The Batemans Bay, Broulee Surfers and Moruya Surf Life Saving Club’s surf boat crews are in encouraging form in the lead-up to the George Bass Marathon, with all clubs achieving good results at the South Coast Boat Series carnival at Warilla on Saturday.
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The Batemans Bay under 23 men’s crew, the Fortescues, consisting of Alex Innes, Jarred Barton, Sam Wilkinson, Anthony Bellette and sweep Neil Innes, rowed their way to victory in the final.
“They did some really good rowing and deserved their win, so I’m really happy for them,” Neil Innes said.
The Batemans Bay open men’s crew enjoyed good form but not luck, scoring two wins and two thirds in the lead-up to the final, where they finished third.
“They deserved better results,” sweep Neil Innes said.
Both the club’s open women’s crews, Darren Divas and the One Life Warriors, made the final, where they finished fourth and fifth respectively.
“The One Life Warriors rowed well, but made some fundamental mistakes,” sweep Neil Innes said.
A crabbed oar (an oar stuck under the boat) early in the final cost them dearly, but they got back into contention only to be pipped by the other crews at the finish.
“The boat speed of both crews were good,” Innes said. “They had a bad run; they got whacked by a couple of waves.”
Broulee Surfers’ under 23 women’s crew, the Lifejackets – Kiralee Ekin, Leighanna Ekin, Josie Dempster, Sam Desaxe and sweep-coach Rob Pollock – were spectacularly successful, dominating all their round-robin races and powering to victory in the final.
Their success was even more remarkable considering crew member Josie Dempster had just arrived back after a two-week break in North Queensland.
“The Lifejackets have clearly made improvement on their opposition and are looking a real threat for the major titles in the new year,” Pollock said.
Broulee Surfers’ other under 23 women’s crew, the Young and the Restless, were also impressive, recording a round win and two third places to also make the final. They were unlucky and were hit by a wave at the start of the final, which proved too difficult to recover from.
“The Young and the Restless are improving rapidly,” Pollock said.
Broulee’s formidable under 19s men’s crew, the Chinese Cooks, had a busy day, and backed up for the reserve crew who were all missing on Saturday.
The crew did extremely well, finishing in all under 19 rounds and the final in second place and also getting a second, third and fourth place finish in reserve grade.
Moruya SLSC’s crews also had their last big hitout before the George Bass Marathon.
The club’s open men’s crew finished second in the final, but the open women’s crew had a disastrous first race, which ultimately cost them a place in the final.
“It was a pity because they have been travelling well,” sweep Gavin Hunt said.