Waterski Racer Vol 34 Issue 2 May 2022

34 YEARS OF SUPPORTING SKIERS

Vol 34 - Issue 2 - May 2022

SUPERMAN

D R O C E R S K BREA at ROBINVALE

photo courtesy of Ski Racing Photos

s t n e cont feature -

Robinvale

P6-9

regulars Chairpersons Report P4

WATERSKI RACER NEWS

The views expressed are solely those of the publisher and/or editor. No accuracy is guaranteed in any way.

SUPPORT YOUR SPORT

Send in race results, stories, news, tips and photos to: email: waterskiracer@gmail.com

WATERSKI RACER NEWS OFFICE

Phone: (02) 9653 2884

ADVERTISING Phone: 0407 780 360 Email: waterskiracer@gmail.com

The Observer P11 Subscription Info P24

other news International Ski Racing returns in 2022 P14-15 Region V- Fred Williams Invitational Ocean Ski Racing P16-19 Looking Ahead Ski Racing NSW P22-23

Thanks to our contributors...

Bobbette McMillan Corrine Donald Ben Casey Karen Snedden Kelly Lindsell Amy Hockley Jon Horbury Betty McCoomb Kris Pogorelec and our Photographers...

Quinnos Quick Snaps Ski Racing Photos Julie Golledge Nicholas Rowlands 2

CONDITIONS; Advertisers, contributing writers, power boat clubs and advertising agencies upon and by lodging material with the Publisher for publication of material INDEMNIFY the Publisher, its servants and agents against all liability claims or proceedings whatsoever arising from the publication and without limiting the generality of the foregoing to indemnify each of them in relation to defamation, slander of title, breach of copyright, infringement of trademarks or names of public titles, unfair competition or trade practices, royalties or violation of rights of privacy AND WARRANT that the material complies with all relevant laws and regulations and that its publication will not give rise to any rights against or liabilities in the Publisher, its servants or agents and in particular that nothing therein is capable of being misleading or deceptive or otherwise in breach of Part V of the Trade practices Act 1974.

GST NOTICE; To any business currently undertaking business with Waterski Racer News: Waterski Racer News is a division of Global Marketing Services Pty Ltd and is registered with an Australian Business Number. The A.B.N is 430 833 910 84. Please keep this information on your appropriate files. Thank you, R Dayes. Director.

PHOTOS I R ACING

K Photo by S

SRV would like to thank all of our Sponsors, helpers & volunteers for the 2022 Robinvale Ski Race event, without your continued support this great event would not be possible.

MAJOR SPONSOR: Euston Club & Robinvale Riverside Caravan Park CLASS SPONSOR: SPON SOR: Saturday Racing Sponsor

Under 10 Boys............................................Rapid Concepts Under 10 Girls............................................Loys Panel Works Unlimited Inboard Social............................Rigged Custom Marine Unlimited Outboard Social.........................Accurate Plumbing Under 6 Litre Inboard Social.......................Robinvale Corner Store SMOC Social...............................................Euston Club Resort Formula 2 Social.........................................Highmark Homes Womens Social...........................................Select Harvests U16 Boys Social..........................................Rich River Concrete Sawing & Drilling Stock 6 Litre Social....................................Robinvale Car Wash U16 Girls Social..........................................Rich River Concrete Sawing & Drilling 80 mph Invincible Social............................Andrew Peace Wines U14 Boys Social..........................................Magic Murray Executive Houseboats U14 Girls Social..........................................PC Cranes 70 mph Social............................................Tasco Robinvale 60 mph Social............................................Tankard Dental U12 Boys Social Return Leg Only................Autopro Robinvale U12 Girls Social Return Leg Only................Roads and Maritime SuperClass Dash.........................................Robinvale Riverside Caravan Park Invitation Dash...........................................Robinvale Riverside Caravan Park Junior Dash................................................Robinvale Riverside Caravan Park Disabled.....................................................Cobram Estate Veteran Men ..............................................Euston Motel Senior Social Men.......................................Mattschoss Drainage Veteran Women.........................................Robinvale Community Aid Veteran Mens Masters................................Moama Water Sports Club Senior Social Women.................................Robinvale Waste Veteran Women Masters............................Moore Street Smash Repairs

SPECIAL THANK YOU TO:

Sunday Racing

Superclass..................................................Sapphire Spas Unlimited Inboard......................................Harp of Erin Hotel Unlimited Inboard N/A Expert....................Whittlesea Smash Repairs 8 Litre Inboard Expert................................Robinvale Bridge Motel 6 Litre Inboard Expert................................Boss Automotive Repairs Unlimited Outboard Expert........................Royal Euston Hotel Sportsmans - 100 mph Expert....................Cobram Estate Clubman’s 90Mph Expert...........................G.J. Gardner Homes Warragul MOC Outboard Expert................................Tasco Robinvale SMOC Outboard Expert...............................Win Television Formula 2 Expert........................................Wedges Bindings Stock 6 litre Expert.....................................Boss Earthmovers Womens Expert..........................................Mattschoss Drainage Under 18 Girls Expert.................................Select Harvests U16 Boys Expert.........................................Nix Plumbing U16 Girls Expert.........................................Rosanna Car Care 5.2 Litre Inboard Expert.............................Moore Street Smash Repairs Invincibles - 80 mph Expert.......................Flatwater Covers U14 Boys Expert.........................................Lago Smallgoods U14 Girls Expert.........................................Harp of Erin Hotel 70 mph Expert...........................................Autopro Robinvale U12 Boys Expert.........................................Robinvale Appliances & Furniture Zone U12 Girls Expert.........................................Robinvale Appliances & Furniture Zone 60 mph Expert...........................................Robinvale Bridge Motel Corporate Event..........................................Andrew Peace Wines Officials Area..............................................Decentralised Demountables Major Sponsor............................................Euston Club Major Sponsor............................................Robinvale Riverside Caravan Park Merchandise..............................................Savage Force Event Support Fund....................................Swan Hill Council Marketing Sponsor.....................................Win Television

Robinvale Committee, Di Diamantopoulos for taking entries / admin and for all the helpers in the tent, our Judges, starters, Roads & Maritime Services NSW, Moama Water Sports Club, Mildura Ski Club, Balranald NSW Fire Service, Swan Hill Rural City Council, Balranald Shire, Local Police, Parks Victoria, Lions Club & many other volunteers that helped over the weekend to make this successful event possible.

Chairperson’s Report It’s great to be back!

So far this year I’ve attended the Ted Hurley, Robinvale 80 and Mildura 100 events and they’ve all been fantastically run and well attended events.

Highlights • The Superman team on the cusp of winning King of The Murray • The number of boats with new wraps adding to the colour and vibrancy of our sport • The new MPH classes being and proving to be extremely competitive in finishing time results • The number of juniors attending the Mildura 100 • The F2 record being broken at Mildura

4

• The new Veterans

Our big focus area coming

Class capped at 85mph

back from our Covid

is bringing plenty of

induced offseason has of

competitors out and

course been safety and

again, proving to be

the SRA Board is also

very tight in finishing

encouraged by the efforts

times

of event holders and

• The On The Rope

members to ensure our

team have been

races are run within the

providing some great

confines of our rule book,

entertainment on their scrutineering and event live broadcast and

sanctioning policies.

with racing now up

Please continue to take

and running, there’s

every precaution to race

plenty of good racing

safely at every event.

fodder to occupy the show

The Southern 80 is our next event and not too

Areas to work on

far away now at all. Good

Just about everything

luck and look after each

got in the way of running

other.

our Member Forum at Mildura and in the

I look forward to seeing

end it didn’t go ahead.

you all at the finishing

We will circle back and

line.

potentially use our AGM to zoom in on all things SRA.

Jon Horbury

SRA Chairperson

me o s e v a h e n Argo Mari

ts c u d o r P w e Exciting N

ing Soon

Stock Arriv

Deep Dish 13 & 14’ Stainless

Shallow Dish 13 & 14’ Stainless

Billet SBC Timing Cover

CNC Gears Complete Billet Gearbox

Set of Whirl Away Dogs

Billet Water Pump

V600 Argo Gearbox

Billet Clutch Housing

Billet Cleveland Timing Cover

V600 Whirl Away Gearbox

Hardened & Ground Shafts For longer life

405 Goulburn Valley Highway, Shepparton North VIC 3631 Phone: 03 58 316 755 Email: accounts@icstrailer.net.au

2 2 0 2 E L A V N I B O R

6

Records broken, great weather and a fantastic atmosphere, what a way to welcome back our

Robinvale Euston 80 Ski Race for 2022!

After a long awaited break from ski racing, we have kicked back into action this year down on the banks of the Murray River at the Riverside Caravan Park.

The annual event, hosted by Ski Racing Victoria alongside the Robinvale committee was a hit amongst competitors & spectators with exciting racing both Saturday and Sunday, topped off with fireworks and a band during the evenings.

Congratulations to our outright winners, team Superman, who broke the record and flew down the river in a time of 26.17!

We had six superstar Under 10’s skiers complete the race, some for the very first time! These kids are the future of our sport, so it’s great to see them out there having a crack at what we all love most.

Congratulations to all competitors over the weekend.

A massive thank you to all who helped out in the lead up to the event and over the weekend. Your support is appreciated and SRV couldn’t have done it without the assistance.

photography by Ski Racing Photos

7

ROBIN 20

8

NVALE 022

9

the OBSERVER First and foremost, Condolences to Jan Thurgar and Family for the loss of her much loved mother Betty. The sport will also miss her.

As part of the Mildura debrief on the race, maybe for next year’s race, Greenpeace maybe could buoy the course. Perhaps do if for nothing if they know that they are to protect a reef.

Mildura Hotels quick to capitalise offering surf & turf, Reef Beef. One hotel ran out of coca cola drinkers then optioned to drink bourbon on the rocks.

Fred Williams

Invitational Ocean S

H120

ki Race

11

Power Boats Original Designs and Record Breaking Performance

Ventilator 2

VF2

OUT NOW 6.8 meter V Bottom Inboard and Outboard Call: Bruce or Jeff Stubbs

Bruce 0448 688or576 0410 402 747 02 9668 9630 02Jeff 9668 9917 email: sportfishermanmarine@gmail.com PO BOX 69, Kurnell NSW 2231

SALES & SERVICE

October

15-16

13

International Ski Racing

S

ki Racing Australia members have recently enjoyed competing in excellent events including pointscores the Barry Carne and the March/April Murray River favourites the Robinvale 80 and the Mildura 100. Congratulations to all officials and competitors on bringing back the joy of ski racing.

The running of the internationally renowned Southern 80 lowers the curtain on SRA river classics and major 2Up events until 2nd & 3rd July when the Clarence 80 will be conducted at Grafton. A further six weeks will then elapse until the NSW Series 2Up the Forza will be back on the water on 21st August.

September will be free of river classics and major 2Up events. This short break will be shattered on the first weekend in October with the Grafton Bridge to Bridge which will raise the curtain again on an extremely busy time for 2 Up teams. Fortnightly 2 Up majors will become the norm between October and November.

Two weeks after the Grafton Bridge to Bridge the Hawkesbury River classics will roar into action with the Hawkesbury 120, two weeks later the Mildura Water Ski Club will welcome skiers back to the Murray River to compete in the Ted Hurley (Wentworth) event. Snuggly nestled between the Hawkesbury 120 and the Ted Hurley is the New Zealand Bridge to Bridge (22nd & 23rd October) which attracts many 2 Up teams from Australia.

On 12th November the Moama Water Sports Club hosts the very popular Barrie Beehag, on the next weekend the IWWF Oceania Championships will be held at Mulwala and on the last weekend in November the Sydney Bridge-to-Bridge Water Ski Classic returns to the Hawkesbury River after a break of three years due to natural disasters and the pandemic.

14

Dedicated ski racers may be asking: IWWF OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIPS NOVEMBER 18th, 19th and 20th MULWALA NSW

“What are the IWWF Oceania Championships?”

The IWWF Oceania Championships are the official IWWF sanctioned international water ski championships in the Oceania Region previously known as Asia/Australasia.

The Oceania Championships is a world-wide, unique event with the following facets of water skiing conducting their regional championships concurrently at three venues with the Mulwala Water Ski Club and its facilities as the base for this excellent event. The competition venues are: 1. Mulwala Water Ski Club Ski Racing 2. The Max Kirwan Lakes Barefoot, Waterski (Tournament), Show Ski and the new event – the Oceania Ultimate.

The Max Kirwan Lakes are a purposebuilt a complex of two man-made lakes and infrastructure constructed by Mulwala Water Ski Club in close proximity to the club.

3. Wakeboarding will be hosted at a new venue at Bundalong on Lake Mulwala N.B: Details of the Oceania Ultimate are attached but unfortunately, due to insurance issues ski racers have not been included into the Oceania Ultimate.

Specifically, what are the dates for the IWWF Oceania Ski Racing Championships?

returns in

2022

IWWF OCEANIA SKI RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS SATURDAY 19th and SUNDAY 20th NOVEMBER MULWALA WATER SKI CLUB, NSW

What are the IWWF Oceania Ski Racing Championships?

The IWWF Oceania Ski Racing Championships are the IWWF regional championships for New Zealand and Australia. The event will be run according to the IWWF Racing Rules. The championships racing program will follow the regular world championships program: Open Women and Formula II Women Junior Boys and Junior Girls Open Men and Formula II Men Ski Racing Victoria will be the venue hosts and more information will become available shortly.

“Why are the IWWF Oceania Championships sandwiched between the Barrie Beehag and the Sydney Bridge-toBridge?”

The timing of the Oceania Championships is always difficult to organise. The inaugural Oceania Championships were conducted in New Zealand in 2017 in late January/early February which restricted the availability of many ski racers to compete due to Southern 80 team commitments and the selection races of the Australian ski racing team for the 2017 IWWF Ski Racing World Championships in Seattle.

All competing facets have very full calendars so the organising committee tried to host the 2022 Oceania Championships in Australia at a time when most facets could participate.

President: Ed Donald Tel: +64 29 24 25 262 (Mobile) Email: ed.donald@bayleys.co.nz

Secretary General: Janice Thurgar Tel: +61 419 489 412 Email: Janice.thurgar@gmail.com

The 2022 IWWF Oceania Ultima

te

Each discipline will be charged with putting forward 2 male and 2 female names.

Each entrant will compete in all four disciplines, eight men and eight women competing.

The four events are as follows: • Wakeboard • Tournament • Show ski • Barefoot Friday – Afternoon Barefoot Saturday – Tournament and Wak eboarding Sunday – Show ski There will be one event held each day, with a single round in each event.

The Championship will start Thurs day and finish Sunday.

Points scoring out of 500 with a

maximum of 100 points per even

t:

100 points for 1st 80 points for 2nd 60 points for 3rd 40 points for 4th 30 points for 5th 20 points for 6th 10 points for 7th 5 points for 8th The best male and female com petitors will be the Male 2022 IWW F Oceania Ultimate Champion & the Female 2022 IWWF Oce ania Ultimate Champion.

Wakeboard Event The event will be judged and scored the same as traditiona l wakeboard Australia events. https://iwwf.sport/wp-content/up loads/2019/03/IWWFWakeboardBo atRules2019.pdf

ACCOMMODATION: Mulwala and Yarrawonga have a variety of accommodation which is filling fast for the IWWF OCEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS. So please book as soon as possible if you wish to attend this fantastic carnival of water skiing.

JAN THURGAR

15

Region

V

Fred Williams Invitational Ocean Ski Race

A

fter an extended break due to Covid restrictions for past two years, the National Water Ski Racing Association (Region V Australia) and the Water Ski Racing Community are excited to be once again heading to Forster to take on the Ocean.

This Race is part of the Fred Williams Boaties & Skiers Weekend taking place on Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd July, 2022.

This is a rare opportunity for many of our Senior and Junior Skiers to experience Ocean Racing with the full security of a set Course, RMS, Police, Marine Rescue and Paramedics on Course. Although quite daunting for many heading out through the Bar to the Ocean, it is also very exciting at the same time.

We have two 30 Minute Races being run on both Saturday and Sunday morning:-

16

Race 1: Junior A & Open B Start Time: 8.00am Race 2: Junior B & Open A Start Time: 9.00am The Ocean Course is a Triangle shaped Course with the Start Line being outside Main Beach, the skiers will race down towards the first turn roughly in line with Boundary Street. They will then round the bouy and race out approximately 1km to another turn, which will then head them back towards the Start Turn outside Main Beach. The Skiers love the Triangle Course because they have the challenge of skiing through the ocean swells from different angles and directions, this at times can be very challenging.

Both races are a Mass Start meaning that when the Start Flag drops all boats will take off together racing down the Course, this is a great spectacle from any of the vantage points along the foreshore.

Once the 30 minute time is up

a Blue Flag will be shown to the leading Skier which signals 1 Lap to go before the Chequered Finish Flag.

The Chequered Flag is a welcome sight to all the competitors after a gruelling 30 minutes of trying to stay on top of the water in the ocean conditions.

We will have many skiers from all over the Country attending this great Race including current Australian Water Ski Racing Team representatives who represented Australia at previous World Titles Events. We also have current Australian and World Champions competing, so this should make for some excellent racing over the action packed two days.

Our Skiers and Boats will be launching from Forster Boat Ramp so please come down and check out the pre race preparations before moving to your best vantage point on the ocean foreshore to watch these athletes in action.

17

Region

V

Fred W Invita Ocean S

18

Williams ational Ski Race

19

Looking Ahead YOUR WINDSHIELD IS BIGGER THAN YOUR REARVIEW MIRROR BECAUSE YOUR FUTURE IS BIGGER THAN YOUR PAST.

W

ater Ski Racing in NSW has an amazing past, a legacy that will always drive us forward, but it’s fair to say that the last 3 years have been challenging for NSW and in particular, for those in the Hawkesbury and more recently in the Northern Rivers.

As the quote above suggests, we could keep looking backward and simply get bogged down in all of that, or we can look to the future and that is exactly what we are doing.

Ski Racing NSW has been working on a plan to support the people that support us,

22

focusing on not only the Hawkesbury Region, but we are also working on a plan to take ski racing back to some of our regional waterways, some for the first time in many years.

On a trip out west recently, I was reminded of how spectacular some of our regional dams are and in my conversations with local water skiers, past and present, the possibility of supporting us in this venture and maybe even competing, was very exciting to them.

In the nearer term we are seeking to finalise the calendar along with the other States and Clubs and to more immediately support our own

Hawkesbury Region, we are working with various venues all along the Hawkesbury River. The various caravan parks from Windsor to Rosevale, including our very own Ski Gardens have been seriously affected by the floods and we intend to bring forth some exciting announcements very soon.

I also wanted to congratulate all of the NSW competitors that have recently put their best foot forward at both the Robinvale-Euston 80 and also the Mildura 100 Classics. The results achieved speak for themselves! Congratulations to everyone, especially our awesome kids.

If you would like further information regarding Ski Racing NSW, please contact us at nswskiracing@gmail.com.

Yours in Ski Racing!

Kelly Lindsell Vice Chair Person Ski Racing NSW

23

33 YEARS OF SUPPORTING SKIERS

Subscribe

and have every issue emailed to your inbox.

R ACING STORIES, RESULTS and WORLD NEWS, GREAT PHOTOS!

Pay only $22.00

for a subscription of 12 issues!!!

Ready to subscribe? Let us know! email us @ waterskiracer@gmail.com

or call Waterski Racer News Office on (02) 9633 2884 | Mobile: 0407 780 360