The Hawkesbury Aquatic Festival 2002 Click here for the results. As expected it was a full weekend of activities and to top it off the weather was just about perfect. Saturday started with wakeboarding displays in the morning. Then about 10:00 am a demonstration of pursuit racing with five boats taking part Tuff-E-Nuff, Menace, Zig's Marine, Force racing and No bull. The Wake boarders made further appearances intermittently throughout the weekend. In the afternoon the barefoot drags took place. As if that wasn't spectacular enough the bare footers continued under floodlights until 11 P.M. This was definitely the part most of the crowd had come to watch. A brilliant fire works display took place around 9:00 P.M as dinner and drinks were served in the clubhouse. Then the barefoot drags continued. Sunday was overcast and a little cool first thing in the morning, however this cleared to provide still conditions and a very warm afternoon. Unfortunately the top end sprint, which was to have started the day, had to be cancelled. This meant the race all the water skiers had been waiting for, the Windsor to Sackville one up, would open the days proceedings. The overwhelming joviality and camaraderie at the marshalling area was an indication of how much the competitors had missed their sport over the last year. A sense of relief as well that at last we were on the water again and ski racing is still alive. The race got under way just after 10:00 am with 34 boats in total. Once the last boat had left on the downward leg the spectators were entertained by wakeboarding displays and drag boat races. Arriving at Sackville the boats were given their new start positions and shortly after started their run for home. Once again a jovial gathering of ski racers were chatting and comparing stories like long lost friends in the car park as well as on the bank once the race had finished and the course declared open. There was a strong feeling among the competitors that they would like to publicly thank Ray Patterson for giving us our only race this year. It's not an easy task and we realize that he has spent many long hours organizing this festival for us. Then over the weekend he was on deck for the full two days. We realise that there are many others Judges, officials and helpers who helped out but without Ray it wouldn't have all come together. Ray doesn't like a big fuss so from all the competitors we'll simply say thanks. For those interested in the car park stories. Hellrazor Towing J.Cadden This boat from Victoria won outright in super class with a time that was fourth fastest in the history of the race. They believe their top speed during the race was around 115 M.P.H. The crew was more than happy and the boat just wanted to go. Humble Towing Danny Cropper. Placed second outright in super class. The only comment, as they settled into celebration mode, was "it was all good." Missile Towing B.Gelle Unfortunately the motor overheated during the warm up at Sackville. The temperature wouldn't come down once they started their run home and the rev limiter cut in causing them to retire rather than suffer a certain blow up if they kept going. Cykotic Towing R. Chapman Prepared by Mckeneally Marine. Even though they threw a blade and as a result could hear the gearbox destroying itself, they didn't back off until after crossing the line. There was no way they were going to let a little thing like that spoil their race. They Finished third outright and first in unlimited. Impact Towing J.Perkins Unfortunately had some serious crankcase pressurization problems, pumping oil out of the breather and forcing them to retire. Moovit Towing A.Grover Got to Sackville but when they tried to come back discovered that the right hand gearbox selector pin hadn't engaged. This meant that they had no forward or reverse and had to retire at Sackville. Bat-out-of- hell Towing P.Eagle Another boat to throw a blade and keep going. Even though they could feel the vibrations they decided to keep the pedal down to finish 4th outright and win 6 liter. Bullfrog Towing G.Nelson Hadn't raced since Euchuka last year and were more than happy to be back on the water enjoying a good race and having real fun again. They placed second in 6 liter. The Wedge Towing T.Cardwell Two days before Mick had a scare when the motor wouldn't start at all. After a little mechanical tinkering they managed to get it running again and had a great run pulling eighty-nine M.P.H. and winning M.O.C. Zigs Marine Towing S.Shields An eighteen-foot Force, Prepared by Zigs Marine Had a nice clear run and took first in S.M.O.C.on both legs of the race. Naturally this meant they took first place. Pro-line Towing C.Walker I think this pro-line is the old lab works if the scuttle but is correct. The first thing I noticed about the crew was not the new boat but Dave's new racing haircut. I actually walked past him a couple of times before I realized. They had one of the quietest runs ever finishing second in S.M.O.C.. As usual these brothers were into everything and at the Windsor end after the race I saw Dave testing a Harley Davidson. Could this be one more toy on the wish list? The Menace Towing S.Clarke Fronted up for a brilliant race, taking first in 141-175 class after having competed in the pursuits the day before. Not one to waste a chance Mark then competed in the circuit racing on Sunday afternoon providing some unexpected excitement for the spectators as his boat regularly left the water. It's truly enjoyable to watch someone having this much fun with a boat. Raicey Towing S.Raicevich Although they were the only boat in their class, under sixteen boys, they didn't slouch around. Competing in their first one up race they've decided that top of their wish list is a quicker motor as their skier kept waving up beyond their top speed. Tuff-E-Nuff Towing L.Eagle Also took part in the pursuits on Saturday. The only boat in under sixteen girls also took the race to the limits. They had a magic run and have a list of people they'd like to thank. The Taylors, The Eagles Cameron Greedy and my observer Jason McCarthy. Dogs Head Towing M.Berryman With their new skier in tow they were pleased with their run. The boat is finally sitting correctly in the water after fitting new trim tabs. The crew believes this added to their overall performance. However all did not go smoothly during the race as the gearbox was losing oil on the run down to Sackville. They had to quickly refill the gearbox during the break at Sackville in order to complete the return leg. Even so on the way back they could hear the gears making strange grinding sounds well before the finish line at Windsor. Somehow the gearbox held together so they could take first in social inboard. Tawny Towing Adam Coles Had an absolutely perfect run. Possibly the best run they've ever had with Adam keeping the boat around eighty M.P.H most of the way. Rounding up about four other boats, which had set off before them. At the finish they were trying to find out how close they'd come to a record in social outboard. Unfortunately this is one of the races where the course changes slightly from year to year and so there is no record time kept. Inexcess Towing P.Stanton Had a good clean run to take second in social outboard. Being new to ski racing they are improving every race. They even managed to gain another five M.P.H on the return leg. They're going to surprise themselves when they come up against a full field again and realise just how good they have become in such a short time.