Planning and preparation is well underway for the 2012 Club Marine Southern 80. All is set for a terrific weekend of racing on the water and plenty of entertainment on land – February 10th to 12th.
Friday, the weekend of excitement starts with the Coates Hire Breakfast with the Stars at the Kerribee Sound Shell, Cobb Highway in Moama. Here a range of boats competing the in the 2012 Club Marine Southern 80 will be on display, so that you can get a close up look at these magnificent pieces of art and have a chat with the team members. A range of boats will on display from the Superclass ‘big boats’ of Hellrazor, Burnin, Sapphire Racing to the 60mph boats of Sir Walter, Em 4 Metal & The Wedge. Food and drinks will be available onsite, so that you are able to enjoy a breakfast with the stars.
Saturday morning the Total Tools Static Display occurs in the main shopping area (Hare st) of Echuca. Here the Superclass boats will all be on display with many other teams. People can wander close to the boats and chat with the teams as they show off their pride and joy.
Whilst the Total Tools Static display is occurring, the Social classes are on the water leaving from Torrumbarry Weir. They start at 8.30am with ‘Sportspage’ first on the water. Boats should be arriving at the Victoria Park Boat ramp around 9.10am. The Victoria Park Boat Compound has a $20 per day entry fee or a $30 weekend pass – these can be purchased now via www.southern80.com.au or at the gate over the weekend.
The Victoria Park Compound is a fully catered site and no esky’s permitted. There will be trade displays from boats manufacturers, Total Tools, Official Southern 80 Merchandise, Paint Ball activities, air brush tattoos and lots of other sites / activities for all ages.
On the main stage of the Victoria Park Compound will be the Moto X demonstrations featuring Jackson Strong, who landed the first ever front flip at the X Games in 2011 to win “Gold” in the ‘Best Trick’. Also performing some of their aerial tricks will be Cam Sinclair who won Gold in 2010 and Silver in 2011 for ‘Best Trick’. Along with Bilko (Blake Williams) who won Gold and Silver in 2009 for the ‘Best Trick’. They are amazing to watch as they run their moto X bikes, up and down, over and flip on the specially constructed jumps in the compound. They will be performing several times over the two days, so come along and catch all the action.
At 12 noon on Saturday, the start line moves to the Five Mile boat ramp, Moama, where more of the social classes will race to the finish line at Victoria Park. The Superclass boats and the Presidents Invitational Dash will also run from here, starting at 3.30pm.
The river is closed to all unauthorized navigation on Saturday and Sunday. Full times and locations can be found on the Southern 80 web page – www.southern80.com.au or on the Roads and Maritime Services web page http://www.maritime.nsw.gov.au/marine_notices/murray3.html
Sunday racing starts at 8am, with the first boat leaving Torrumbarry Weir, is ‘Rush’ followed by ‘99 Psycho Clowns F1’ towing Under 16 boys. Racing continues all day from Torrumbarry along the full 80km to Victoria Park, Echuca.
Based on the finishing order from the Beechworth Bakers Blitz, the Superclass boats will leave Torrumbarry at 12.30pm for the trip to Victoria Park.
Results and updates from the weekend will be “twittered” on the Southern 80 Twitter page http://twitter.com/southern80 as boats cross the line. Full final results will be available from the Southern 80 web page at the conclusion of presentations.
For further information regarding the event you can visit www.southern80.com.au or contact the Moama Water Sports Club on 03 54806754.
