mmg.com.au

Echuca’s Little Man team of driver Shaun Tomkins, observer Garry McConnell and skiers Damien Cross and Andy Martin defended the boat’s SMOC expert title in 40 minutes and 11 seconds on Sunday.

Little Man came third in the SMOC social class on Saturday morning in 40:38, with Jai Welch skiing for Cross.

The top four boats were always predicted to battle it out for top spot on the first day of racing and The Speciman and Sonic Boats proved 31 and 30 seconds faster respectively.

Tomkins said the run could have been better.

‘‘We ran a slightly different prop today (Saturday). It’s been lined off and it was a bit of a handful to drive with,’’ he said.

‘‘(Before the race) I knew it was going to be harder to drive with, but it’s a little bit quicker.

‘‘We just had a lot of trouble getting it around the corners today.’’

But the early run only gave Tomkins more confidence heading into Sunday.

‘‘We’ll go into Sunday with a bit more confidence with the other prop I’ve got and I’ve got a couple of little changes to make,’’ he said.

‘‘Our start was pretty slow, so if we can knock another 30 seconds off our time today, which I think is achievable, then we’ll be close to the top.’’

The team did just that, wiping off 27 seconds to win by 34 seconds from Sonic Boats.