Moruya was the southern-most surf club to compete at the major NSW surf sports event.

All three crews, open women, under-23 women and under 19s, are new to the sport and for most it was only their second carnival. 

The under-23 crew finished second while the open women’s crew finished a respectable fourth.

A small but enthusiastic contingent of 17 from the club made the long 12-hour trip to compete at the weekend, and the boat rowers made the most of the opportunity and competed in not only the boats, but also had a crack at the beach sprint and flags events.

Amelia Berry from the open women’s crew said she and her teammates had a great time and loved learning the rowing ropes from sweep-coach Shaun Pike.

“It’s been so much fun up here. 

“We had a great time coming up on our own bus, towing the boat,” she said.

Between their races the girls happily cheered on neighbouring club and competitor Broulee, saying “we’re all really good friends”.

The new crews are mostly Moruya youngsters and Shaun Pike said the club has made a big effort to attract more young people in recent times.

“We’ve been short of patrolling members and have found that getting some of the good-looking girls involved in boat rowing helps get the boys there as well,” he said with a laugh.

Several nippers also went along for the ride and raced in some of the water events. 

Under-12 competitor Elka Pike had the best result for the team with her gold medal in the beach flags event.