mistakes are no longer an option.
Group A continues its season-long contest
Group A eliminations narrowed quickly, setting up another high quality final between familiar names.
Ollie Silverton produced the fastest Group A run of the meeting, breaking into the 45 second bracket to take the win. Matt Hareb remained close throughout the eliminations and finished second after another committed run.
Kris Rasmussen and Holly Sutherland completed the podium, adding another consistent result to their season. It was the same trio seen earlier in the year, though in a different order, reinforcing how evenly matched the front of the class remains.
Superboats bring outright speed and consequence
The Southern Jet Superboats eliminations were defined by pace and reliability.
Reuben Hoeksema and Suzi Katavich set the fastest time of the entire meeting, stopping the clock just over 44 seconds to take the win. Sam Newdick and Shama Putaranui stayed within reach through the eliminations to secure second.
Mike Hessell and Shaun White rounded out the podium after a strong early showing, while mechanical issues sidelined others as the pressure increased.
Clean runs decide the day
Across every class, the elimination rounds followed the same pattern. The crews who stayed clean advanced. The ones who pushed a fraction too far did not.
With Round 2 complete, the margins are clear and the season shape is starting to settle. From here on, the room for error only gets smaller.
