The Next Gen elimination rounds showed that composure, not raw pace, tends to decide who reaches the podium when the pressure is on.
Cooper Silverton timed his final run well, recording a sub-50 pass to take the win. The drive was clean and controlled, exactly what the moment required. Mason Hareb backed up his campaign with a solid final run to claim second. Summer Hareb, pressing hard for the pace she needed, rolled while chasing the time. She got out of the boat safely, but the moment showed just how thin the margins become once the eliminations are underway.
Group B moved through the rounds at a steadier pace, with consistency proving more valuable than risk. Hamish Clark and Lisa Seator built their speed as the field thinned without forcing the issue, and that approach paid off in the final. Their run was clean enough to secure the win. Gemma Johnson and Richard Currie kept the pressure on through every elimination and finished second, while Andrew Craig and Scott Gouman negotiated the later rounds without incident to complete the podium in third. In a class where judgement counted as much as speed, the finishing order reflected it.
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The LS Class brought some of the tightest racing of the day. As the field reduced, reliability and recovery moved to the front of every crew's thinking. Paddy Haden and Jay Haden saved their best run for the final, posting the quickest time in the class to take the win. John Verry and Grace Alder had dealt with water in the hull during the earlier eliminations, regrouped, and delivered a clean final run for second. Connor Nairn and James Tuckey stayed in contention through a series of closely matched passes and held on for third. The top three finished separated by less than a second, which shows how unforgiving the class becomes once there is no room for error.
Group A eliminations narrowed the field quickly and set up a high-quality final between names that have been at the front of the class all season. Ollie Silverton had produced the fastest Group A run of the semi-final, cracking into the 45-second bracket, but it was Matt Hareb and Hayden George who came through to take the win in the final.
Kris Rasmussen and Holly Sutherland rounded out the podium, adding another consistent result to their season. The same three crews that occupied the front of the class in round one finished in the same order here, which points to how evenly matched the leading Group A contenders remain.
The Southern Jet Superboats eliminations were shaped by outright pace at the front and mechanical trouble further back. Reuben Hoeksema and Suzi Katavich set the benchmark for the entire meeting, stopping the clock just under 44 seconds to take the class win. Sam Newdick and Shama Putaranui stayed within reach through the eliminations and secured second, while Mike Hessell and Shaun White, strong early in the day, completed the podium in third. For others in the field, mechanical issues intervened as the pressure mounted and the runs got fewer.
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Across every class, the eliminations followed the same pattern. The crews who stayed clean advanced. Those who pushed fractionally beyond the limit did not. With Round 2 complete, the season shape is starting to settle, and from here the room for error only gets smaller.
