The 2010 Club Marine Southern 80 starts on Friday 12th February , 7am to 9am, with the Cantech Breakfast with the Stars. Here you can mingle with; current and former world champions, skier’s of the future and view the awesome boats.
330 boats have entered the event with the majority of them from Victoria, with NSW following close behind.
Over 1200 competitors are competing in the event as either a driver, observer or skier. They are travelling from all around the world and Australia to participate in this great event. We have 7 current and former world champions competing. Including the current World Junior Champions; Yolien Bormans (Belgium) and Jack Houston (Australia).
The 60 mph class is still proving to be very popular with 45 entries in the expert race and 41 entries in the social class.
The oldest driver is Doug Kennedy the driver of Sharp As, whilst the oldest male and female skiers are husband and wife team of Nessie & Roger Hicks from Queensland – they are skiing together in the Veterans class.
Carter Robertson is skiing in Tadpoles and is the youngest skier.
The sport of water ski racing is essentially a family sport and the teams of Argo and Money Muncher epitomise this with their whole team from the one family.
In Open Women Social – it will be interesting to be in the boat of Tantrum. The husband’s are in the boat – Dale Linaker and Christian Apps, whilst the wives are out the back skiing Jenny Linaker and Justine Apps.
The race action starts on the water on Saturday morning at 8.30am with the social classes on the water. These teams are competing on the whole course from Torrumbarry Weir to Victoria Park Boat Ramp.
The best place to capture all the action is at the Victoria Park Boat Ramp, where the boats finish. There is the McDonalds Entertainment on the water including the VWSA Ski Show and the some Jet sprint boats; during breaks in the racing. There are also trade displays and activities for the children such as jump castle, face painting etc. The area is fully catered with a range of foods and drinks available. Admission is free for children under 13, a day pass is $20 and a weekend pass is $30.
The ‘big boys’ the Superclass boats will be on the water at around 3pm on Saturday as they compete in the Tip Top Bakeries Bakers Blitz. There are 15 boats in Superclass; Blazen, Hellrazor, Stinga, Burnin, The Mistress, Fastcash, Merc Force, Argo, Superman, Top Gun, Omen Racing, Gassa, The B, The Gun,The Syndicate.
These boats are the top boats and crews in Australia. Due to the Black Saturday bushfires last year, the event was cancelled before these boats could race for the outright winner & the winner of Super class. So they are keen to take the outright trophy this year. Five of the Super class boats come from Victoria, six of them from New South Wales and Four from Queensland. For these teams and others – the race is a drivers race and the most challenging aspect of the event according to Mark Cranny, a four time winner of the event is the ”123 bends in the river”.
Blazen won the Tip Top Bakeries Bakers Blitz last year, so they will lead the field onto the water. This season has seen a number of boats take out the outright placing in the classic ski race events. Superman won the Hawkesbury 120, Stinga won the Grafton Bridge to Bridge & the Sydney Bridge to Bridge, whilst Blazen won the Berri 110.
The Hellrazor and Stinga teams are the only ones which have won the event outright before. Can Hellrazor make it a record 5 outright wins, or will another team step up to the podium.
Catch all the action on the water at the Victoria Park boat Ramp, Echuca on Saturday 13th Feb and Sunday 14th February. Race programs are now available in the Echuca /Moama newsagents for $10
For further information regarding the event you can visit www.southern80.com.au or contact the Moama Water Sports Club on 03 54806754
