| First Event // Event 08 August 2009 By: Andrew Cassidy Location: Sydney The second Sunday in October 2009 was a very special day for competitive SUPing in Sydney. A hardy and dedicated crew came from all corners of the extended, greater Sydney region to be part of the new Sydney Paddle Surfing Club's inaugural event. The club's President recounts how things went down: 4:35am - Awake. I'm not sure if it is nervous excitement or the couple of beers I had the night before but way before my alarm is supposed to go off, I am awake, wide awake, no chance of going back to sleep awake. The day's schedule is running through my head. Had I left anything out? Will I forget to take something important? Did I pack a knife to cut the hot dog rolls? I wished I'd written a list because my mental one seems a little blurry, especially at two hours before sunrise. 5:15am - With the day's events now fully visualised and the list of things to take in my head clarified, I get up. There is still lots to do. I hit the office, logon and check to see if any last minute online registrations happened overnight. Nup. I can print off the list of signed up members for cross checking as they register for the day's events. 6:20am - I finish packing the car and wonder where I'm going to sit. There is gear everywhere, including the drivers seat. One board inside, two on the roof, paddles, wetsuits, rash shirts, tables, chairs, esky, hot dogs, drinks, ice - oh no, I forgot the ice. I get the ice. Clipboards, judging sheets, notice board, prize packs, portable stove and, yes, knife to cut the hot dog rolls. We are off. 6:30am - I get to the beach. A few longboarders have already hit it and are getting some nice lefts. It's about three feet on the biggest ones, super clean and some really nice banks. The sky is clear. We have snagged a cracker day with perfect conditions. 7:00am - The first of the competitors start to arrive. Some new faces, some I already know. It is still half an hour before the advertised "start taking registrations" time - maybe everyone else woke early with nervous excitement too. Tents are erected, the sponsors' banners are tied to the fence, members pay their fees and put their names down for their chosen events. The cash box is filling up with yellow-backs and we have to move to page two of the registration sheet. 8:05am - With the surfing comp registrations now closed, we start to move everything from the carpark to the beach in front of that nice little left hand bank. The first round of heats are drawn up. I direct everyone's attention to point seven of the Surf Comp Rules - "no whinging", just in case someone feels they unfairly got put in the hardest heat of the day. Nobody complains. 8:40am - The first heat of the first comp of the first SUP club in NSW hits the water. We are running only ten minutes behind schedule - I'm happy about that. Everybody seems to be pushing their limits as there are some awesome manoeuvres being pulled off. Very impressive stuff. I am worried that I'll be knocked out of my first round heat. I didn't expect everyone to be surfing so well.    9:30am - AA misses most of his heat due to an extended warm up session. With no time to change boards he competes on his 12 foot gun. Bevan misses the start of his heat due to ... well no reason actually, he just wasn't paying attention.   10:20am - The horn indicating the end of heat five blows. Round one is over. Some people are ecstatic to have made it into round two, some are disappointed to have been knocked out. They still have a shot at glory in the paddle race and freestyle expression session though. Everyone is stoked about the conditions. 10:30am - The cold drinks are cracked open and everyone hoes in attempting to ward off dehydration. I skull a lemon squash and make a mental note to buy a better quality brand next time. Fifty cents a can seemed like a good idea in the shop - now, not so much. Round two starts with more very impressive surfing.    11:10am - Bevan misses the start of his heat, again. 11:30am - Round two is run and won. The places for the final are displayed on the notice board. People start muttering about who will take out the title. I still don't hear anyone break Surf Comp Rule #7.   11:35am - Fairies, ballroom dancers, bridesmaids and a bride start to gather around the edge of the lagoon. I think this is a strange time and place to hold a wedding until I notice some of them are wielding paddles and picking up race boards. It's the ever effervescent all-girls paddle crew preparing for the 1km race. Some of the young, local shortboarders who were giving us grief out in the water are now sitting on the sand dues watching with enthusiasm. I'm sure they are not so against the Sydney Paddle Surfing Club invading their beach now. JB Mel is first across the line - of course. The dedication and commitment of that girl would put even the most hard-core guy to shame.   11:55am - The grommets are off and racing around a human buoy (thanks Boylos). Some first time racers are struggling with the 500m course yet not a single tear is shed. It's great to see even the little ones having a go.   12:10pm - The air is thick with anticipation as the competitors in the open paddle race gather at the start line. Some are questioning their choice of non-handled equipment when the rules are announced and include the mandatory carrying of board and paddle during the mid course, 50m beach run. I'm happy, I have a handle, maybe that's why I made up the rule. The horn sounds and frantic activity ensues as people jostle for the best line to the buoy. A mad scramble for the prime drafting zone behind Sam P is evident. Stuey gets there first. The first turn sees Sam P board lengths ahead of everybody else - how does he do that? He even managed to shake Stuey from his tail. Chipped paddles and dinged rails result from the tight knit mid-field group. The well-being of a $500 paddle is irrelevant when so much is at stake. I think I was the main culprit. Sam P cruises over the line in first - of course.  12:25pm - The hot dogs are heated. Some choose to have theirs lukewarm - what's that about? 12:30pm - The open final hits the water. Bevan is on time. The wind has dropped a couple of knots and some glassy walls are on offer. Appsy has a shocker and only manages to snag one scoring ride - that's good news for the rest of us.  12:55pm - More hot dogs are consumed. It's not all about the hot dogs though. 1:10pm - Rash shirts are distributed to anybody willing to have a shot at big prizes on offer in the freestyle expression session. We pull it back from the scheduled one hour to just 30 minutes as everyone is sore and/or tired. The crowd has thinned out and the tide is low. There are plenty of waves to go around with nearly 20 SUPs spread over two distinct breaks. Some are thumping on the shallow bank - it's going to be a hotly contested wipeout award. 2:05pm - All the gear is moved from the beach back to the carpark and the presentation starts. All the kids who entered the race are awarded chocolate bars, the first three getting two - that'll make everyone push it harder next event. The places for the women's race are announced, the top three are awarded a kiss from the President - that'll make everyone push it harder next event. The open race results are announced, all they get are annual pointscore points - no kisses from the President. Those great prize packs are handed out to the winners of the freestyle expression session awards, along with kisses from the President's wife - hang on a minute. The highly sought after champion's jacket which had been proudly on display all day is awarded to the first place getter in the surfing comp - woo hoo, I'm so proud, emotional, excited and surprised when the announcer reads out my name. The jacket fits me perfectly. | |
