Neville Fry has published the new version of the 2009 Green Island Water Ski Race.

Last weekend in Sydney off the coast, Australia had its 1st ever Sydney Offshore training water ski race, it was basically a training race with single outboards allowed only as well as small race skis or training skis only.

Ski Racing Victoria State Titles Entry forms are now available to download on the Ski Racing Victoria Website. www.waterskiracing.com

The State titles will be held on the weekend of the 5th and 6th December at Lake Charm, Victoria
Please note the following;
1. No Late Entries Accepted.
2. Entries close Wednesday 25th November.
3. Note change of Fax Number for entries. Please fax entries to (03) 5480 0670 or send to SRV, P.O. Box 1005, Echuca, Vic 3564.
4. Briefing will be held at 8.15am Saturday Morning and again at 8.15am on Sunday for competitors who were not briefed on the Saturday.
5. Racing will continue through till 6pm Saturday as per the program. Please note no races are designated Saturday or Sunday.
6. Important Condition of Entry – All people entered will be added to the roster and expected to help out when required. Please check the website for the roster on Wednesday prior to the event to find out when you are rostered on. If you cannot volunteer during the allocated time you will be expected to find a replacement or you will not race. By entering you accept this condition of entry.
7. Any enquiries in regards to entries please contact Di Touhey on (03) 5480 0670

There has been updates made to the SRV web page:
• Classifieds have been updated
• Ski Racing Australia Scrutineers have advised that they have observed a lack of professionalism in the standard and condition of competitor’s equipment. In response to this on going scrutineering will be stepped up and the following equipment will be checked Ski’s, Helmets and Wetsuits. It is the competitors and their crews responsibilities to ensure the gear being worn is correct or a penalty may occur or at worst being unable to race. (Dated from 20.10.09 no exceptions) Please check your SRA Rule book.
• To All Victorian Competitors Racing in Engine Classes Please read the below ruling. Ski Racing Australian (SRA Rule Book) Season 2009 -2010 Rule 9.2. Measuring and Sealing of Engines ALL ENGINE CLASSES MUST BE SEALED BY SRA APPROVED ENGINE SEALERS BEFORE COMPETING Names of SRA approved sealers are available from the SRA office. Exception to this rule applies to MOC, Unlimited Inboard/Outboard, 60mph and 70mph. Without exception as per SRA Rules, all classes listed must be sealed prior to competing. Please do not attend racing and expect to race if you do not conform.
• New SRV Director – Dean Trickey has advised us that due to work commitments he would not be able to fulfil his duties as a board member. Additionally he has advised us that he has appointed Tony Wilson as his alternate director as per Clause 20.1 of the SRV constitution. I know the decision would of been difficult for Dean knowing his strong passion and commitment for our sport. We thank Dean for his invaluable contribution and we look forward to him hopefully re-joining us on the board in the future.
• Write up from Point Score 2 now available from the media pages

Neville Fry of Cairns has provided this video footage of the 2009 Green Island Ski Race.

The promo for the Recent Grafton Bridge to Bridge race in Australia.

Force Boats congratulate their teams at the recent Grafton Bridge to Bridge.

Australia’s Leanne (Brown) Pickering and Adrian Pickering have been blessed with a baby boy.

Neville Fry provided these couple of shots taken from video footage captured at the 2009 Green Island Race in Cairns Australia.

The SRV web page has been updated with the results from point score 1. Please note that there have been changes in the contact details for the SRV secretary. Classifieds have also been updated. Visit SRV web page for more details

Rob Storum of In Tha Zone Images captured the Robertsons at the recent NSW Championships at Wisemans Ferry. Many will know that Paul Robertson was World Champion in 1991 when he put on a stunning performance at Darwin, Australia. Then Stephen Robertson pulled off the same class act in 1999 (Spain) and 2001 (Vegas). Let’s not forget Barry and John Robertson who crewed for the boys at their World Championship wins. The family have strings of other accomplishments under their belts from all over the world.

The National Maritime Museum of Newcastle is holding it’s annual fund raising day on Newcastle. Ski Racing is the major and is an important source of revenue for our sport. Racing will be on the usual short outside the brewery.

Chris Grabyn of Multiverse has shared his shots of the action on the Hawkesbury the other week at the 2009 Hawkesbury 120. You can find dozens of his shots at www.multi-verse.net

Rob Storum of In Tha Zone Images was in the thick of the action at the 2009 Hawkesbury 120 and captured these sensational shots:

The annual Hawkesbury 120 takes place on 29 and 30 August in NSW Australia. Once again the magnificent Hawkesbury River will host the longest 2up River race, which will be the first race in the SRA Super Series for the 2009-2010 season.

The Grafton Bridge to Bridge website has now been launched at www.graftonb2b.org.au and a feature of the new site is the option to enter online.

A new season is under way in Australia and round 1 of the NSW Championships took place on the weekend. Rob Storum of In Tha Zone Images was on hand to capture the Aussie action on the river.

Nine days before the first race, I spoke to Dave Bishop in Melbourne about the team that Australia has ready for the 2009 World Water Ski Racing Championships.

UPDATE 8 July: Neville Fry shared some good news leading into the World Titles regarding Australia’s Mark Weaver:

Former World Water Ski Racing Champion and former World Wakeboard Champion Wayne Mawer squeezed in his final session with a croc-fan in Cairns before boarding a flight to Belgium today.

Shane Wilson has issued the new membership forms for the 2009-2010 water ski racing season. You can download these new Ski Racing Australia Membership Forms below.

As more than 200 people bid Wayne Mawer good luck  as he prepares to leave Cairns for Belgium, 7 TV reports from the special event hosted at Lui Garozzo’s Salthouse on the weekend.

A send-off come fundraiser is being held in Cairns for Wayne Mawer, who will represent Australia at next month’s world water ski racing championships in Belgium.

Chris Stout was caught on video pulling a neat little bunny at last year’s Southern 80 on the Murray River in Australia.

The Force F21 Team of “TUFF ‘E’ NUFF” that includes Brent Wisemantle driving, with Andrew Fyfe observing and Daniel Cotton skiing. The team have successfully qualified to represent Australia in the Men’s F2 Class in the up and coming World Water-ski-Racing Championships in Belgium.

Rob Storum of In Tha Zone Images was on the edge of the Clarence to capture the action at the 2009 Queensland Titles at Grafton recently.

Aussie F2 Worlds skier Kylee Jones competed in the Open Womens Marathon at the Qld state titles recently. She was encouraged to do this by the team of “Category 5” from QLD – so she agreed on the condition that Shane Helson (Japs) and John Vesley sported their new racing overalls. So here are the girls boys below in true blue Dame Edna Everage fashion.

The 2009 Australian Worlds Team Captain/Manager is Rick Love. Rick and his team have created a dedicated web site for the upcoming Worlds to relay information specifically about the Australian Team, back home for those who can’t be at the event.

Nevile Fry of Cairns reported that an iconic lighthouse proved a beacon of hope for Anthony Greenwood as he battled towards victory in the Fitzroy Island Ironman Ski Race. Greenwood completed the 25km ski leg from Cairns to Fitzroy Island and 400m swim with few complications but soon started to feel the pain on the 4km return run to the lighthouse.

The South Australian State Championships were held over the weekend of 6th and 7th June at Berri Waterski Club.

Force Boats have just pushed their latest Force F21 out of the factory. “STINGA F2” includes its trademark funky colour design with a combination of White, Applied Red, Light Orange, Central Blue and Royal Blue. Removable Rear Lounge for training and racing, triple ballast system, Rex Marine custom installation, Detwiler Jacking plate, Outrigger Steering, Drivers Seat Slide and Observers Seat Swivel, Bimmini, Clarion CD Stereo, Force Custom Transom Plate and Carbon Wind Deflector. Powered by a Mercury 300xs Optimax Outboard engine.

This weekend, Grafton will host the 2009 Queensland Water Ski Racing Titles on the Clarence River. A nice early start on Saturday morning with a 7am briefing.

The 2009 Fitzroy Ironman takes place on 8 June from Cairns, QLD, Australia. Grant from Cairns has published version 2 of the 2008 Ironman.

Luke Keys was captured in action whilst pulling this bunny off the Hawksbury this weekend.

A few up and coming young Aussie skiers were caught on camera at Wisemans Ferry this weekend as they awaited the start of the Under 10’s 2 -up race.

Brooke Gray capture this shot of David McMillan at the Region V races in Australia on the weekend.

Kevin Boylan has been involved with Junior water ski racing training in NSW for over 20 years and has done a superb job of bringing on skiers such as the Stouts, Eagles and Procters, and many others with plenty of Australian and World Champions produced.

On Sunday former world champion Lauryn Eagle set off from Manly in NSW, Australia to set a new record skiing from Sydney to Newcastle and another record doing the return trip.

Due to Technical difficulties, the RMI Images web site is temporarily off line. You can contact Dick at rmi52852@bigpond.net.au if you need to order an photographs. It is hoped that the website will be back online shortly.

Hawkesbury Hero Chris Stout and his sister Trudi dominated both the Men’s and Women’s Open titles at the weekend. Chris set a blistering pace to score an impressive win from a class field that included two former World Champions Wayne Mawer and Paul Robertson to take out The Bill McLachlan Men’s Open Title.

Teams using Force Boats broke SIX records in the Powerboat Bridge to Bridge AND the F19x Konica Minolta Team are the New Zealand Offshore Powerboat Champions AGAIN.

Susan Cartwright is a member of the Australian F2 women’s team for the 2009 World Water Ski Racing Championships.

1st place 6 litre at the 2009 Sydney one-up Bridge to Bridge Water Ski race was Craig Gordon.

Aussie photographer Rob Storum of In Tha Zone Images was on the water and on the banks of the Hawkesbury for the 2009 Sydney One-Up Bridge to Bridge race. Rob wrote the following words and sent in a selection of superb shots for skirace.net readers.

Mick Kelly who does a great job of running the Aussie water ski racing site letstalkskiracing.com shares this article from the weekend’s Sydney Bridge to Bridge 1 up Water Ski Race.

Rob Storum of In Tha Zone Images was at the fundraiser in QLD on Saturday Night. The shots below were taken at Michael Souwer`s “Crimsafe Headquarters”.

Neville Fry of Cairns, Australia shares this piece of archived footage of the 1990 Cairns to Green Island Ski Race.

Jason Walsh shared these shots from Newcastle where Filthy, the legendary Ray Ball and Chris Stout were racing recently.

Neville Fry has just shared this great piece of movie action with us. It’s footage from the 1993 and 1995 Green Island Water Ski Race with Wayne Mawer skiing behind Ray Hall and Peter Sharp’s ‘Legless’. Neville said; “Legless and Gotta Be Crazy were the main stepping stone for Wayne’s real taste of success in the unlimited classes.”

Stinga, with Greg Houston driving, Kevin Boylan observing and with skiers Grant Patterson & Daniel Campbell, took out The Edge Mildura 100 over the Easter weekend in a time of 32:35

All results can be downloaded from the Mildura Ski Race site now.

Ski Racing NSW has made a change to the total number of events an Unrestricted skier can enter at the 2009 NSW State Titles to be held at Port Macquarie in May.

On 18th July 2009, there will be a boaties & skier’s reunion dinner at Club Forster. Bruce Robberd has sent in the following flyer with full details.

The Belgian world championship organising committee has been asked if they can help with boats for the following Australian skiers:

Ben Pearse captured a bunch of great shots down on the Murray. Lloyd Woolman was the main act and Rhys Duggan closed the performance.

Neville Fry captured the proud moment for the members of the 2009 Australian National Water Ski Racing Team and Wayne Mawer has shared it with us.

Update 31 March: by Deb Oben – Hey everyone – saw Dennis tonight at PA Hospital. Considering his long list of injuries, including about 20 broken ribs, punctured lung, broken pelvis (just to mention a few) he is looking ok. He is sitting up and talking slowly. He will be at the PA for at least another two weeks. The main thing, he is back with us… yeah! Deb x

Update 27 March: by Deb Oben –  Dennis has been transferred to PA Brisbane Hospital for an operation that was very successful. He is now out of his coma and is sitting up in bed. He should be out of ICU by Monday but in hospital for a few weeks. I will be hopefully visiting him next week so will update you all. Deb

24 March 2009: Deb Oben (Pat Cole’s daugher) has passed on the unfortunate news that Dennis Lindsay fell from a height and broke 4 vertebrae in his back and is now in a coma. Dennis is currently in ICU at Gold Coast (Queensland).

I’m sure that many old timers out there wish Dennis all the very best in pulling through this.

Kara Williams submitted this great shot of Mitch Williams flicking bunnies on the Hawkesbury River.

Brooke Gray has shared these two shots which she took of Kurt Brooks in action with Nick & Wendy Feros.

Brooke Gray was in the right place at the right time to snap up Chris Stout’s bunny at Wisemans on the weekend.

Aidan Rowe of Victoria races behind kane it in the 2.5 litre class. His cousin Daniel Rowe captured him pulling bunnies out of the Murray at Echuca over the Xmas holidays.

Chris Stout got caught pulling a Bunny at Wiseman’s on the weekend by Ringo Racing Photography.

More Cairns action from Grant. This time he’s released the NQOSSA Cairns to Port Douglas promo, with special thanks to Charlie.

Nicole Mitchell caught some great bunnies at the recent Robinvale by Brett Dominguez, Chris Stout, Daniel Shipp and others. You can also see them on the dedicated Bunnies page.

Due to the threat of Cyclone Hamish that was of Cairns on Saturday the 7th the Ski race that was to be held was called of – reports Neville Fry of Cairns. He went onto say;

The False Cape Course on Saturday March 7th will officially be a “Race Day” not a Training day as previously stated. Go to http://www.nqossa.com.au for more details.

Check out the video footage of The 2008 Green Island Water Ski Race. Courtesy of North Queensland Offshore Ski Association – To enter the 2009 event visit www.nqossa.com.au for details.

Check out this great piece of movie action from Cairns, Australia. This is ski racing like nowhere else in the world. Ski, Swim & Run. Is that Wayne Mawer running up the hill on Fitzroy?

Water Ski Racing in North Queensland is alive and kicking with the North Queensland Off Shore Ski Association (NQOSSA) web site has a heap of stuff on its web site. Check it out at www.nqossa.com.au

With six of the eight selection races now run and done, there’s a lot of talk about who will or won’t be in the team.

Entry forms for the Mildura 100 are now available on the Mildura Ski Club Site at www.milduraskiclub.org

Chris Grabyn has published his shots of the 2009 Southern 80 at

www.multi-verse.net

Mirror Image

Top Gun

Cinders

Rob Storum was right in the thick of the action again and shares these sensational shots that he captured at Wisemans Ferry on the weekend when Australia’s best fought it out as the Aussie World selection races draw close to their end.

Wayne Mawer won another hard fought world selection race today in Australia. Peter Procter was 2nd and Chris Stout 3rd.

More news and photos when they become available.

Check on the previous results from the Aussie selections here or on the Aussie Worlds page at www.skiracing.com.au

Calendar for Aussie World Selection Races

Race 1 & 2
Saturday and Sunday 8th & 9th November 2008 at
Gosford.

Race 3 & 4
Monday 19th and Wednesday 21st January 2009
Lake Charm Victoria.

Race 5 & 6
Saturday and Sunday 14th and 15th 2009 February are
Wisemans Ferry

Race 7
Saturday 28th March 2009
Lake Charm Victoria

The Moama Water Sports Club hosts the biggest waterski race in the world – “The Club Marine Southern 80” – on the Murray River at Echuca/Moama. It was held over last weekend but was abandoned at 1.50pm on Sunday due to ambulance & paramedic crews being called away for the Victorian Fires. All spectators (100,000) & competitors (2,200) were keen to begin a fund raising effort, thus we instantly raised $1,475 at presentation time.

Instantaneously, Moama Water Sports Club pledged the remaining prize money of $8,000. Ski Racing Australia and Ski Racing Victoria both pledged $5,000 each.

In all, a total of $19,475 has been raised to kick off “The Southern 80 Bushfire Relief Appeal”. This money was donated via the Channel 9 appeal held on the 12th February 2009

You too can contribute to the appeal via following the link to this website, where it will be recognised as coming from the Ski Racing Community www.everydayhero.com.au/southern80bushfirerelieffund

Rob Storum has shared some sensational shots from the 2009 Southern 80 weekend. Rob said; “mate it was one of the strangest weekends I’ve had.

History was made this weekend in the running of the Club Marine Southern 80. The event was stopped twice over the weekend, an event which has never been witnessed in the running of the event.

On Saturday during the running of the Tip Top Bakeries Bakers Blitz and the Presidents Invitational – a race boat lost control whilst competing colliding with two houseboats near the Merool Boat Ramp. The incident saw two spectators inquired. The incident is being investigated by the NSW Maritime in conjunction with the NSW Police. The crew involved in the incident were not injured. Due to the incident, the race was stopped with only a couple of boats to finish the event.

A number of race records were broken during the day’s racing, despite the hot and tiring conditions. Crews were happy with the new format. The crowds of around 60000 which lined the river banks to watch the event were generally well behaved. It was disappointing that some spectators chose to swim on race day, but overall the crowd was well behaved.

Sunday racing started on time, with the Expert classes leaving from Torrumbarry.
At 1:57pm Sunday, Ambulance services Victoria advised the MWSC that they had to leave the event to be deployed to other areas of the state, as Victoria came to grips with the worst bushfires in history.

Without the support of emergency services, the MWSC had no choice but to abandon the event. Most competitors competing in the Expert classes were on the river and / or home; this meant that most classes were able to register a completed result.

The outcome meant that the top 40 boats which included the Superclass boats were not able to run. The results in the classes affected meant that these results are incomplete.

The support shown by the crowd and competitors to the abandonment of the race, was amazing. People continued to support the event, by enjoying the river and peoples company.

MWSC President – Alan McDonald said that “ The safety of our competitors is paramount in our minds. Without adequate Paramedical support the event could not continue. The people of Victoria affected by the bushfires deserve our support.”

During the presentation of the Completed classes, the driver of Stinga, Greg Houston got up on stage and pledged $1000.00 towards the support of a Victorian Bushfire Appeal. A number of other competitors have since donated their prize money. Every ski racer present on the weekend, could recount a link to someone affected the bush fires which have ravaged Victoria.

President Alan McDonald, pledged on behalf of the MWSC the prize money from the classes which were not presented to an appeal.

Results from the event can be found on the Southern 80 website at www.southern80.com.au

A state of emergency has been declared in Victoria, Australia. Ambulance and Emergency Services have been deployed to other regions in the state. The BBC reports here.

Due to this action, the organisers of the Southern 80 have had to abandon the racing today (Sunday).

Please visit the S80 web site for updates on plans.

Plenty of racing took place on the Saturday of the 2009 Southern 80 weekend. You can get all the results here at the S80 web site. More racing Sunday.

Below are the top three from the Baker’s Blitz

1st
Blazen
Noel Griffin
Bernard Simpson
Chris Stout
Grant Turner
Time: 6 mins 50.88 seconds
Ave speed: 175.60 kph

2nd
The Syndicate
Garry Rudd
Clif Bamford
Kevin Vahtrik
Danny Cropper
Time: 6 mins 53.26 seconds
Ave speed: 174.33 kph

3rd
The Mistress
Leo Welch
Bradley Johnson
Jai Welch
Zac Welch
Time: 7 minutes 23.81 seconds
Ave speed: 162.52 kph

Mark Cranny from Team Hell has won the Southern 80 4 times already. Can he do it again in 2009?

Below are a selection of the boat and skier shots from In Tha Zone Images at the recent Aussie Titles / World Selections Race 3 & 4 at Lake Charm in Victoria. Rob Storum gives a special thank you to HB Promotions for getting him down for the Championships and to Brian Nutley and Ian Pearse for getting the lines he needed.

In Straham, Tasmania on Saturday 31st January 2009 at 7am, hundreds of skiers, assistants and organisers attempt to beat the long standing record of 100 skiers set by Cairns & District Powerboat and Ski Club on 18th October 1986. Watch the Cairns record here.

Wayne Mawer was one of the skiers in 1986

Strahan’s attempt is planned for Sunrise on Saturday however all day Saturday and Sunday is reserved for a backup in case of bad weather or technical difficulties.

See www.skirecord.com for full details.

Stephen Robertson of Australia writes …yesterday (06.30am Saturday 24th January – Sydney time) 2 of my very good friends & former fellow ski racers David Morris & Dean Hanckel were involved in a tragic accident whilst on a training ride for an upcoming ironman triathlon, they were struck down by a truck causing Dave’s death, at this stage Dean is fighting for his life.

In under 2 weeks we will know the winner of the 2009 Club Marine Southern 80.

Check out the Southern 80 website for all the competitor information, including briefing sheets, schedule of events, purchasing of entry passes and race day programs.

Watch a podcast of an interview with Mark Cranny from Team Hell (Hellrazor, Hellbent, Tru Blue), a 4 time past winner of the Southern 80.

Catch all the action about the 2009 Club Marine Southern 80 on the Southern 80 website.

Well the 2009 Gannawarra Shire Australian Speed & Marathon Championships have been held. Final results can be downloaded from the SRV website
Photos will be available soon on the In tha Zone website.

21 Jan update – By Neville Fry —
Wayne Mawer has taken out the forth selection race at Lake Charm – second was Chris Stout, third Ben Gully. Unfortunately Peter Proctor’s boat had another problem before half way through the race –  Peter was leading at the time. These two skiers have not had a full race without a mishap, when they do it will be a good race.

===================================

Selection Race Highlight Results
Note: On the official results for the 4th day of racing, there is no “1” for 1hour. So you probably need to add the hour onto the Men’s times below. e.g. Wayne didn’t do the race in 3 minutes and 34 seconds.

You can find complete selection results for F1, F2 & Juniors here at the Ski Racing Victoria web site

Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4

Men’s F1 World Selection Race 4

1st
Tru Blue
27 laps
03:34
Wayne Mawer
Mark Cranny
Damien Matthews

2nd
BURNN
27 laps
04:20
Chris Stout
Noel Griffin
Mike Kelly

3rd
Merc Force
04:35
Ben Gulley
Don Gulley
Gerald Gulley

Women’s F1 World Selection Race 4

1st
Still Crazy
19 laps
49:41
Cara Jochinke
Geoff Jochinke
Rod Hogben

2nd
Thunder
19 laps
49:54
Bethany Pledger
John Jnr Robertson
Adrian Pickering

3rd
Tuff-N-Up
16 laps
49:46
Lauryn Eagle
Danny Knappick
Rory Brown

Men’s F2 World Selection Race 4

1st
Force This
25 laps
03:30
Mark Weaver
Troy Kennedy
Jason Bennett

2nd
Tuff E Nuff
24 laps
03:10
Daniel Cotton
Brent Wisemantel
Andrew Fyfe

3rd
Showbiz
24 laps
04:11
Richard Souwer
David Tidswell
Trent Souwer

Women’s F2 World Selection Race 4

1st
Tuff E Nuff
19 laps
50:21
Trudi Stout
Brent Wisemantel
Andrew Fyfe

2nd
Still Sparken
19 laps
50:36
Kylee Jones
Craig Boswell
Murray Hackett

3rd
Stalker Evinrude
18 laps
49:51
Susan Cartwright
Brad Groves
Shaun Williams

Junior Boy’s World Selection Race 4

1st
Sudden Force
12 laps
33:16
Jack Houston
Greg Houston
Kevin Boylan

2nd
Smack That
12 laps
33:47
Ben Hackett
Wayne Harrison
Murray Hackett

3rd
Tru Blue
12 laps
34:29
Ben Pearse
Mark Cranny
Damien Matthews

Junior Girl’s World Selection Race 4

1st
Prime Time
10 laps
33:46
Sarah Teelow
Chris Teelow
Adrian Pickering

2nd
Tuff-N-Up
10 laps
33:47
Maddison Boyer
Danny Knappick
Rob Henderson

3rd
Heat
10 laps
34:37
Natalie Keys
Bernie Elliott
Graham French

=========================

19 Jan – Wayne Mawer won the third Aussie selection race in Men’s F1 at Lake Charm. In the other selection races, Cara Jochinke won the Women’s F1 whilst Trudi Stout won Womens’ F2. Daniel Cotton secured a win in Men’s F2 and in the Juniors it was Jack Houston and Sarah Teelow taking the honours.

The selection races have been run as part of the Australian Titles week and hosted in Victoria.

With over 500 entries and 250 boats, the entries are now closed for the 2009 Club Marine Southern 80. This promises to provide plenty of action on the water.

The 2009 format has been changed dramatically from previous years events. With some races cut and more events on the water on Saturday.

Friday 6th February, will see the Breakfast with the Stars take place in the Aquatic reserve, Heygarth st Echuca. Over 50 boats and their teams will be on display from around 7am to 9am. People will be able to wander through the display, chat to the teams, have breakfast and meet some of their ski racing heroes.

There will safety scrutineering for selected boats only (boats will be notified by special mail at least one week prior to the event) , occurring at the MWSC’s office in Annesley st Echuca from 12 noon. Briefing for all team captains will also occur in the Annesley street from 12 noon to 5pm, on the half hour.

Friday night will see the official welcome to sponsors & supporters of the event, at the Launch night to taking place at the Victoria Park boat ramp. Tickets can be purchased online via the Southern 80 website at $75 per person.

Saturday morning (7th February 2009) will see the social classes start at Torrumbarry at 8.30am. They will make the journey to the Victoria Park Boat ramp, with them arriving by around 12 noon. This means that the river will be closed to all boats between Torrumbarry & Echuca, for the running of the event.

In Hare street Echuca, the Super Class boats will be on display, along with many other teams. Why not wander through the street, see the teams and visit some of the local Echuca stores. Entry is free.

From around 12 noon the action moves to the Five Mile Boat Ramp, where the Veterans, Junior Social, Sub Junior Social, Senior Social, 60mph and 70 mph, and Tadpoles, all leave for the journey to Victoria Park Boat Ramp.

At the conclusion of a sweep of the river and then the top 40 boats will leave at 1 minute intervals to determine their starting places for the Sunday run. First to leave will be Team Hell in Hellrazor (last year’s winner) with the other 6 Superclass boats following.

Following them will be 14 Superclass B boats, including, Chief, Fastcash, Mirror Image, Syndicate, Mistress and others.

Then the Presidents Invitational Dash will see a further 19 boats tussle out for their pole positions in their relevant classes.

Presentation of the Saturday classes will take place on Saturday afternoon at the conclusion of racing.

The Victoria Park Boat Ramp area is an esky free zone with entry to the area $30 for a two day pass or $20 each day. The area caters for all the family with food and drinks, car simulations, trade sites, drag boats, junior power boats, Moomba Water Ski Show and much more.

Sunday will see those boats not in the top 40 leave Torrumbarry in expert class order at 1 minute intervals from 8.30am. Gunbower Lions Club will be providing refreshments and food at the Torrumbarry start area for competitors and spectators.

Once all of those boats are accounted for around 2.30pm, the top 40 boats will leave Torrumbarry for the 30 odd minute journey to the Victoria Park.

At the conclusion of racing, around 4.30pm, presentation of trophies to the winners will take place at Victoria Park.

For further information regarding the event you can visit www.southern80.com.au for all the latest results as they happen you can download the results via your mobile phone (provided you have internet access) at www.southern80.com.au/mobile.htm – this page will be updated constantly during the weekend.

Ski Racing Australia wishes to advise that DVD orders are now being taken for each River Race Classic for the 2008/09 season.

Chris Grabyn of Multiverse has shared his shots of the action on the Hawkesbury the other week at the 2008 Sydney Bridge to Bridge. A selection is below and you can find dozens more at www.multi-verse.net

Congratulations to the Hellbent team on winning their Third Barrie Beehag Ski Race in a time of 24:35.61 Full results available here

1st: Hellbent
Driver: Mark Cranny
Observer: Damien Matthews
Skier: Peter Procter
Skier: Paul Robertson
Time 1: 12:20.61
Time 2: 12:15
Full Time: 24:35.61
Ave speed: 146.440 kph

1991 World Champion Paul Robertson, and Peter Procter won the 2008 Sydney Bridge on the weekend.

Rob Storum of InThaZoneImages shares Hellrazor’s story from the weekend’s Bridge in Sydney. If you look at the third image, that`s how close second place was with about 2 mins remaining in the race – they eventually won by 11 secs.

It was Chris Stout who won the 1st round of the Aussie F1 World selection races on Saturday at Gosford towed by Burnin with Noel Griffin & Michael Kelly. 1991 World Champion Paul Robertson was 2nd and 1997 World Champion Wayne Mawer was 3rd.

Kelly at Force Boats in Australia has just published a bunch of Aussie news below. Plus check out the movie at the bottom of this page.

Rob Storum of inthazoneimages.com.au captured a fair share of rough water action at the first two Aussie World Team selection races last weekend in Gosford NSW. In the order they appear you can see: Kurt Brooks, Thunder & Burnin, Lauryn Eagle, True Blue, Grant Turner and Paul Robertson.

Kelly at Force Boats writes of more excitement on the race track at the Grafton Bridge to Bridge last weekend.  And remember to watch Foxsports 1 – Saturday 11th Oct – Speed Week – 1am.

Rob Storum of In Tha Zone Images shares photos of the recent winning team “Burnin” at last weekend’s Grafton Bridge to Bridge in Australia.

Maria Harrod took this sensational shot of two superb skiers in action at Grafton Australia recently.

Helen Britnell of HB Promotions says that due to a scheduling change at Foxsports outside her control, the first part of the Evinrude BRP Hawkesbury 120 will be seen as follows:

The 2008 Sydney Bridge to Bridge Water Ski Classic will be held on 15th & 16th November and entry forms are available now. For the entry form a much more, go to http://www.waterskinsw.com.au/bridgetobridge.php

or click on the image below.

People the world over will know of the legendary great-grandmother and infamous water ski racer; Mary McMillan of Sydney, Australia.

Kara Williams reports that, unfortunately, (at this stage), Mary will not be competing in the anuual Sydney Bridge to Bridge this year after entering around 40 (pls send correct number) of the events so far. In fact, Mary has competed in every single Sydney Bridge to Bridge race with friends, family but most recently in the last 2 years with her great grandson, Brock McMillan.

Mary has just successfully undergone a hip replacement at Concord Hospital in Sydney on Tuesday 23rd Sept and I certainly wish her a prompt recovery and congratulations for everything she has achieved and done for water ski racing over many decades. If you would like to post you good wishes here, simply use the comments section below.