Humphrey and Pooley win Otago Rivers Race as Smith CX crew finishes second overall

Canadian world champion Gord Humphrey and Kiwi navigator Mike Pooley claimed the opening round of the 2026 River Racing NZ National Championship Series, winning the Golden Homes Otago Rivers Race through consistent, error-free racing across three of New Zealand's toughest river systems.

Run across the Dart, Shotover and Kawarau, and Matukituki rivers, the event was the first of four rounds in a new championship format where overall New Zealand titles are decided by accumulated time across the entire series. That structure punishes mistakes mercilessly, with every leg adding to a cumulative total that cannot be undone.

Humphrey and Pooley, aboard Unnatural Disaster, gave it very little to punish.

The opening stages on the Dart River gave little away. Only seconds separated the leading crews, with Roger Preston and Ben Preston showing sharp early form and Andrew Scott equally well placed. Everything pointed toward a tightly contested weekend, with the outcome far from settled.

Day two brought a significant change to the programme. The cancellation of Legs 5 and 6 on the Shotover and Kawarau elevated the importance of every remaining run, and it was the Matukituki River from Leg 7 onwards that ultimately determined where the honours went.

Unnatural Disaster never produced the outright fastest time on any single leg, yet the crew's Matukituki sequence made the clearest case for their eventual victory. Times of 17:52, 11:19, 11:35, and 11:12 across those runs reflected a measured, disciplined approach that championship formats are designed to reward. Others in contention could not match that composure across the same stretch. Roger Preston recorded a 34:58 on Leg 9, and Andrew Scott suffered significant time losses in that same section, effectively ending both campaigns. Humphrey's winning total of 1:30:22 was the reward for a clean weekend, not a single brilliant drive.

The front of A Class followed a similar pattern. Justin Hill and Josh Hamilton secured the class win through steady accumulation, building their result across the full programme rather than relying on any standout individual run. Tom Kelly remained a competitive presence throughout. Joseph Kelly demonstrated genuine front-running pace in the early stages, posting a 13:12 on Leg 1, but penalty legs eroded his overall position. Hamish Wright and Ben Baxter both produced strong individual runs at various points without carrying that form through the complete event.

The most striking result of the weekend came from outside the Unlimited class entirely. Riley Smith and Scott Smith, competing in CX Class, crossed the line second outright with a total time of 1:39:50, splitting the Unlimited field and claiming their class win in the same result. For a CX crew to occupy second place overall is a notable achievement, and it stood as one of the clearest talking points to emerge from the round. Their race mirrored the approach that carried Unnatural Disaster to overall victory: clean runs on every river, no damaging errors, and a consistent level of performance delivered from start to finish. Damian Pulley applied pressure throughout the CX competition, and Brad Monk showed competitive pace across several legs, but the Smiths' reliability over the full event proved the decisive factor.

Regan Howley and Ollie Sharp took FX Evo honours. Times across that class were spread widely through the field, with a number of crews losing significant ground on individual legs, reinforcing that completing every run intact is the foundation any competitive result must rest upon.

The central lesson the Otago round delivered to the rest of the series is straightforward enough: the 2026 championship is unlikely to go to the crew with the highest peak speed. It will go to whoever best limits their losses across four events on four different river systems.

Round two of the series takes the field to Canterbury, with the Canterbury Rivers Race scheduled for 30 and 31 May, run across the Waimakariri and Rakaia rivers.

2026 Otago Rivers Jet Boat Race, final results

Class results

DNS

DNF

Penalty