Lilley and Rutherford swap wins as NZBMC season opens at Lake Dunstan and Roxburgh

The 2026 NZBMC season is under way, and if the opening weekend at Lake Dunstan and Roxburgh is any measure of what lies ahead, the championship is shaping up as a hard-fought contest from first round to last.

Friday evening got things started at the Lake Dunstan Boat Club with scrutineering, followed by a casual meet and greet, the bar open and food caravans doing steady trade. Saturday delivered a packed day of racing across the wide Clutha and Kawarau arms of Lake Dunstan, with spectators lining the Bannockburn Inlet and the Lake Dunstan Trail to watch the Speed Race, Ski Race heats, and the Family Runabout Pace Event fill a long and entertaining day. Sunday shifted the action downstream as the fleet headed off for the Roxburgh and Return races, boats punching up the narrow gorge to the turning mark before racing back the way they had come. Everyone was off the water by 4:30pm, with prizegiving held in Clyde to close out the weekend.

The entry list draws from a broad sweep of powerboating disciplines, bringing together offshore racers, waterskiers, and seasoned circuit regulars. Nic de Mey of DEMEY Yachts campaigns his Phantom 2 raceboat War Machine, while Ryan Archer, a familiar face in offshore competition, pilots his Sonic 1900ss Supersonic. Joining them are well-known figures from the discipline: Brand Inder of Inders Marine in Gore aboard Dirty Addiction, Billy McEwan in his high-speed tunnel cat Outlaw, and John Byrman in his monohull Indecent Assault.

At Lake Dunstan, Jordan Lilley put Little Man at the top of the AV class standings after taking maximum points, though Paul Rutherford kept the margin slim with a strong run in Infrared. Further down the AV order, Nic de Mey in War Machine and Daniel Rule in The Mistress both scored well across the two rounds. Billy McEwan was flawless in Class AT, guiding Outlaw through both rounds without a single misstep.

Class B looks set to run all season as a genuine three-way contest, with Jordan Henderson's Conflict consistently at the front, Brad Inder's Dirty Addiction right in the picture, and Jake Hall's Full On refusing to be shaken loose. Camryn Sharpe stood out in Class E, with On The Gas quick and reliable enough to secure maximum points. Sean Archer's Twisted Treasure led Class D, and Peter McLeary's Pacifier took the honours in Class C.

The Roxburgh and Return format produced some revealing results. Billy McEwan in Outlaw and Peter McLeary in Pacifier were once again beyond reach, each collecting maximum points for the second round running in their respective classes. In Class B, Jordan Henderson aboard Conflict and Brad Inder in Dirty Addiction held the same positions they had occupied at Dunstan, suggesting those two have set the standard in that class and the rest of the field is effectively racing for third.

The AV class threw up the most interesting storyline of the Roxburgh day. Paul Rutherford brought Infrared across the line first after finishing second at Dunstan, flipping the order at the top and setting up what looks to be the season's standout head-to-head. Camryn Sharpe made it back-to-back class wins in On The Gas, and Sean Archer was dominant in Twisted Treasure for the second consecutive round in Class D.

The sharpest reversal of fortune belonged to Jem Mosdell in Rogue, who dropped from second place at Dunstan to a single-digit points score at Roxburgh. With only two boats contesting Class C, the gap that has opened between Pacifier and Rogue is now a significant one.

The Nominated Speed competition at Lake Dunstan proved lively. Martin Heanue in Hard Target took the win, Sam Pimm in Beetals came second, and Andrew Horsnell in Too Easy rounded out the podium in third. Roxburgh reshuffled that order: Sean Archer came from well down the running to win in Twisted Treasure, Indecent Assault claimed second, and Hard Target fell back to third. The championship picture in Nominated Speed remains tight and hard to predict.

Round 3 takes the fleet south to Lake Te Anau on 9 May.