mmg.com.au

Spectators had to look twice when Top Gun fired past the finish line on Saturday afternoon because the man driving the boat would probably have been asked for his ID when he entered the pub that night.

Croydon resident Sam Handley, who turned 18 in December, was the youngest driver at the Southern 80 on the weekend and completed his first competitive race without a sweat.

He said he was anxious at the starting line at Five Mile boat ramp but felt relaxed once the driving had begun.

‘‘I was pretty nervous, but we got away with a clean start and had a bit of fun,’’ he said.

‘‘Once you’re out there you don’t get nervous.’’

Handley teamed up with observer Ashlee Cuff and skiers Suzanne Cuff and Louise Mudgway in the veterans over 40 class.

He has been involved in ski racing for four years and only started driving in December.

The boat, which is of no relation to Top Gun from Jannali, was the same vessel which ran up the banks of the Murray River in the Southern 80 two years ago.

‘‘The boat I was driving used to be Dad’s boat,’’ Handley said.

‘‘Dad had it for 15 years and then he sold it and got out of ski racing for a little bit.

‘‘Then my brother (Alex) bought it back when we got back into ski racing and put it up the bank at the Southern 80.’’

Handley paid for the boat’s repairs and bought a new engine for it.

‘‘It cost me a fair bit, but if it wasn’t Dad’s first boat I probably wouldn’t have got it fixed,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s more for the sentimental value.’’

And when it came to driving, the teenager said the biggest challenge was to keep the boat smooth coming into a bend.

‘‘I haven’t been driving all that long, so I’m still learning,’’ he said.

‘‘But with the girls I can go at a pace I’m comfortable at and so are they.

‘‘I don’t really get that loose too often.’’

Handley skied behind Top Gun in the 200hp outboard social class on Saturday morning to come sixth and came fifth in the 200hp outboard expert class yesterday.

He also came third in the 16-19 boys expert skiing behind Tiger Force Racing yesterday.