Who said scrolling Facebook is a total waste of time?
It panned out pretty well for David Richards.
He was killing time one night and stumbled across a posting on blokarting.
Eleven months later he finished second in the super heavy production class at the 2022 Blokart World Championship in Manawatu.
There were a lot of firsts in-between.
Bought his first blokart about a week after reading about it on social media.
Took the new toy out for his maiden run.
Sons Theo (11) and Freddie (8) got to ride shotgun as they all learned together.
Aramoana Beach was the perfect training ground and Oreti Beach in Southland offered an exciting change of scenery as well.
After that?
"Well, I thought I’d jump in the deep end and go racing with some of the best people in New Zealand and the world," Richards said.
More firsts. It was the first time he had raced competitively and the first time he had sailed on tarmac or asphalt .
It was a lot quicker than on sand, so that required some adjustment.
Competitors spent two days racing on a purpose-built track in Sanson and the rest of the time competing at the RNZAF base at Ohakea.
"We got to use the runways, which was fun."
No-one took off, but the 44-year-old did get his blokart up to a top speed of 70kmh - the quicker competitors got up to 80kmh.
That is really fast when you are sitting so close to the ground and have to manage the sail, steer the kart and figure out the best way to harness the wind.
Richards has a background in sailing and raced karts for a season "a long, long time ago". The sailing was an advantage, but he still had a lot of learning to do.
He got quicker and quicker as the week went on. In all he had 17 races.
"I was thrilled with how I went in such a short space of time," he said.
"But there are some very, very capable sailors out there."
Richards plans to compete at the New Zealand Open next year, but his goal in the sport is to help get a blokarting club up and running in the region.
Blokarts were invented by New Zealander Paul Beckett in 1999, so the sport is still very new.
"It’s not all about racing. The vast majority of karts sold are for recreational sailing. [It is a] great family experience getting out and sailing on Dunedin beaches," Richards said.
He is hoping to help organise a "give it a go day" when the wind and weather was suitable "with the ultimate aim to get a blokart club established in [the] lower South Island".
