A couple of weeks ago Craig Archer "chopped a big toe off with a skill saw'' and could not race his A-class V-hull Playco.
The Whangaparaoa resident was using crutches and was forced to watch what would have been his fourth New Zealand Boat Marathon Commission's Oamaru Marathon from Holmes Wharf on Saturday morning.
His friend, Mike Knight, of Auckland, and his wife Dael Armstrong-West, drove Playco.
"I was probably nervous for a change, whereas I never am,'' Mr Archer said.
But he was "very happy'' with their performance.
Missing out on the race was not ideal, as Oamaru was the only race in the South Island series that took to the ocean.
"You go to races and it's flat calm and it's not a challenge.''
While her husband made do with South Island hospitality, Ms Armstrong-West enjoyed her first race in the sea, despite the "body beating'' from the 1m swell.
"You do get that air, but it's not only the air, it's when you come down. It was very much a two-handed job this time, holding yourself into the seat, and holding yourself into the boat.''
Mr Archer's brother, Brett Archer, also of Whangaparaoa, co-drove his A-class tunnel-hull Simrad with his nephew Ryan Archer.
His yellow tunnel-hull and the B-class Yamaha - aka the Yamaha Bat Boat - driven by Mark Taiatini battled neck and neck for the entire 100km race.
Mr Archer said pitting his brawny catamaran against the smaller, highly manoeuvrable Bat Boat made for a fun race.
"Fortunately we've got a little bit more top speed than Mark in the Bat Boat, the Yamaha boat, so we could pass him coming down the beach. The rest of the time, I just had to keep him at bay. We didn't have to push it on the outside. We were running far harder than I wanted to, he was keeping us way too honest in my opinion, but as I said, we've probably got 8 to 10 miles per hour over him ...''
First to officially finish the course was the C-class Shooter driven by Jamie Chittock, of Gore.
He was helped by the lone E-class entry Gutterblack's driver John Hardie, of Timaru, who crossed the line first, but missed a marker and had to make up a lap.
Three boats did not finish the race due to mechanical failures.
Oamaru driver Nigel Smethurst, in his C-class Integrated Mech, suffered a couple of mechanical failures during the race. He managed to finish but came a disappointing third in his class.
