The Lipton family is with us for several seasons

Moreover, amateurs will be able to enjoy the presence of the “kiwi” at the Regatta Seaplane League competition sites and throughout North America. For the first time since the original Jack Lupton ride in St. Francis Bay in 2018, residents of Waverley, New Zealand have agreed to spend the entire summer with us without having to travel 14,600 kilometers back to their corner of the country. in the middle of the season. And that’s what the Lupton family is planning for next year.

“We love HRL and its people. The welcome from the teams is very hot,” his father, Warwick Lupton, who has 38 years of hydroplane racing, said in an interview. While the patriarch became a racer in 1984, the oldest in the family Kane followed in his father’s footsteps in 2004 .

“I started at 17 and have never ridden anything but a Grand Prix boat,” states the Lucas Oil driver GP-577, who earned 8 championship points in his New Zealand activity. Although he also pays tribute to the brotherhood of the racers and the professionalism of the organizers, Ken Lupton explains his enthusiasm for North American speedboats with a desire to win at Régates de Valleyfield. “It’s the biggest event and it’s what brought our family here. We’d like to win in front of all these fans,” says 35-year-old Kiwi.

Jack Lupton, who took the podium at his first experience in the Mecca Regatta marking the 80th.^e Anniversary in 2018, he remembers Pierre Miho’s festivities in Valleyfield during his three conquests. “He was my idol and one of the reasons why I wanted to come and race here,” said the 28-year-old, who drove the new ‘GP-33’ to the winner’s circuit in Guntersville (Alabama) last 26. Jun.

The tall, friendly blonde thought the idea of ​​staying all season on the North American continent was a dream. “Now that’s a reality and we hope to be back for several years,” Jack Lupton rejoices.

Installed in a rental apartment in Brockville (Ontario), Luptons have already placed an order for two new cars at Henderson’s workshops, and construction has already begun. The two boats that spectators will be able to enjoy at this year’s Régates de Valleyfield will be shipped to New Zealand at the end of the season, while the new bodies and engines assembled by Paul Hewitt will remain permanently in Brockville in a warehouse built for their home.

Operating companies pass from generation to generation, with 4,000 dairy cows and a fleet of over 80 transport trailers, Lupton can leave for a few months to satisfy their passion for regatta. “We have a hundred employees who take good care of our business. This is what allows us to immerse ourselves in our favorite sport,” Warwick Lupton rejoices.