Lake Maraetai delivered a crisp Sunday morning for the second day of racing. With the wind gone and the sun climbing, crews were already packed into the pits before 08:00 hrs, spanners, fuel drums, and coffee cups in hand. For the GP teams, the overnight priority had been straightforward: find more pace, keep the machinery intact, and reach the finish line.
Jack Lupton was the first to admit where his attention had gone between Saturday and Sunday. "We just needed a little more lift in the turns," he told Shot360 Photography ahead of the day's first race. "It's forgiving here compared to Canada, but if we get a good start, we'll have a shot."
That shot arrived, and he took it.
The early heats were shared around between Jack, Ken, and Scott Coker, but Heat 3 provided the sharpest drama. A spin for Ken forced a restart, and Jack seized the opening. He took the win in the re-run, with Coker's Howzat pressing close behind.
The final followed a similar pattern, except no restart was needed. Jack nailed his start and held clean water from beginning to end. "We had a bit of a game plan with Adam, our radio man," he said after climbing out of the boat. "Ken always gets good starts, so we matched him, got clean water, and kept the lines tidy. The engine was super strong — the old girl from Canada still has plenty of life in her."
Ken finished second overall, though his path there was far from straightforward after that early spin. "We hit a few rollers in the corner and went around," he said. "We had to back out of the next start and lost momentum. Once you're wide at Mangakino, it's hard to come back. But we'll take the points — it's the first round, and we're building toward the Masport and Griffith Cups." His self-built GP577 Lucas Oil ran without fault for the rest of the weekend, and the Waverley veteran left with valuable championship points and a clear sense of where the season is headed.
Scott Coker rounded out the podium in third, having kept Howzat moving consistently through every heat. "The goal was to start and finish every race, and we did that," he said. "We had a couple of small issues — broke a few bolts, lost a cable — but the boat came back every time. That side-by-side run with Jack was awesome. It's the first time I've had clean water all weekend." The Howzat team plan to return for Round 2 at Mangakino with a new supercharger fitted.
While the GP class drew the headline results, the categories below it were just as central to the event's character. Junior and Clubman competitors raced alongside Formula 3 and 6-litre Hydro boats, with families stretching the length of the banks and spilling through the pits. That combination of grassroots effort and serious speed is precisely what makes Hydro Thunder one of New Zealand's most accessible forms of motorsport.
Jack's victory also carried a notable statistical footnote. He became the sixth different Grand Final winner across as many rounds, a detail that speaks to how tightly contested the series has become. "Every race counts," he said. "Everyone's stepping up, so we have to as well."
Hydro Thunder now takes a short break before returning to Mangakino on December 6-7 for Round 2. From there the season swings south through Twizel, Karapiro, and Nelson, with the Masport Cup shaping as the season's defining showdown.
Long after the engines had cooled, spectators were still gathered along the bank at Lake Maraetai, a reminder that behind all the noise and speed, Hydro Thunder remains a sport built around families and communities.
