The forcast was for sunny and no wind.. Well we got cloudy and wind.. also the water was still pretty brown from all the recent rain and flooding.
When I first got there it looked dark and gloomy and I thought this weather could keep people away but I was wrong.. People and boards started appearing everywhere.
Before I knew it the racing had started and the first group of women and children on under 12'6" boards were off.
Next were the men in the 12'6" and under class.
I got my board to the water just in time for the 12'6" and over class and I wore my helmet cam GoPro camera.. I'll post that vid soon.
Back on the beach Chris and Nic were enjoying the action.
Rich Simon and Ali... Winners are grinners.. Check out the big grin on Ali's face.
Check out this new 12'6" Hobie race board.. I think it's the first one in Oz.
I also checked out this new bendy shaft Werner paddle.. Again the first one in Oz.
The St Kilda life savers were there and doing a great job.
Rea and her proud mum after Rea almost won the 2011 Port Phillip Cup by coming second after chasing Ali the whole way and finish just behind her.. Ali paddled the 17' Glide.. Next was Rea on the 14' Javelin.. and then it was Cam chasing the girls and finishing just behind them on his 12'6" Catalina and then right behind Cam was Dave on his F18.. The handicap system seemed to work very well and made for a very close finish.
Paul being Paul.
Getting ready for the Gboard Sprint races.
Dave won the mens final sprint race.
Cam and Simon raced each other for last in the final after taking each other out mid race.. It was a fun event.
Next was the women in the Gboard sprints.
Rea won the final womens race.
The real fun was just about to start with Australia's first ever 'Bungee-Sup' event.
Maybe the Bungee-SUP is a world first and it was great fun with each pair of paddlers wearing a waist harness and being connected by a long bungee and then they paddle till one falls.. The one left standing is the winner.
Hock was determined to win this event.
In the final it was big Fireman Dave against even bigger Jamie Foster who used his beer gut to his advantage and won.. It was fun to watch.
Back on the beach the kids had fun with the giant fruit and veggies.
Next was the street SUP and Rea was a clear winner in this.
The racing continued with the team events and I hit the barbie and took a few more pictures.
The Sunny King boards and paddled looked good and I found this soft paddle shaft guard interesting.
Mike Fry had his beautiful local made CNC machined paddles there.
Uli had a big rang there for people to demo.
What-The!.. Paul doing the SUP-Cricket and it's ashame we didn't get glassy conditions for this.
Mmmmm.. Fruity.. The St Kilda Paddle boarding guys did a great job with this event.
Yeah.. It's Australia day.
Next was the presentations.
Ali cat was the big winner and won a new 12'6" Fanatic race board.
Rea was also a big winner.
There were heaps of prizes being won and Simon seemed happy with his.
Paul won the best dressed (Aussie Day gear) and also the winner of the pet race.
Looks like a great day out. Great recording of the events dj - looks like I missed the sup derby pics though? Did it run? Looks like there were some soft top boards there.....
