What a Great Day we had with the Ski 4 Kids with cancer, everything except for Mother Nature were on our side on the day, 17 Boats Started and Finished with the only casualty being Daniel Cotton’s entry who’s race was over before it began by being towed back thru the heads and back to their waiting trailer

Perfect weather and organisation, the largest entry ever and tremendous atmosphere filled the little town of Viersel on the side of the Albert Canal at the weekend. And Darren Kirkland won his 7th Diamond Race with Chris Stout 2nd and Nico Bertels 3rd.

Wim Lamot captured some of the teams on Saturday as they got a feel for the narrow canal waters in preparation for today.

Sensational video footage of World Water Ski racing Champion Wayne Mawer training off Cairns behind Wizard – a 24 ft Ocean Sport.

If you can’t be at the Diamond Race this weekend, you can stay up to date with what’s going on with the live Diamond Race Twitter feed which I’ll update as often as I can in between race commentary.

To follow the feed, follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/robbiellewellyn. The same updates will also automatically appear on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/robllewellyn and on the front page of www.skirace.net where it says DIAMOND RACE TWEETS. Make sure you refresh the page to get the latest data feed.

The Special Awards for the recent NSW Water Ski Presentation Evening were:

• MALE SKIER OF THE YEAR – JACK HOUSTON
• FEMALE SKIER OF THE YEAR – KELSEY FEROS

Australia’s Letstalkskiracing.com reports that the 2010 Qld titles enjoyed a good roll up of boats, and some incredibly tight and fast racing.  

The Wayne Mawer Open Men’s Cup was taken out by NGR’s Blazen, with Chris Stout dominating the race to win from Ben Gulley with Mercforce, who just held out Grant Turner behing Burnin. In the Eloise Anderson Open Women’s Cup race, it was once again NGR and Blazen taking the win, this time towing Kylee Jones.

Read the full story with detailed results at Letstalkskiracing.com

The Sydney Offshore 3 was run this morning on a clear windy winters day here in Sydney, the race was won by Chris Stout in a time close to 42 minutes with Jason Walmsley 2nd, Stephen Robertson 3rd roughly 10 secs seperating the top 3.

Spain’s Aaron Fuentes is looking for an F3 boat to race in the 2010 European Championships in Cadiz.

Britain’s Dave Sewell is looking for an F1 or F2 tow for the European Championships in Cadiz.

Todd Haig’s mum Susie has announced that Todd and his wife Amy are expecting a baby around February 5, 2011.

The following two skiers are looking for boats for the Diamond Race this month in Belgium.

Thanks to Sue Fleming, below are the results from rounds 3 & 4 of the British National Water Ski Racing Championships held in Hunstanton last weekend.

Photo’s now available for Sunday’s racing at www.photoboxgallery.com/simpeyphotography

Force Boats is celebrating their 15th Anniversary and they write …

4 June update: The “Ski 4 Kids with Cancer” event has been moved to a new date of 27th June. See updated poster and entry form below. Last year, many Australian teams skied from Newcastle to The Sydney Opera House in the “Ski 4 Kids with Cancer” event.

The Geel International Open Race will take place in Belgium on 3/4 July – the weekend following the Diamond Race.

Get full details at www.geelsekanaalfeesten.com

The Viersel Diamond Race (full details) is coming closer and Vera Van den Bossche has this notice about accommodation:

The Viersel Diamond Race (full details) is coming closer and Vera Van den Bossche has this notice about an F2 available:

A 7 minute compilation of some of the moments from the 1st round of the European Cup in Vienna (taken with a regular digital camera).

Wade Bennett has dug up 4 videos from the 1980 Bridge to Bridge and placed them on the Old Skool Facebook page. Here they are below for anyone not on Facebook. Take a look back at some of ski racing’s greats with plenty of interviews in over 40 minutes of superb archived footage.

Britain’s Chairman of Racing, Barry Frame visited the venue for the 2010 European Water Ski Racing Championships at Cadiz in Spain. You can read his report here.

SRQ is set to put some of their greatest names up on new perpetual cups to be awarded for the Open Men’s and Open Women’s winners at the Queensland Titles.

Todd Haig, Katelin Wendt and Tyler Murray secured overall wins at the Clear Lake Marathons in the USA on 22/23 May. Complete race results will be delayed until at least June 3rd and published at www.nwsra.net.

Britain’s Russell Cox has been racing since the 1970’s. A GB Champion in his younger days, Russell is looking for a team to tow him in this year’s Catalina.

Vera Van Den Bossche has issued the official 16 page participant information pack for the 2010 Viersel Diamond Race.

Download the 2010 Diamond Race Participants’ Information Pack

Watch the 2008 Diamond Race video at the bottom of this page

Ski racing’s Dave Ellis is raising money for Latch, the childrens Welsh cancer charity that does such tremendous work for, not only the young unfortunate sufferers, but their families during their most distressing times.

If you didn’t already know, British Water Ski Racing has it’s own dedicated web site at www.britishwaterskiracing.net You’ll find the full programme of races, results and lots more throughout the year.

Courtesy of Martine Ciroux, below are the results from the 1st round of the 2010 European Cup series which took place in Vienna yesterday. I have video footage but it will take me a few days to get that online

iPrime Wagga reports that salvage crews retrieved the shattered wreck of The Mistress from the bottom of Wagga’s Lake Albert after a frightening crash in the Barry Carne Memorial Race last weekend.

Australia’s Mark Savage writes below about the sad loss of his dad, Bob Savage.

It is with deep regret that I share with you that my father, Bob Savage, passed away last Friday after his fight with dementia. For all you new people in the sport of ski racing you may have met Bob and my mother Judy at the Southern 80 merchandise shop where he ran things for me many years. You may have even bought a T-shirt from him.

The flyer for this weekend’s 1st round of the European Cup in Vienna has just been published. Full details of the event are on this page.

Sydney Superclass “Top Gun” in action at the Mildura 100. This 21 ft Connelly is powered by a twin turbo’d 540ci big block chev V8.

Take a look as this team spins out in this year’s Southern 80 on the Murray at high speed. Nicely captured wholey dooley!

Channel Nine’s coverage of the 96 S80, showing a featurette about Graham Ritchie’s Gods Gift and its troubled campaign at the 1996 southern 80, and one about Gotta be Crazy. Both legends of ski racing in Australia.

Steve & Cathy Bird have produced this video of Round One of the British Waterski Racing Championships in Lyme Regis, Dorset.

Thanks to Sue Fleming, below are the results, and thanks to Tim Tapping, some shots too,  from the first round of the British Water Ski Racing Championships which were held in Lyme Regis on Saturday. 

Here are some sensational shots from Rob Storum Photographics last weekends 1 Up Bridge in Australia. Apparently Blazen was again first across the line but was later disqualified for missing a turn buoy/gates at Wisemans Ferry. Noel from Blazen has lodged a protest. Until then then Darren Stewart’s Agitator has officially taken out the race outright – this team started behind Superclass in Unlimited Inboard.

Peter Moorkens of Powerboatracing.be has sent in these highlights from the race yesterday in Rupelmonde, Belgium. This was the first time a ski race has been held at this location on the River Scheldt.

Force Boats is pleased to report more success on the race track by teams using FORCE BOATS. Please see attached the winning results from the following events:

• 1st 2010 Robinvale Euston Ski Race Results
• 1st 2010 Mildura 100 Results
• 1st 2010 NSW 1 Up Bridge Race Results

12 British skiers and 10 volunteer helpers spent 3 nights at the Fevaca Hotel home to Bernico Boats for the 2nd Karl Brooks Ski Training Camp, writes Karen Brooks.

Courtesy of Luc & Pepe of www.powerboatracing.be check out this selection of shots from Belgium’s first race of the new season.

The Blue Danube Race is the 1st round of the 2010 European Cup and it takes place in the heart of Europe in the stunning city of Vienna. From 21 to 23 May, International teams will fight it out on the Danube River which is 2850 km long and passes through 10 countries.

The 2011 World Water Ski Race Championships will be held September 6 -17 in picturesque Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Courtesy of Mick Kelly who runs Let’s Talk Ski Racing in Australia, here is some brief info. 

In the early hours of this morning, a well respected member of Australian Ski Racing, Harvey Saundercock, passed away after a long fight with many health issues.

Rob Storum has been sharing his shots with skirace.net readers for a couple of years. It’s people like Rob who help give up-and-coming skiers a bit of the limelight and encouragement by seeing their photos published, and he helps the rest of the world see what’s happening in Australia through his superb photography.

Rob has now launched a brand new web site where you can see all of his sensational shots at www.robstorum.com.au

Rob Storum has sent in these great shots that he took recently at round 4 Wismans. If you haven#t yet, check out his new web site at www.robstorum.com.au

The history of all World Water Ski Racing Champions is now available on skirace.net with a page for every World Championship year. Click on the “History” link at the top of this page and you will be able to navigate to every World Championship year since they began in 1979.

Charlie Cox is looking for a tow in the Juniors in GB Nationals. He’s training hard with his uncle Russell Cox ready for the season.

If you’re interested in teaming up with Charlie, contact Russell at:
Email: russellcox44@yahoo.co.uk
Mobile: 0797 050 6266

18 year old Will Newland of GB is looking for a tow in this year’s Catalina, ideally in F2.

The teams below won the 2009 World Water Ski Racing Championship at Gent, Genk, Viersel and Antwerp, Belgium.

The teams below won the 2007 World Water Ski Racing Championship at Rotorua and Taupo, New Zealand.

The teams below won the 2005 World Water Ski Racing Championship at Hunstanton, Great Britain.

The teams below won the 2003 World Water Ski Racing Championship at Long Beach, USA. This was the year when F2 was introduced to World Championship Water Ski Racing Championships

The teams below won the 2001 World Water Ski Racing Championship in Las Vegas, USA.

The teams below won the 1999 World Water Ski Racing Championship at Oropesa, Spain.

The teams below won the 1997 World Water Ski Racing Championship at Newcastle and Sydney, Australia.

The teams below won the 1993 World Water Ski Racing Championship in Belgium. This was the year that Junior categories were introduced.

The teams below won the 1993 World Water Ski Racing Championship at Vichy, France.

The teams below won the 1991 World Water Ski Racing Championship at Darwin, Australia.

The teams below won the 1989 World Water Ski Racing Championship at Lecco in Italy.

The teams below won the 1987 World Water Ski Racing Championship at Sydney, Australia.

The teams below won the 1985 World Water Ski Racing Championship at Barcelona, Spain.

The teams below won the 1983 World Water Ski Racing Championship at Botany Bay, Lake Macquarie and the Hawkesbury River in NSW, Australia.

The teams below won the 1981 World Water Ski Racing Championship at Lecco, Como & Idroscalo in Italy.

The teams below won the 1979 World Water Ski Racing Championship in Welsh Harp, Allhallows and Whitstable, Great Britain.

The 2010 River Trent Ski Race will be hosted by the Marnham Boat Club on 12/13 June.  The event will be held over two days – the social event will be held on Saturday 12th June and the race event will be held on Sunday 13th June.

Norm Griffin is one of those people in ski racing who has been known all over the world for decades. He has done what most people in ski racing dream of and raced at the very top of the sport on the international stage as well as throughout Australia. A wonderful personality and a tremendous competitor.

Karen Brooks writes …The 2010 Ski Training Camp will be held at The Fevaca Inn Belgium / Bernico Boats HQ , April 22-25th. I need to know as soon as possible if you are attending as I have a wait-list from European skiers that would like to come along.

The International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) Racing Council has a number of projects underway in an effort to improve international water ski racing. The following projects were agreed at the IWWF Racing Council meeting in Belgium in July 2009:

If you want to post a comment, you now need to be logged in to skirace.net with an account that is associated with a valid email address.

The site only allows one user account to be set up per email address.

Gunter Schmutz has published Austria’s 2010 Water Ski Racing Calendar.

TV coverage of Australian ski racing continues on SBS – Speedweek every week until 13th June. Coverage on Foxsports – Inside Speed will follow every Wednesday following SBS in addition to all the extra repeats across the networks.

Below is a selection of great shots from round 3 of the NSW Water Ski Racing Championships that were captured by Rob Storum on the weekend.

Vera Van Den Bossche has published the 2010 KBWSF Belgian Water Ski Racing Calendar.

Vera Van Den Bossche has issued the final (20/03/10) Europe and Africa water ski racing calendar for 2010 on behalf of the E & A Racing Council members.

On Saturday morning teams met in Port Phillp Bay for a 2 up offshore event, no race skis allowed. Teams met at St Kilda Marina, making their way outside to start at 8.30am. The course went down the coast turning at Frankston Pier and then heading back to St Kilda.

On January 30th, 2010, Dawna Patterson Brice was inducted into the Riverside Sports Hall of Fame (Riverside California). She was recognized for her contributions to the city of Riverside as well as her athletic achievements. 

Britain’s official season of races for 2010 is published on the British Water Ski & Wakeboard site and the latest version at 11 March is shown below. Torquay national has been removed.

Force Boats write … Congratulations to HELLRAZOR, BLAZEN and BURNIN and to all of the FORCE Teams.

It was 20yrs ago on 26th February 2010 that Britain’s infamous Reg King passed away.

Brad Dutton has announced that Both New Zealand and Victoria (Australia) have named their teams for the upcoming Trans Tasman Challenge.

Below are a selection of sensation shots taken by Rob Storum at the 2010 NSW Titles in Australia.

Rob Storum was on the banks of the Murray capturing some of the 100mph+ action recently.

The 3rd Karl Brooks Memorial Golf Tournament in the USA takes place on Friday, April 16, 2010 at Temecula Creek Inn

The time has come again for boaties and skiers to get together at Club Forster on 10th July 2010. Click on the poster below to open and print the full PDF version.

The Netherlands’ water ski racing committee has plans to organise a training weekend from 2 to 5 April 2010. You can download the information sheet by clicking the image of it below.

Force Boats are over the moon with their race results in Oz and are proudly telling the world about it in their latest press release below.

Tim Driver tragically lost his life during the 2010 Club Marine Southern 80 Water Ski Race on the Murray River in Australia over the weekend. The 43 year old leaves Karina and their three children, Zara, Jessie and Faris; and our thoughts are with these people nearest to Tim who have no doubt been devastated by this unfortunate incident.

The British Waterski Racing Committee are pleased to announce that Darren Kirkland has been formally appointed as GB Team Captain, effective as of now for the 2010 season onwards.

On 9th February 2010, the current and two-time Women’s World Water Ski Racing Champion Kim Lumley-Manchett and her observer-husband Robert met the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at No. 10 Downing Street in London.

Here are some of the latest updates in Bianca Schauerhofer’s database of water ski racing world champion teams:

Vera van Den Bossche has published the 2010 E&A Racing Council member directory for 2010/2011 as (re-)elected at the Brussels Congress 30/01/2010.

The Cairns Post reports: Reigning world formula one ski racing champion Wayne Mawer dominated the premier division during the first race of the Cairns Ski Racing Club Esplanade series yesterday.

Rob Storum of In Tha Zone Images was at the NSW Grand Prix races at Kanahooka last weekend to snap up some of the action.

March is a busy time of year in New Zealand in terms of ski racing with 3 big events capping off what has been a great season. We invite ski racers of the world (especially those across the ditch in Australia) to come join us for 1, 2 or all 3 of the races we have coming up.

If you don’t already know about The Old Skool Water Ski Racing Museum on Facebook, you might want to take a look. 100’s of great blasts from the past in the way of photos and videos.

Ski Racing Cairns Series #1 race will be held Jan 31st 2010 @ the Cairns Esplanade.