Nelson speedboat driver Doug Cameron stands beside the burnt-out wreck of the once-proud hydroplane, 'Miss Print IV.' The short life of the former national speed record holder (149mph at Lake Rotoiti in November, 1971) ended in flames in the same shed in which Doug spent thousands of hours building her. He had been working on the boat but went home leaving a battery charger connected. He thinks this could be the only cause of the blaze. A spark might have ignited the two or three gallons of fuel in the craft's tanks. Worth about $16,000, 'Miss Print IV' was insured for $10,000. Doug's previous boat, 'Miss Print III,' disintegrated when racing on Lake Karapiro in 1970, and Cameron broke his neck.
"That's it," he said, as he viewed the remains of 'Miss Print IV." "I've finished with speedboat racing."
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