The owner of a high speed jet boat and his racing mate had a lucky escape when the boat caught fire and became engulfed in flames as they sped down the Rakaia River.
Richie Foster and Brent Mills were in the first boat on the river in the Canterbury Rivers Race when the boat engine caught fire at 9.30am on Saturday.
River Racing NZ committee member Ethan Smith said the pair were racing their unlimited class (U185) boat with a helicopter gas turbine engine when it suffered a “catastrophic failure”.
“They noticed that it was on fire and they just beached it onto the closest ground and hopped out.
“They tried to extinguish it but it’s quite a lot of fuel. It is what it is - just burnt to the ground.”
