Long Distance Nationals (hosted by Mooloolaba) – Friday 19th May to Sunday 21st May 2017
AUSSIE AITO & NATIONAL MARATHON TITLES – supported by Sunshine Coast Council and Sunshine Coast Destinations
Great to see so many clubs from around Australia attend the Aussie Aito and the National Titles!! Approximately 35 Clubs with over 900 paddlers in attendance.
Wow what a eventful regatta for our club!!!
Friday kicked off with the Aussie Aito. Congratulations to the following clubbies that participated in the Aussie Aito.
- John Watts (Hone) – Gold in the Golden Masters V1 Short course
- Amelia Cummings – Silver in the Masters Women V1 Lng course
- Justin Wharewaka – Placing 4th in the Masters Men V1 Long Course
Also massive congratulations to John Watts who won the V1 . Check out the smile on his face.
Saturday saw Lyn, Lesley and Lucky race in composite GMW & GMM crews and both teams won Gold. A big congratulations to you all.
Sunday saw the mixed teams take to the water for their last race of the season – 16km….. the Long Distance National Titles ….which is ultimately state vs state.
Extremely proud of the effort by the open mix team who placed 5th in their respective category. This crew had every age division represented – 1 open, 2 masters, 1 senior master & 2 golden masters. This was only their 2nd run together all season, so a great result and great to hear the crew enjoyed it.
I’m extremely proud of our Master Mix crew. We’ve had an exceptional season with winning every race in our division entered, SQZ events, National Sprint Titles & the Sydney Harbour Challenge. Yesterday we were on target to podium action, the winning crew was right next to us but Old Woman Island had other plans. She decided she was going to chew us up and spit us back out. Check it this snippet courtesy of Daryl’s footage on board….
We are extremely grateful to the man, Daryl…. for his skill and ability to think calmly under pressure. Many paddlers will never come to understand what goes through the mind of a true steerer. The variables that play out in their heads when considering all options to ensure safety first, directional lines, conditions, what is ahead, to the sides and backs, speed of the canoe, power on the boat. So many things to consider. Our safety net to veer right to stay away from the break zone was taken away by a canoe directly off our backs. The speed and line they had would have surely collided with our canoe. Possible serious injury was avoided. Our iatos snapped and our ama folded in half and there was no coming back from it.
The crew never panicked. Everyone knew the drill. Check off, lifejackets on, minimize further damage or possible injury and await assistance.
True sportsmanship was shown by our neighbouring club Tweed Coast and many other crews who stopped to check if we were okay. Ron Grabbe & the support boat recovery volunteers were outstanding. It humbled us all and we were extremely grateful.
It did take time for the support boats to get to us and the recovery to get underway but everyone remained calm.
I want to commend everyone on the boat for their actions. Huli drills play a big part in preparing crews for the possibility of flipping. It happens to the very best of crews. The actions by our Masters Mixed crew were textbook.
In concluding, the results our wee club has achieved over this season has been extraordinary. Congratulations to all club members for an outstanding season.
Enjoy the break and bring on the 2017/2018 race season.