Both Lake Tekapo and Caroline Bay will play host to the next two rounds of the New Zealand Boat Marathon Commission 2023 series.
The annual event is hosted by the Milton Boat Club in Lake Tekapo while the Caroline Bay event, known as the Roaring Forties, is run by the Timaru Yacht and Powerboat Club with the help of Trust Aoraki.
The action in Lake Tekapo will begin on Saturday at 11am with the nominated speed race, followed by Sunday’s event in Timaru, where races will also start at 11am.
Roaring Forties race convener Don Weir said crowds would be treated to more than a dozen powerboats across several different classes.
"There are classes from A right down to F.
"A is about 300 horsepower outboard and then they go down progressively to the smallest class which is about 90 horsepower.
"We have got one bigger offshore race boat from up north running, it’s a 30ft twin outboard offshore catamaran, which should be quite cool."
Competing from South Canterbury are brothers Jacob and Lachy Hall, Jordan Henderson and 17-year-old Lily Weir.
Mr Weir said it had been great to see his daughter progress in the sport.
"I co-drive with her which is just sitting in the passenger seat.
"She’s been racing powerboats since she was 12. It’s been really cool being in there with her, I’m really enjoying it."
Both events will feature speed and nominated speed races.
At Lake Tekapo the races will run separately while at Caroline Bay they will run simultaneously.
The speed races have the competitors simply race as fast a possible to see who is the quickest in class, whereas the nominated speed race could be won by even the slowest boat.
Mr Weir said the nominated speed race was something he wanted to focus on building up.
"In the future I really want to build on getting the number of locals taking part in the event up.
"I haven’t been able to this year because we were a little late getting it all together.
"The race boats even do it but they still go flat out but just guess what their average speed will be.
"Sometimes the fastest boat can win nominated speed but just as equally, so can the slowest boat.
"It really makes prizegiving fun."
The A and B classes will be racing over 100km, the C and D class will race 80km and the E and F will do 60km.
Mr Weir said it was great to have an event at Caroline Bay.
"All of our races except the Timaru one are in lakes, so the Roaring Forty is my baby, because I love getting that offshore round in.
"I love getting to mix it up with bigger water."
The event is completely free to watch. For the Roaring Forties, spectators can watch from all the way along the Marine Pde. Food stalls will be available and the races will run for about one hour.
In Lake Tekapo the marathon speed race will start at 1.30pm.
The event would be weather dependent, Mr Weir said.
"Hopefully it’s rough enough for some excitement but not rough enough that it gets called off."
