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Gusty winds test sailors on the Tweed
ëŔƆ ĶŕƐş īſëŕĎǕ ŕëō Words and pic Dogwhistle
The fleet negotiates the start of the Tumbulgum Passage Marathon. Photo Lex Branch Fairlight had an impressive lead for nearly half of the race but their downfall came in the form of Corsair 490 Keenas, who flew through the Stotts Island narrows, never to be caught again. After more than three hours, three of the six Pacers finished only one second apart. Xavier Doer from TSS came first, with TVSC’s Igor Prado and Kynan Luescher in second place. Isaac Poulsen with Layla Scholz were neck and neck with Xavier for much of the race, even though it was their first time in a Pacer.
The Lasers and Impulses played cat-and-mouse all the way to the finish line, but TVSC’s Kate Yeomans took first place in the Lasers, and Peter Fell was the Impulse and overall race champion. TVSC’s Adam Hurt from Fingal took third place in the Impulses on Rosie, by far the oldest Impulse in the fleet. The Tumbulgum Passage Marathon marks the end of the winter season for TVSC. The club starts racing again in October. The club is holding a Try Sailing Day this Saturday September 22.
Local pro surfers take on foreign breaks
Byron cyclists get new racing circuit
A fleet of 27 boats across three classes took to the water for the Tweed Valley Sailing Club’s Condong to Fingal river marathon. In contrast to the becalmed start the sailors faced 15-23–knot gusts along the Chinderah reach, with the wind coming from all and any directions. Three classes of boat were well represented this year – the three-handed Corsairs (eight boats), two-handed Pacers (6), and singlehanded Impulses (5). There were also four Lasers. In the Corsairs 683
Kyuss King at Nias. Photo Steve Robertson/WSL Asia Crystal Cylinders
Seniors
The legendary wave of Nias, otherwise know as Lagundri Bay in Indonesia, was the scene for a WSL QS 3000 event, and three of our younger local pro surfers travelled to compete with moderate success. The surf didn’t quite fire up with only small waves and some bumpy conditions on hand. Byron Bay’s Kyuss King and Lennox Head’s Mikey McDonagh finished in equal 17th place, and Lennox Head’s Jack Murray in equal 49th.
Byron Bay’s Soli Bailey and Matt Wilkinson, along with Lennox Head’s Stuart Kennedy, competed at the Abanca Galicia Classic Surf Pro in Pantin, Spain. The WSL QS 10,000 event is one of the critical competitions for those surfers looking to qualify for the 2020 Championship Tour. Unfortunately, the boys didn’t gain any ground on the ratings ladder after early eliminations. Kennedy was best with a 25th-place finish, Wilkinson in 37th with Bailey in 73rd place.
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Woodford Lane, Ewingsdale, is now officially the new criterium racing circuit for the Byron Bay Cycle Club. The 4.2km circuit, which starts just beyond the entrance to The Farm and travels up to the north end of Woodford Lane and back again, offers an exciting, versatile course that could suit almost any cyclist. ‘The club was very much in need of a safer and more suitable circuit for our club races,’ the BBCC’s Chris Boogert said. ‘The current course at Centennial Circuit still remains available for us to race, and we will keep the option open for us to return to this course in the near future if necessary,’ he said. The new course will be used for the BBCC’s next criterium this Sunday, September 22, starting at a new time of 7.30am This will be the final race of the winter Warm Up series and a good opportunity for riders to try out the track ahead of the summer series, which will begin in October.
With a nail-biting extra-time win over Lismore Thistles at the Rec Grounds on Sunday, the Byron Bay Services Club Rams have secured a spot in this year’s premier division grandfinal. They will be joining their Reserve Grade brethren in contesting their sixth grandfinal of the last seven years and aiming for a record third consecutive championship. The Thistles set out to make their mark early, attacking the Rams’ goal ferociously from the kickoff. The Rams defended and quickly quelled the Thistles’ initial rush-of-blood and the game settled into a vigorous end-to-end tussle for most of the first half. Byron’s Golden Boot, Lisandro Luaces, finally broke the seal 44 minutes in, pouncing on a through-ball and driving home the Rams’ first goal of the day. The intensity ratcheted up a notch in the second half with both sides determined to claim the grandfinal spot. Five minutes into the second half and a clash between the Thistles’ striker and Byron’s flying goalkeeper, Pierce Essery, yielded a penalty to the
Byron Bay bowlers selected for inter-district tournament Five members of the Byron Bay Bowling Club have been selected for the TweedByron District Women’s Bowling Association team, who will host the Inter District Games at Condong over September 19-20. Linda Child, Mirtha Christian (reserve), Pat Bigg, Judy Wright and Kym Quinnell will join another 123 players, plus officials and spectators from the mid-north coast, Clarence River and Northern Rivers districts, to take part in this event. Four districts from the north eastern coastal region will participate in a two-day tournament. Each district will send eight teams of four players, who will play each other over the two days, with all striving to win the coveted 2019 Inter-District Shield.
Rams Rick Muir threads through the defence. Lismore side. Thistles converted to take the scoreline to 1–1 and began a dogged battle for the upper hand. The match see-sawed for the remaining 40 minutes of regular time, with both teams making chances but failing to capitalise on them. In the dying moments of the second session of extra time, with a penalty shootout looming, fiery young sub Zac Miletic sliced through the Thistles’ mid and defensive lines, snapped a pass to Rick
Muir who sent it on to Jono Pierce. Pierce’s perfectly timed strike left the Thistles’ keeper no chance, and the jubilant Rams and the big crowd erupted in celebration. The Rams now face South Lismore at Crozier Field in Lismore for retiring coach Damon Bell’s sixth Grandfinal and, hopefully, his third win on the trot. The Reserve grade kick off their Grand Final at 3pm, and the Prems at 5.30, this Saturday, September 21.
Junior Cricket Blast is here
Juniors train at the Byron Bay Recreation Grounds on Wednesday afternoons. Photo Jason Trisley New formats for young cricketers are being rolled out across the country and Byron Bay Cricket Club is joining by offering Cricket Blast. Cricket Blast is a fun and fast program, developed so that kids aged 5–7 years of all abilities can develop their skills across a game that goes for 60 minutes. It also introduces kids to being part of a squad. For the slightly older kids there is a staged approach considerate of their physical, mental, and emotional level. A key is to encourage
players to participate at a level for their ability and experience. Traditional agegroup requirements have been relaxed to help all boys and girls fit in. Last season Byron Bay U/15 player Amos was allowed to play with his mates for the first time. Amos is one month too old to meet the traditional age limits and had to play with older kids. ‘I was losing interest in cricket, but last year it was excellent. I was in the same team as two of my mates.’
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