Melbourne Runabout & Speedboat Club

100th Anniversary
E.C Griffith Cup Has Been Run & Won

By Scott Lambert www.gphydro.com

Friday testing was great on the water with the home boy's of GP1 Grant Harrison & GP7 Dragula Tom Heffernan showing good speed against the interstates of GP888 Mystic Miss or G-Force of Paul Cunningham, GP666 Tattoo Mat Ferris & GP3 Warlord with Graham Weller behind the wheel. New Zealand's Cheetah with Ken Lupton smashing the pedals was really getting dialed in & about to show what New Zealand's power has to offer. This was going to be a weekend full of thrills & spills with everything on the line... Tom Heffernan hurt the gearbox in Dragula during a test run & while busily trying to get it repaired for the Saturday's event copped a prop on the chin & needed 2 stitches...

With Saturday turning the lake into a wind farm (thanks mother nature) it only left the Sunday to thump all the racing onto the water & let the boys go full tilt & show each other up in a do or die situation. This was it, everything was left on the line & as the boats where lifted into the water for heat 1 it saw Loose in the Dark, Tuff E Nuff, Cheetah & Oxygen Thief flung around the course to see Cheetah 1st, Loose in the dark 2nd Oxygen Thief then followed up by Tuff E Enough. Race 2 Got to see Tattoo, Nova & GP1 head out onto the track to throw down the laps. Tattoo stopped as they went off for the warm up so was classed as a DNS so it was down to a 2 boat race. The flag dropped & it was full noise from the guys as GP1 surged to the lead & was out to show why the defending Champ had something to prove on the home track but sadly Grant prop was flung off in the first corner bringing the big GP1 to a stop & allowing Nova to continue before the gremlins also got control of Nova & stopped it on the back straight only seconds after Grant did.. This sadly put both boats out of the race & unable to compete for the cup.

Heat 3 got to see Image, Dragula & Outlaw start out onto the track. With all boats looking good the flag went down & Outlaw sprung to the lead & smashing its way around the first corner, Dragula was sponson walking it's way after Outlaw before it stopped just near the first corner & Dragula took over but suddenly on the front straight only meters away from the line the gearbox snapped & Dragula was dead in the water allowing Image to run past & take the win in Heat 3.

Heat 4 got to see Warlord, The Chase & G-Force come down to the past the start boat & around the corner. G-force shut down with a fuel issue leaving Warlord & the Chase to fight it out & finish the race, now it came down to times for the Griffith Cup to see who would pole where as the race that should stop the nation was about an hour away.

The Race that Should Stop the Nation The E.C Griffith Cup Final saw Warlord, Cheetah & Loose in the Dark head out onto the track for a ding dong battle of New Zealand vs Australia. The flag dropped & the boys flat sticked the boats down to the first peg & showing good speed. Warlord itching away from Cheetah as the race went on was showing that the new engine combo had done it's job & allowed Graham to cross the line 1st & give Ron his 12th E.C Griffith Cup win. Ken in Cheetah coming in 2nd with a smaller motor was showing that the boat was going to be force to reckoned with. Wayne Smith driving Loose in the Dark took out 3rd place& was keeping the GP's in toe as he was showing the KT's can give the hydro's a big scare if your not ready for him.