27th January, 2013
Australian World Champion Leanne Campbell has won the Nautilus Marine Ski Racing Championship in the Formula 2 Women’s class, wrapping it up with victory in Race 6 on Newcastle Harbour today.
Campbell and the Tuff N Ruff team entered the final race of the series nine points ahead of Chelsea Blight (Shamick Racing).
She would go on to claim her fifth race out of six in the championship in the darkness and heavy final race and secure the F2 Womens’ title.
It was a dominant victory for Campbell, who only recorded one second place in the series, behind Blight in Geelong.
Campbell said the result was a huge achievement for the whole Tuff N Ruff crew.
“We put this team together really late in the piece,” she said.
“It was only a couple of weeks before the first race when we decided that we had to be a part of this Championship – we couldn’t miss it.
“It has all gone really well though, from the first race – we just clicked, and the entire championship has been a pleasure to run with these guys.”
In other classes, Daniel Cotton and Trudi Stout had already wrapped up the F2 Men and F1 Women titles respectively before today’s racing.
However, that didn’t stop them both from completing clean sweeps of their competitions – both recording six wins from six race starts throughout the series.
“To do three 15 minute races in a day, flat out, takes a lot of fitness,” said Cotton. “The connection with the skier, the driver and the observer is really important and only really comes from experience – which, we’re lucky we have.
“Yesterday was pretty cool – I’ve skied here before with good crowds but yesterday was that rough that you just didn’t have time to look around, you were too busy trying to read the water and hanging on.”
For Trudi Stout, securing her F1 Women’s title in Geelong didn’t stop her from winning both races in Newcastle.
“There was definitely less pressure this weekend,” said Stout, “but it’s nice to win all six races – I definitely wanted to get a perfect score.
“This series is so different – I remember at the first round at Redcliffe, I couldn’t walk on the Sunday night. I didn’t know what to expect – they’re shorter races, but you’re still spending the same amount of time on the water, but you’re at 90 to 100 per cent the whole time as opposed to maybe 70 per cent in a normal 45 minute race.
“Being on at the same time as the men was real motivation to try and beat some of them and compare yourself to them in the same conditions.”
F2 Men Results, Race 6 of 6:
1) Daniel Cotton, Team 50
2) Ben Hackett, 99 Psycho Clowns F2
3) Andrew Teal, Still Kid’n
F2 Men, FINAL standings:
1) Daniel Dotton, Team 50, 150 points
2) Ben Hackett, 99 Psycho Clowns F2, 122 points
3) Justin Cadden, XXX Racing, 82 points
F1 Women Results, Race 6 of 6:
1) Trudi Stout, Twenty Four
2) Maddison Boyer, Recovery’s Reflection
F1 Women, FINAL standings:
1) Trudi Stout, Twenty Four, 150 points
2) Maddison Boyer, Recovery’s Reflection, 88 points
F2 Women Results, Race 6 of 6:
1) Leanne Campbell, Tuff N Ruff
2) Chelsea Blight, Shamick Racing
3) Kelsey Feros, Nutcracker
F2 Women, FINAL standings:
1) Leanne Campbell, Tuff N Ruff, 147 points
2) Chelsea Blight, Shamick Racing, 135 points
3) Kelsey Feros, Nutcracker, 80 points
