Round 1 of NZ Offshore Heads to Taupo

Roaring engines, screaming fans and huge clouds of spray will once again dominate the waterfront at Taupo this weekend when the New Zealand Offshore Powerboats come to town for their annual visit to start their racing season. This year will be as big and bright as ever with a display of these powerful and colourful boats at Northcroft Reserve all day on Saturday and on Sunday morning before the crews take to the water in what promises to be an exciting and action packed event at 1.00 pm on Sunday afternoon.

Every year sees changes to boats and crew as new sponsors come on board and boats change hands. This year is no different and the first time the teams get together after a winter of tinkering in their boatsheds is always a surprise with new paintjobs to look at and stories to be shared about improvements made and new speeds achieved in practice. Plenty of adrenaline will be pumping as the boats line up to see if the long hours and work they have done will pay off with a successful completion of the race and, fingers crossed, a win in their class. Early points in this series mean a lot to the teams as they set the standard that others have to try and meet, so Sunday's races will be hard fought and you can expect plenty of close racing as the boats try to overtake each other and dominate the race course.

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