It was a fairly quiet group that rolled up to Melbourne Airport with eight out of ten skiers never competing in a Tasman Challenge in New Zealand but by the time we hit Auckland and had dinner things had changed and it looked like ramping up to be a ripper trip.

 

Kids in one bus and parents in the other off early to Taupo via Rotorua and the usual Thermal Park etc.  Arriving in Taupo mid afternoon and the “chilly bins” had been filled by cuffy for an arvo sip in the car park to get ready for the boat draw.  The boat draw is a great chance for the two teams to get together and catch up with some old friends.

 

Conditions at Lake Taupo were uncharacteristically flat for both days of racing which unfortunately meant that some results were about boat speed and not skier ability.

 

Division one Sub Juniors saw Lloyd Woolman take care of Max Christensen on both days with convincing wins.

Tayla Wright had a mixed weekend with a missed start in race one but skied two great races to come home in second place. 

Junior Boys began the boat racing with Ben Pearce having two great runs finishing up in second place by only 14 points.

Maddy Boyer had a win in race one and a second in race two against current world number two junior girls champion Adelaide Cox but had done enough to secure the win outright. 

Kate Wright skied as the invitational skier for the weekend and had two solid runs.

Division two sub juniors had Clinton Stratton on top of Kane Carter to grab the win and Ash Cuff toughing it out in her first Tasman Challenge to grab a respectable third place.

Under 19’s and this was the boat race of the weekend with Kane Howard racing the current Junior World Champion Jaaron Fritz.  The final points for this class were 1999.61 vs 1999.08 in New Zealand’s favour.  In a thousand point system this gap is nothing and I know that Kane was frustrated with the smooth conditions.

Under 19 Girls had Samantha McDonald up against the Kiwi legend Hannah Humphreys.  I’m not sure who was more nervous Barney or Sam but after the race Sam realised that she wasn’t going to get lapped a dozen times and skied two great races for the team.

James Hogben skied as an invitational skier and won the bunny hop competition for the weekend.

 Only one incident on the weekend with Griffo hopping out on turn two of the junior race and getting run over by the opposing skier.  Could have been a heap worse but Griffo just shook it off.

 Presentation or “Prize Giving” followed on Sunday night with about 130 people attending.  It was great to see the two teams get together having a great time.  We held an auction for the Kiwi’s raising over $1000.00.

A great weekend of racing with great team spirit and as usual it only came down to a few points separating the two teams New Zealand 13911.00 Victoria 13651.29

New Zealand by 259.72.  This sees the score card at Victoria 10 and New Zealand 9.  I know the Kiwi’s are keen to even this up next year but I think there are a few junior skiers that have other ideas.

A few thanks to people that helped us get to New Zealand and helpers in New Zealand.  All sponsors and people supporting our auction and fundraising, Number One Sponsor Strictly Marine, Georgie Pearse, Lou Mudgway (soon to be Bishop?) Dave Bishop, Cuffy, Steve Shipp, Lou Dick, Hoggy, Greg Smith.

Without these people there is no Tasman Challenge so all these Team members and parents take the time to thank these people for donating their time, money and passion to keep the Tasman Challenge going.