Saturday 17th November 2012, will see the running of the 7th Annual Barrie Beehag water ski race, on the Murray River between Deep Creek Marina, Perricoota and Torrumbarry Weir.
Team Hell with Mark Cranny at the wheel and observer Damien Matthews have won the event four times. Can they make this their fifth? With winning the event last year in their boat Hellrazor towing Peter Proctor and Michael Kelly in a time of 23:25.37 can they do the same again? This time Cranny and Matthews are towing Peter Proctor and Jason Walmsley. Hellrazor will lead the 150 entries down the Murray River to Torrumbarry Weir.
The event starts early morning with briefing for all competitors at Deep Creek Marina at 7.30am. Boats are placed into the water, where they then head to the start line. Racing starts at 10am.
The best place to catch the action is at Deep Creek Marina. Entry is $2 per person or $5 per family. Official race programs are available at the Marina for $5.
Drinks and food will be available in the area, along with merchandise for sale, face painting, jumping castle and a great shady area to watch the action unfold on the river. During the break in the racing, there will displays on the water from the Mulwala Ski Show and Krash Jet Ski display – there is something for all members of the family.
Once racing starts, the boats leave the Marina area at one minute intervals, the last boat competing in the 60mph class – Southern Force, towing Tayla Hitnerholzl and Louise Mudgeway is last away.
Once all the teams have been accounted for at the Torrumbarry end, the teams are then given the ok to return to the Deep Creek Marina. Who will be the fastest? Will it be Hellrazor, Elm Street or one of the Unlimited boats such as Sportspage, Burnin or Thundernuts. We will know on Saturday afternoon.
Superclass teams competing in the event include Hellrazor, Elm Street, The Syndicate, Blazen, Hellbent, The Mistress, Sapphire Racing, 99 Psycho Clowns F1 and Gassa.
Boats are coming from New South Wales, Queensland, with the majority from Victoria.
The oldest competitor will be Noel Griffin from Queensland, the driver of Blazen, who won the event in 2009. The oldest male skier will be Noel Cartledge skiing behind Kausen Trouble in the 6 Litre Inboard class. The oldest female skier will be Vicki Shipp skiing behind Smokin Injuin in the MOC Expert class. The youngest skiers will be twin brothers Kane and Bryce Horne skiing behind Electric Shock in the Junior Boys / Girls class.
During racing, results will be updated via the Southern 80 twitter feed – http://twitter.com/southern80, with the final results on our web page www.southern80.com.au, later that night.
The 2013 Club Marine Southern 80 is to take place on 8th, 9th & 10th February 2013. Entry forms for this event will be available online at www.southern80.com.au from Saturday 17th November. These entries close on Monday 31st December 2012.
For further information regarding this event, you can visit the Southern 80 web page www.southern80.com.au and follow the links to the BB Ski Race Classic or phone the Moama Water Sports Club on +61354806754.
