The Taranaki Nutbuster 2011

The first annual ‘Naki Nut Buster Board and Buggy event was held on the 29th and 30th of January in 2011 on Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth. It was a beautiful location at the edge of the city with scenic views of the city and port with occasional glimpses of Taranaki Mountain.

Summer crowds on the beach and two surf clubs restricted the buggy area to a one kilometre stretch at the northern end of the beach that was littered with large boulders and hemmed along the foreshore by driftwood; a great place to ride, but caution and common sense were required.

Paul Crafar had recently sacrificed 700 virgin goats when his boss downsized the farm and this bountiful offering was rewarded with plenty of wind – 30 to 40 knots with large gusts on Saturday and 15 to 20 knots on Sunday.

This big wind on the first day caused some issues early in the day with a few scary moments, breakages and unexpected failures. Al's hardwire system was ripped off his frame. Perrin had a line break only to snap back and injure his thumb. Plummet had a big scud between launching and landing some giant sausage of a depower kite. Cudby landed on his head lofted by a wee peel and everyone else seemed to have one form of incident or another.

After a while it all settled down. A couple of flexi stacks handled it well and a super speed wing was passed around. Perrin and Al managed to get their two metre quads running on seven metre line sets and between that lot most people got in a half decent ride surrounded by hazards in 40 knot plus winds.

The conditions prohibited any kind of full field race so racing was officially abandoned early in the day but by late afternoon the wind had lost a bit of its ferocity and a time trial was held. All riders used the same stack of two by six feet flexi stackers for two laps of a very short course that was getting smaller with each wave of the incoming tide. It was a relatively fair race and earned the top six in the event Western Circuit points. Al and Deano crashed the stack and Plummet did pretty well with the board but Thomas Martin in only his second ever event easily beat the field and won in fine style. After ten years out of the seat Cudby came back for a well deserved 2nd and Crafar, the most experienced man in the field with 32 years on the handles and 19 years in the seat, took 3rd place.

Sunday’s conditions were perfect. 15 to 20 plus knots, a nice angle and a bunch of riders ready to get some real riding in after the battering they took on Saturday. Kites and buggies appeared and the beach was ours.

The rule is that if three boards turn up there is a board race; two boards and the doom wheels fronted up for the Taranaki Board Champs: a three lap straight course with two flags 500 metres apart. Deano was complaining of a sore foot but hobbled to the start to line up with Dan Doom and the local boy who was keen to claim the beach as his own. The flag dropped and Dan roared off into the distance leaving Pummet and Deano trailing at the first mark. The first squall of the day made an appearance and the whole field was blown up the beach towards the driftwood. Dan was rolling on the ground and they all had to do a wee dance to get back on the hard. The wind shifted a little bit and the boys had to tack in a big wind. Deano resorted to walking; Dan did his side step but Plummet managed to make his big wheels work and slowly made his way back up to the mark. Two more laps on a less-than-perfect course and Plummet is the 2011 Taranaki Champ. Deano rolled in for 2nd and Dan took points for 3rd. It was truly an epic race in a changeable wind and Plummet showed his class to take the win on his home beach.

Two shovels appeared out of Plummets' car so the Martin boys and I dug a jump ramp. This was convenient for Plummet whom was keen on a long jump comp. And what a competition it was. There were three buggiers (Perrin, one of the most experienced buggy jumpers in the world; Al, his buggy weighing 60 kilograms and Thomas, never having jumped a buggy before and forced to improvise a seatbelt and straps) and a boarder (Plummet, of course). The wind for the competition had swung again and the ramp was wrong but the buggies hit it anyway. Thomas got some air, Al’s second jump was pretty good but in his first run Perrin launched his big moose buggy high and long for the buggy win. Plummet made us all go wow with a 16.6 metre distance to take the board and the “Nucking Futs” trophy. No breakages, no injuries, lots of fun.

I found Plummet's stash of tennis balls and started throwing them at people. I got my three metre up on its short lines and entered into the tag zone. Suddenly it was all on.

Two boards, doom wheels and a bunch of buggies mixing it up in a small area with eight tennis balls and the simple aim of hurting your buddies. We were supposed to be counting but in the end it was a case of just pick it up and throw it and then avoid getting hit. Buggies are great as they have a nice ball holder between your legs and we were riding right by the ground. The boarders had to hold the balls and their precious bits were a bit exposed. I think Plummet won but I got him good. Al got me twice in the same spot and Perrin just seemed like a machine gun. A series of tangles brought the game to a close. Lots of fun but don't play it with an angry man.

Restaurant parking is a game where you “park” in a parking space. Not so hard. You have to do a slide and change direction along the way but none of this stopped four guys from lining up for the first parking game since the Toast in ‘98. Al had been practising this since Christmas and Perrin had done it before so Conrad and Thomas were up against tough competition. So what do you do when the odds are against you? You hit it hard. Thomas just couldn't stop. Beautiful entry, straight into the box, but then suddenly the kite grabbed and he was out and rolling in the sand. Wet sand. Wet soggy sand that went everywhere. Thomas repeated this manoeuvre over and over and never really got where he wanted to be but you have to give it to the guy for trying. Conrad had a similar problem: lovely entry, all looking good but too much power. Fortunately he managed to get out of the box through a series of well-executed reverse 180 tacks; consistently close but not able to stop on demand. Perrin just stuck it time after time and got closer and closer but it was Al who took it out with a slightly controversial final run. Dan Doom represented the stand up boys and put in the only perfect run to take out the board. He may have been parking in a buggy space but he centred it perfectly. Plummet was hiding somewhere, perhaps after his tennis ball injuries.

Yes, I did put the box in the wettest bit of the beach and it made the photos look much better.

Finally we came down to it. The feature. A one hour race with boards and buggies over a technical course for Western Circuit points. Plummet had set the course and everyone was ready to go when Conrad had a bridle failure. A quick kite change saw him starting with an under size kite against the hot competition. The flag dropped and six riders headed on the fast down winder to the first mark. Perrin and Al went go around this flag 23 times before the end with the lead changing many times right up to the last marker. Plummet ran a very lonely race for 3rd earning himself ten more points but also adding another notch on his bar. After five laps he asked if the race was over only to be told there were 40 minutes to go. Crafar retired after two laps and Thomas and Conrad fought for the minor points. Conrad was obviously hamstrung by his small kite and put in an amazing effort to get around the course in good time with very few mistakes to bring in 4th. Thomas had a couple of offs and wee bit of kite trouble and the race went away from him. Up the front the battle was fierce, the lead constantly changing. Al ended up covered in wet Taranaki sand and could only just see. Just when it seemed Perrin had it in the bag Al did a kamikaze run down to the first mark and managed to haul in a big lead and pass by the first mark only to lose it at the second mark. Perrin had an uncommon failure, stopped and blocked the last mark. Al muscled his enormous buggy through the gap and over Perrin's buggy and went on for a well deserved win. The Blur took it from the Vapour. The depower came in 3rd and Conrad got through the hour.

Later there was a presentation of trophies and we all thanked Plummet for running such a fine competition. Thomas Martin left as points leader.

All going well, this will be an annual summer event.