True Blue enthusiasm
When someone is prepared to tow a boat 4,500km across the country, taking well over two days of travel time each way, you have to ask why!
Just ask WA powerboat racing enthusiast, Paul Harvey, who along with his True Blue team from the Western Australian Speed Boat Club has made this journey for the last three years.
Harvey is one of about 120 members from the Club, which is situated on the Swan River in Burswood. In his younger days he used to race a small skiff in the 100cc class and, following a “short” break of 38 years, re-ignited his love for fast boats seven years ago, first as a spectator and eventually as a racer.
His boat – True Blue – is an Evercraft Capsule Boat 18'6" in the six metre class. Its top speed, says Harvey, has been clocked at 120mph (193kmh), and he reckons that at one time the manufacturer even managed 122mph (196kmh). This is the boat that will race at the Bundy Thunder, along with around 15 other WA boats.
Harvey says he is keen to be amongst the winners once again. He had a successful year in 2007, placing in both the Trojan Cup and Brad Pratt Memorial, although there was quite a bit of “excitement” in 2008, when his boat caught fire at the UIM International Display on the Gold Coast. A week later, he and his team had to repair two engines time for the Bundy Thunder.
Nonetheless, Harvey says he is fresh and ready to rip again in the 6lt injected class, and he simply can’t wait. “It’s one of my favourite events in Australia,” he says. “I love Bundy and I reckon it’s fantastic.”
The Wide Bay Australia Bundy Thunder is held from November 6-8 in Bundaberg, Qld. Visit www.bundythunder.com.au for more information.
PICS: True Blue and In Excess go head to head; The 2007 Trojan Cup winners (left to right): Michael Platts – Stairway to Heaven (NSW) 3rd; Craig Lewis – Image (Qld) 1st; Paul Harvey – True Blue (WA) 2nd.