The Papamoa pairing of Tristan Hynds (Driver) and Jimmy Fagan (Navigator) have spent the first part of this season getting to grips with the their Jetsprint boat, Loose Unit Too.

This year is the first time Hynds has competed in Jetsprint Racing, and along with a brand new boat, the newly assembled team has had to come up to speed very quickly.

Tauranga Jet Sprint racing team, Loose Unit Racing, took to the water again on Sunday for round 3 of the New Zealand Jet Sprint championships at Meremere. Photo: Wayne Cockburn.

'We've managed to pull a really good group of guys together. Mates and people I have known for years,” says Hynds.

'We've spent a bit of time talking with Peter Caughey from Sprintec about the setup of the boat, and we've made some changes. It's feeling really good now. It feels like a glove.”

Going into the Meremere event on Sunday, Hynds and Fagan were sitting in ninth place in the Championship and made it through to the top 8 of the Group A Class on the day.

'We were really improving our times throughout the day at Meremere and when we got into the top 8, we were looking really good,” says Hynds.

'About 50 seconds into the lap, we managed to clip one of the tyres on the side of the track, and couldn't get the boat back on line in time and that's when we left the track.”

Sunlive contributing Motorsport photographer, Wayne Cockburn, was standing directly in line with the Jet boat when it left the track.

'I heard something different about the boat, so I dropped my camera and saw them coming at me. I'm not a fast runner but I ran pretty fast that day and got well clear,” says Cockburn.

'The commentator at the track gave me heaps for running and not taking the photo, but it wasn't a tough decision to make.”

The Loose Units racing team are now preparing their boat for round 4 of the championship, being held in Hastings on March 16.

'We're feeling pretty good about it. We had some issues with the engine in the boat before Baypark, but we've got those sorted out now, so with the setup changes we are making we are looking forward to Hastings,” says Hynds.

Round 4 of the NZ Jetsprint Championships will be held in Hastings on March 16.

For more information visit www.jetsprint.co.nz, and to follow the progress of Tauranga's very own Jetsprint team, check out their Facebook site at https://www.facebook.com/Looseunitsracing