Sandy Frey put together a great compilation of shots from this year’s Catalina.

Australia’s Geoff ‘Cisco’ McDonald passed away yesterday when he took his life after a long fight with depression. Deb Oben passed on the sad news to me and said; “He is a oldie but a goldie. I can’t think what to write as I’m so sad”.

Funeral details are as follows:

Wednesday, 11 August @ 10am
Castlebrook Memorial Park, Windsor Road, Rouse Hill.

Position filled

Britain’s Rod Hawkins has an F2 boat available if anyone is looking for a competitive tow at the European Championships in Cadiz.

If you’re interested, contact Rod ASAP at rod.1@blueyonder.co.uk

Roger Lincoln has made this video from boat-cam footage when Aussie Ben Gulley took part in the 2008 European Championships in Ramsgate back in 2008. Driver is Frank Fleming and observer is Stephen Young.

Wade Bennett has created a great selection of race videos which you can watch below.

The 2011 World Water Ski Racing World Championships will be held September 6 -18 in picturesque Moreton Bay, Queensland.

More at : ourbrisbane.com

Samantha Impy of  Image Extreme has sent in a couple of shots from the weekend’s racing at the Cardiff British National. You can see and buy more like this at the Image Extreme web site.

Catalina organiser Ken Vaughan has sent in a couple of great ariel shots of the weekend’s big event.

Ken wrote;

Queensland Ski Racing is arranging an opportunity on 12 Sept 2010 for teams to see the 2011 World Championships Venue and race on one of the courses.

Click here or on the screenshot below to download full details and the entry form.

The official web site for all 2011 Worlds info is www.skiracingqueensland.com.au

Thanks to Ken Vaughan for the official results of the 62nd Catalina Water Ski Race. I know that Ken has put so much into this event and I congratulate him on what I’ve been told was a tremendous event.

Courtesy of Carlos Rosas of CR Productions, below is a video of the interviews he did with Pete & Lauryn after the race.

After another great win at Cardiff Bay, Darren Kirkland, skiing behind The Lions Team 10 with Steve Cox driving and Steve Bird observing, became 2010 British Formula 1 Men’s Champion.

Thanks to Sue Fleming, the full results from the weekend’s event are posted here:

Cardiff National Results – Revised 21 July

America’s top ski racing photographer has kindly provided a selection of great shots which he took at Catalina. See and order all Catalina photos by Daren Van Ryte at www.darenvanryte.photoreflect.com and www.justintimephoto.photoreflect.com

The first shot is a photo finish between Todd Haig (closest) and Peter Procter (you can just see his ski) and it goes to show how incredibly close the finish was.

The AGM for SRV will be held on Wednesday 4th August, 2010 at the Skyways International Hotel, Melrose Drive, Airport West commending at 7.30pm.

After a nail biting race with 9 time Catalina winner Todd Haig, it was Peter Procter & the Warpath Team that became the winners of the 2010 Catalina Water Ski Race today.

Watch the video and see who wins in the Ducati, Powerboat, Audi R8 & Helicopter Race at Viersel In Belgium – home of the Diamond Race. Ski Racing’s Micha Robyn was on the bike and Jules Leysen in the Cat.

17 July Update: Teams will get up very early today (Saturday) in Long Beach to get to the start line for the 62nd Catalina Water Ski Race.

9:00am Long Beach time is:
5:00pm in the UK
6:00pm in Central Europe (Belgium, Austria, Spain, etc)
2:00am (Sunday) in Sydney
4:00am (Sunday) in Auckland

The schedule is as follows:

8.53am – Start between Islands White & Grissom in Long Beach Harbor.
Split start – minimum 7 minutes apart (weather permitting)

• 8.53am: 1st flight (21ft boats)
• 9.00am: 2nd flight (all other boats)

4.00pm Prize Giving

Weather Forecast at Avalon:
Wind at 8:00am: 3 km/h East
Wind at 11:am: 6 km/h West
Click here for latest forecast

Weather Forecast at Long Beach:
Wind at 8:00am: 2 km/h South
Wind at 8:00am: 6 km/h West
Click here for latest forecast

WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS.
W SWELL 2 TO 4 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.

The latest Australian events calendar is published here

Watch 2009 – Catalina Island Video footage.

Luc & Pepe of Powerboatracing.be have shared a few sensational shots from Geel in Belgium last weekend. Click any photo to enlarge.

Thanks to Samantha Washer, the British National Race results from Brixham on the weekend are downloadable below.

British Water Ski Racing has once again produced a top quality 48 page programme for the year which is on sale at all British national events. This gives people a chance to read about racing and organising clubs a chance to make some money from the proceeds.

Below is a selection of shots taken by Tim Tapping at the Brixham national water ski race in Britain on the weekend. You can see all Tim’s shots from the event here.

Needless to say, a good day for the Stout family in Belgium today with wins in F1 Men’s and Women’s – all behind Robbie Wright’s beautifully turned out “No Mercy”. Courtesy of Martine Ciroux below are the official results and Wim Lamot kindly contributed the superb close-up shots.

Once again the magnificent Hawkesbury River will host the longest 2up River Race, which will be the first race in the SRA Super Series for the 2010-2011 season. As in previous years, there will be racing on Saturday and Sunday.

Queensland is home to many world water ski racing champions including the current champ, Wayne Mawer. Water Ski Racing in North Queensland is alive and kicking with the North Queensland Off Shore Ski Association with their tremendous series of offshore races.

At the 25th Diamond Race, Britain’s Scott Brooks launched Europe’s latest taste of fun to water ski racing in the form of a sweepstake. It was a huge success which:

Powerboatracing.be of Belgium has published some terrific photos of the 2010 Diamond Race. You can see all of them at www.powerboatracing.be

Britain’s “Image Extreme” captured dozens of great shots at the Diamond race last weekend. A few are below and you can see more here.

On Sunday 27th of June, Belgium hosted the 25th Diamond Water Ski Race. Belgian boat manufacturer Bernico International would like to congratulate all class winners and their teams with their victories.

• Eurokids A: Lee Holland (GB)
• Eurokids B: Marvyn Praschinger (AUT)
• Juniors: Robin Marien (BEL)
• Ladies F3: Aghneta Van Houten (NED)
• Ladies F2: Paula Newland (GB)
• Ladies F1: Trudi Stout (AUS)
• Seniors: Patrick Dom (BEL)
• Mens F3: Neil Coppens (BEL)
• Mens F2: Dave Van Steelant (BEL)
• Mens F1: Darren Kirkland (GB)

Bernico International owner Nico Bertels said; “we are pleased to let you know that 7 out of 10 class wins were achieved with Bernico Boats”.

Bernico International
Victor Dumonlaan 6
Willebroek
Phone: +32 (0)3.455.87.28
Fax: +32 (0)3.455.00.88
E-mail: info@bernico.be

Shane Wilson has sent in the 2010-2011 Ski Racing Australia Membership Form which you can download here.

Russell Cox who won 3rd position in the 2010 Diamond Race Seniors is now looking for a fast boat for Eguzon.

Courtesy of Martine Ciroux, below are the current standings after 2 rounds of the 2010 European Cup. The 3rd and final round is in Eguzon France on 14/15 August.

Cameron King is organising the Catalina Ski Race Go Kart Tournament – Region 2 Fundraiser.

Wednesday, 14 July 2010 at 18:00
K1 – 17221 Von Karman Ave, Irvine, CA

Before the big race on Saturday come down to Irvine to find out who is King of the track. Everyone is invited and all profits will go towards local ski racing and getting new skiers into the sport.

You can sign up as a single driver, $50, or as a team of 4, for $175.

Teams will be awarded points for each finish a driver makes, like the 800 point system (1st-800, 2nd-600, 3rd-450, etc…).  The further a driver moves on in the tournament, the more points a team can receive. Only 60 drivers can enter so hurry before all the spots are taken!

Even if you dont want to race, come out and support friends that are racing. Hope to see you all there!

Send this to anyone that would like to attend and see the Facebook page for the event

You can send entries to c.king.mb@gmail.com

The 25th Diamond Water Ski Race was set to be a tremendous event with almost 100 teams making up the biggest Diamond Race in history.

What a Great Day we had with the Ski 4 Kids with cancer, everything except for Mother Nature were on our side on the day, 17 Boats Started and Finished with the only casualty being Daniel Cotton’s entry who’s race was over before it began by being towed back thru the heads and back to their waiting trailer

Perfect weather and organisation, the largest entry ever and tremendous atmosphere filled the little town of Viersel on the side of the Albert Canal at the weekend. And Darren Kirkland won his 7th Diamond Race with Chris Stout 2nd and Nico Bertels 3rd.

Wim Lamot captured some of the teams on Saturday as they got a feel for the narrow canal waters in preparation for today.

Sensational video footage of World Water Ski racing Champion Wayne Mawer training off Cairns behind Wizard – a 24 ft Ocean Sport.

If you can’t be at the Diamond Race this weekend, you can stay up to date with what’s going on with the live Diamond Race Twitter feed which I’ll update as often as I can in between race commentary.

To follow the feed, follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/robbiellewellyn. The same updates will also automatically appear on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/robllewellyn and on the front page of www.skirace.net where it says DIAMOND RACE TWEETS. Make sure you refresh the page to get the latest data feed.

The Special Awards for the recent NSW Water Ski Presentation Evening were:

• MALE SKIER OF THE YEAR – JACK HOUSTON
• FEMALE SKIER OF THE YEAR – KELSEY FEROS

Australia’s Letstalkskiracing.com reports that the 2010 Qld titles enjoyed a good roll up of boats, and some incredibly tight and fast racing.  

The Wayne Mawer Open Men’s Cup was taken out by NGR’s Blazen, with Chris Stout dominating the race to win from Ben Gulley with Mercforce, who just held out Grant Turner behing Burnin. In the Eloise Anderson Open Women’s Cup race, it was once again NGR and Blazen taking the win, this time towing Kylee Jones.

Read the full story with detailed results at Letstalkskiracing.com

The Sydney Offshore 3 was run this morning on a clear windy winters day here in Sydney, the race was won by Chris Stout in a time close to 42 minutes with Jason Walmsley 2nd, Stephen Robertson 3rd roughly 10 secs seperating the top 3.

Spain’s Aaron Fuentes is looking for an F3 boat to race in the 2010 European Championships in Cadiz.

Britain’s Dave Sewell is looking for an F1 or F2 tow for the European Championships in Cadiz.

Todd Haig’s mum Susie has announced that Todd and his wife Amy are expecting a baby around February 5, 2011.

The following two skiers are looking for boats for the Diamond Race this month in Belgium.

Thanks to Sue Fleming, below are the results from rounds 3 & 4 of the British National Water Ski Racing Championships held in Hunstanton last weekend.

Photo’s now available for Sunday’s racing at www.photoboxgallery.com/simpeyphotography

Force Boats is celebrating their 15th Anniversary and they write …

4 June update: The “Ski 4 Kids with Cancer” event has been moved to a new date of 27th June. See updated poster and entry form below. Last year, many Australian teams skied from Newcastle to The Sydney Opera House in the “Ski 4 Kids with Cancer” event.

The Geel International Open Race will take place in Belgium on 3/4 July – the weekend following the Diamond Race.

Get full details at www.geelsekanaalfeesten.com

The Viersel Diamond Race (full details) is coming closer and Vera Van den Bossche has this notice about accommodation:

The Viersel Diamond Race (full details) is coming closer and Vera Van den Bossche has this notice about an F2 available:

A 7 minute compilation of some of the moments from the 1st round of the European Cup in Vienna (taken with a regular digital camera).

Wade Bennett has dug up 4 videos from the 1980 Bridge to Bridge and placed them on the Old Skool Facebook page. Here they are below for anyone not on Facebook. Take a look back at some of ski racing’s greats with plenty of interviews in over 40 minutes of superb archived footage.

Britain’s Chairman of Racing, Barry Frame visited the venue for the 2010 European Water Ski Racing Championships at Cadiz in Spain. You can read his report here.

SRQ is set to put some of their greatest names up on new perpetual cups to be awarded for the Open Men’s and Open Women’s winners at the Queensland Titles.

Todd Haig, Katelin Wendt and Tyler Murray secured overall wins at the Clear Lake Marathons in the USA on 22/23 May. Complete race results will be delayed until at least June 3rd and published at www.nwsra.net.

Britain’s Russell Cox has been racing since the 1970’s. A GB Champion in his younger days, Russell is looking for a team to tow him in this year’s Catalina.

Vera Van Den Bossche has issued the official 16 page participant information pack for the 2010 Viersel Diamond Race.

Download the 2010 Diamond Race Participants’ Information Pack

Watch the 2008 Diamond Race video at the bottom of this page

Ski racing’s Dave Ellis is raising money for Latch, the childrens Welsh cancer charity that does such tremendous work for, not only the young unfortunate sufferers, but their families during their most distressing times.

If you didn’t already know, British Water Ski Racing has it’s own dedicated web site at www.britishwaterskiracing.net You’ll find the full programme of races, results and lots more throughout the year.

Courtesy of Martine Ciroux, below are the results from the 1st round of the 2010 European Cup series which took place in Vienna yesterday. I have video footage but it will take me a few days to get that online

iPrime Wagga reports that salvage crews retrieved the shattered wreck of The Mistress from the bottom of Wagga’s Lake Albert after a frightening crash in the Barry Carne Memorial Race last weekend.

Australia’s Mark Savage writes below about the sad loss of his dad, Bob Savage.

It is with deep regret that I share with you that my father, Bob Savage, passed away last Friday after his fight with dementia. For all you new people in the sport of ski racing you may have met Bob and my mother Judy at the Southern 80 merchandise shop where he ran things for me many years. You may have even bought a T-shirt from him.

The flyer for this weekend’s 1st round of the European Cup in Vienna has just been published. Full details of the event are on this page.

Sydney Superclass “Top Gun” in action at the Mildura 100. This 21 ft Connelly is powered by a twin turbo’d 540ci big block chev V8.

Take a look as this team spins out in this year’s Southern 80 on the Murray at high speed. Nicely captured wholey dooley!

Channel Nine’s coverage of the 96 S80, showing a featurette about Graham Ritchie’s Gods Gift and its troubled campaign at the 1996 southern 80, and one about Gotta be Crazy. Both legends of ski racing in Australia.

Steve & Cathy Bird have produced this video of Round One of the British Waterski Racing Championships in Lyme Regis, Dorset.

Thanks to Sue Fleming, below are the results, and thanks to Tim Tapping, some shots too,  from the first round of the British Water Ski Racing Championships which were held in Lyme Regis on Saturday. 

Here are some sensational shots from Rob Storum Photographics last weekends 1 Up Bridge in Australia. Apparently Blazen was again first across the line but was later disqualified for missing a turn buoy/gates at Wisemans Ferry. Noel from Blazen has lodged a protest. Until then then Darren Stewart’s Agitator has officially taken out the race outright – this team started behind Superclass in Unlimited Inboard.

Peter Moorkens of Powerboatracing.be has sent in these highlights from the race yesterday in Rupelmonde, Belgium. This was the first time a ski race has been held at this location on the River Scheldt.

Force Boats is pleased to report more success on the race track by teams using FORCE BOATS. Please see attached the winning results from the following events:

• 1st 2010 Robinvale Euston Ski Race Results
• 1st 2010 Mildura 100 Results
• 1st 2010 NSW 1 Up Bridge Race Results

12 British skiers and 10 volunteer helpers spent 3 nights at the Fevaca Hotel home to Bernico Boats for the 2nd Karl Brooks Ski Training Camp, writes Karen Brooks.

Courtesy of Luc & Pepe of www.powerboatracing.be check out this selection of shots from Belgium’s first race of the new season.

The Blue Danube Race is the 1st round of the 2010 European Cup and it takes place in the heart of Europe in the stunning city of Vienna. From 21 to 23 May, International teams will fight it out on the Danube River which is 2850 km long and passes through 10 countries.

The 2011 World Water Ski Race Championships will be held September 6 -17 in picturesque Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Courtesy of Mick Kelly who runs Let’s Talk Ski Racing in Australia, here is some brief info. 

In the early hours of this morning, a well respected member of Australian Ski Racing, Harvey Saundercock, passed away after a long fight with many health issues.

Rob Storum has been sharing his shots with skirace.net readers for a couple of years. It’s people like Rob who help give up-and-coming skiers a bit of the limelight and encouragement by seeing their photos published, and he helps the rest of the world see what’s happening in Australia through his superb photography.

Rob has now launched a brand new web site where you can see all of his sensational shots at www.robstorum.com.au

Rob Storum has sent in these great shots that he took recently at round 4 Wismans. If you haven#t yet, check out his new web site at www.robstorum.com.au

Charlie Cox is looking for a tow in the Juniors in GB Nationals. He’s training hard with his uncle Russell Cox ready for the season.

If you’re interested in teaming up with Charlie, contact Russell at:
Email: russellcox44@yahoo.co.uk
Mobile: 0797 050 6266

18 year old Will Newland of GB is looking for a tow in this year’s Catalina, ideally in F2.

The Victorian Tasman Challenge team are bringing the Tasman Challenge Cup back to Victoria, after winning the event in New Zealand today. They won by 40 points in a closley contested event. The team arrive back in Melbourne on Tuesday – Congratulations from all SRV members.

Quick up date from N.Z, All races have been run for today (Saturday 10th April) and at this point teams are almost even on points. 8 wins and 8 seconds per team.

The 2010 River Trent Ski Race will be hosted by the Marnham Boat Club on 12/13 June.  The event will be held over two days – the social event will be held on Saturday 12th June and the race event will be held on Sunday 13th June.

Yesterday the Hellrazor team of Mark Cranny, Damien Matthews, Peter Proctor and Jason Walmsley won the Superclass event and the 2010 Mildura 100 outright in a time of 32:09.

Norm Griffin is one of those people in ski racing who has been known all over the world for decades. He has done what most people in ski racing dream of and raced at the very top of the sport on the international stage as well as throughout Australia. A wonderful personality and a tremendous competitor.

Karen Brooks writes …The 2010 Ski Training Camp will be held at The Fevaca Inn Belgium / Bernico Boats HQ , April 22-25th. I need to know as soon as possible if you are attending as I have a wait-list from European skiers that would like to come along.

Well in under a week, the Mildura 100 will be on the water. Here is the schedule of events

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS & RIVER CLOSURE TIMES FOR THE 2010 MILDURA 100
FRIDAY:

10.00am to 4.00pm Scrutineering at GTS Transport Depot
9.00am to 1.00pm “Show n Shine”
4.30pm Briefing at GTS Depot after Scrutineering

SATURDAY River closed at the City ramp all day

River closed 1km downstream from the Club to Wickets 7.30am to 2.00pm
River closed 1km downstream from Club to Psyche 2.00pm to 5.00pm

7.00am Breath testing for all Social Classes at Ski Club and Baldwin’s.
8.30am First Social Boat away
10.30am(approx) Punt Racing / Ski Show / Power Boats
11.00am Breath testing for Saturday afternoon competitors
11.30pm Estimated restart time from Wickets
3pm(approx.) James Transport “Dash for Cash” followed by Invitational Dash, Veterans, Senior Social, Tadpoles & Disabled.

5.00pm River open for all remaining areas.

SUNDAY River closes from Ski Club to Wickets 8.00am to 5.00pm

8.00am Breath testing at Club and Baldwin’s for ALL competitors
9.30am First Expert Boat away
12 noon Punt Boat Racing / Ski Show / Power Boats
1.30pm Estimated restart time from Wickets
3pm(approx) Power Boat demonstration
Class Scrutineering
Presentation for all classes
5.00pm River open for all traffic

Gunter Schmutz has published Austria’s 2010 Water Ski Racing Calendar.

TV coverage of Australian ski racing continues on SBS – Speedweek every week until 13th June. Coverage on Foxsports – Inside Speed will follow every Wednesday following SBS in addition to all the extra repeats across the networks.

Below is a selection of great shots from round 3 of the NSW Water Ski Racing Championships that were captured by Rob Storum on the weekend.

Vera Van Den Bossche has published the 2010 KBWSF Belgian Water Ski Racing Calendar.

Vera Van Den Bossche has issued the final (20/03/10) Europe and Africa water ski racing calendar for 2010 on behalf of the E & A Racing Council members.

On Saturday morning teams met in Port Phillp Bay for a 2 up offshore event, no race skis allowed. Teams met at St Kilda Marina, making their way outside to start at 8.30am. The course went down the coast turning at Frankston Pier and then heading back to St Kilda.

On January 30th, 2010, Dawna Patterson Brice was inducted into the Riverside Sports Hall of Fame (Riverside California). She was recognized for her contributions to the city of Riverside as well as her athletic achievements.