Friday, 05 February 2010
THE Whakatane Ladies Surf Boat crew endured a good test to win the Northern Region Championship at Mount Maunganui at the weekend.
The crew, known as Monty’s Maidens, won all three of their heats, the semifinal, and final in a 1.5-metre swell. Coach and sweep Monty McGougan said it was a good challenge for the crew.
“I’m really pleased with the way they are going. I still think they haven’t peaked yet and there is some tweaking to do. We are still breaking the race down and want to improve on each part,” McGougan said.
The women’s crew lead the New Zealand Surf Boat Series with round three at Waihi this weekend and the final round at Piha on February 20.
“The northern region event was good preparation for the last round at Piha which is notorious for big surf. But we have to get through the Waihi round first,” McGougan said.
A win at Waihi for the women’s crew would edge them closer to the title.
Another Whakatane crew, the RN Bryne Haddocks men’s masters crew, competed in the open men’s division.
The crew were happy with their performance as they have only had four training sessions since the start of they year.
At the end of the heats, the crew were first equal with three other boats and had qualified for the semifinals. They placed third in the semifinal after being smacked around a bit on the way out. This allowed them to race in the final where they placed fifth out of the 20 crews.
Sunday’s racing was to start at 12 noon but the weather interfered in the morning events and the boats were delayed. The buoys were moved out to the 400m mark and the driving rain made it hard for the sweeps to see the buoys. They had to contest with waves up to 3m.
All events had to be shortened to two heats and a final for the men’s and women’s divisions. But only the first round of the open men’s was raced. The Whakatane men’s crew won their heat in a good display of attacking the large surf on the way out and then picking up two large waves to bring them home to shore.
But by this time the officials were having a meeting on the beach and announced that all further events were cancelled - to the annoyance of the Whakatane crew.
This weekend the men’s crew will race in the Waihi round of the New Zealand series as well as the North Island Champs in the master’s division.
Meanwhile, the Whakatane Surf Lifesaving Club are only a month away from hosting the National Surf Lifesaving Championships. The four-day competition begins on March 11 and a handful of out-of-town clubs have already spent time in the water at Ohope in preparation for the big event.
Some Eastern Bay masters athletes have re-discovered their competitive spark and have been spotted training. Reports from the surf club have indicated that some first-time competitors may also put their hands up.
One of the big challenges the club is facing in the build-up is finding volunteers for their build teams. They do not have enough people for setting up the equipment for the event.