The Lupton family hobby is GP hydroplanes - three of the V8 powered hydroplanes that raced up and down the town reach in Tauranga at more than 280km/h on January 17 and 18.

Warwick Lupton drives 007, his son Ken 009 and cousin David Alexander drives 008.
'We operate out of the same shed,” says Warwick.
'We have different sponsors and we are still pretty competitive. It's just something that's been going on for a while.”
They are based at Waverly, Wanganui, and all the neighbours for a good distance know when they are running up those engines.
It's the first time the GP hydroplane circuit has raced at Tauranga for 12 years and Warwick, who is also a New Zealand Hydroplane Drivers Club official, says the Tauranga meeting went well for a first time event.
'It could grow into something. Most competitors enjoyed it. Quite a few are coming back next year. It was a test run more than anything. It was the first run and everyone was getting a handle on things.
'They were doing 175mph, so they got along. The water conditions were pretty good.
A lot of the Tauranga people really appreciated it being there and they seemed to enjoy watching it.”
The world record is just over 179mph, about 288km/h.
David Alexander (Annihilator 008) won the Masport Cup from Scott Coker (Fair Warning) and Steve Hughes (Total) made third place.
It is a tough event. Four boats were towed in after one heat and starters for the final race were reduced. J. Michael Kelly (The Boss), Warwick Lupton and Brett Niddrie (Warlord) failed to start for the second race. Graeme Weller (G Force) broke down early in the second race to be a DNF.
Ken Lupton (Annihilator 009) won heat 2 with a damaged boat and after Warlord lost an engine on the third lap.
Heat 2a was stopped after The Boss lost a cowling which floated on the course.
Results were:
1st Ken Lupton 625pts.
2nd David Alexander 469pts.
3rd Brett Niddrie 400pts.
4th Graeme Weller 395pts.
5th Warwick Lupton 352pts.
6th Scott Coker 264pts.
7th J. Michael Kelly 127pts.
Other New Zealand Power Boat Association classes racing included Grand National class boats, similar to the GP boats, V8 powered but restricted to 4.2 litres, with turbos, superchargers, alloy blocks and heads permitted.
Other V8 boats are the flatties, basically a board with a great big engine strapped to it. The Pro Com class is limited to 7.7 litre injected V8 engines. They race around at 195km/h. The Pro Stock flatties are restricted to 6 litre V8 motors, and the Series 3000 class are restricted to 3 litre engines.
Modified Hydroplanes have 3 litre engines, open cockpits, and a racing speed of 195km/h. They can also compete in GN and GP hydroplane races.
The Formula 1, 2 and 3 boats are tunnel hulls with outboard motors. Then there are the ski boats, Formula V and Mod VP, open deck mono hulls with outboard engines.
Results from the racing in these classes were not available.