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R ACER S E DGE QUICK FARMERS T HE MURRUMBIDGEE MADNESS S TORY MERCURIAL MERC F ORCE

Racer's Edge, April 2016

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The official Ski Racing Australia Publication

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Page 1: Racer's Edge, April 2016

RaceR’sedge

April 2016

The official Ski Racing Australia publication

QUIcK FaRMeRs

The MURRUMbIdgee Madness sToRy

MeRcURIal Merc Force

Page 4: Racer's Edge, April 2016

Directors Deck..................................6

Around the Buoys............................8

Murrumbidgee Madness.................9

Robinvale recap..............................12

Mildura 100 in review ....................15

5 Minutes With Mick.......................18

In ThIs IssUe

Page 5: Racer's Edge, April 2016

Hawkesbury 120..............AUG 29-30Ted Hurley Classic.............OCT 17-18Berri 90...............................CancelledNSWWSF Bridge to Bridge 2UP.........................................................NOV 7-8Barrie Beehag.........................NOV 14Southern 80........................FEB 13-14Robinvale/Euston Race..................................................................MAR 12-13Mildura 100.......................MAR 25-27Bridge 1UP..........................Cancelled

In ThIs IssUe MajoR Races 2015/16

Page 6: Racer's Edge, April 2016

The term ‘baptism of fire’ comes to mind when I think about my first year as the CEO of Ski Racing Australia; it was full on from the moment the flag dropped! Now with a year under my belt in the sport I have come to un-derstand what this sport means to the people that compete and make it so special.

I have been humbled by the effort of the volunteers in the sport as they continually commit time, travel near and far and shoulder the weight of the respon-sibility at events, sometimes to the extreme. This is not like volunteering for the local footy club. The commitment of the competitors is also astonishing. Everything from the cost, to time spent preparing, the distances travelled and the camaraderie they

show each other to defy the injuries, breakdowns and setbacks that may come their way. There are some truly extraordinary people and stories in this sport, and I have loved learning about them.

From the outset of my appointment it was apparent to me that the safety aspects of this sport needed atten-tion. Ski racing is unquestionably an extreme sport where the culture of risk taking is deeply ingrained, so getting traction on the safety front was a challenge – but I think we have made progress. Ultimately progress has been made from the bottom up, any attempted to enforce changes with a top down approach from the CEO level would not have worked.Much of my praise in this area goes to the safety committee, and after a year I hope our approach is making some sort of difference to the competitors.

Early on in my time the question of skier safety was a reoccurring theme, mainly from competitors. I continually heard how difficult of an issue it was to deal with. There was no expertise, no money, no helmet manu-facturer and on the list went. So at the one year mark of being in the job, I am pleased to say that we have now got funding in this area, we have experts working on improving skier safety. There has been progress in this area, and I believe we are on the right path.

Details of what has been happening in the office aside, I have to say that in my first year I have felt very wel-comed into the ski racing fraternity. I come from a boating background, and the beauty of the machines we use is a major attraction of this sport. Add onto that the strength, skill, agility and mettle of our skiers and we have an extraordinary product. Like you, I believe that this sport should be more widely recognised, and this

Grant Cummin

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dIRecToRs decKWhere did 12 months go? i’ve learnt a lot

“There are some truly extraordinary people and stories in this sport, and I have loved learning about them”

Page 7: Racer's Edge, April 2016

is something I am looking to achieve in time.

My catch phase this past year has been “Never a dull moment in Ski Racing”, and if you recap what has happened, you will see why. We have had increasing costs, a reduc-tion in revenue from memberships, Grafton went unsanctioned, the Hawkesbury 120 was cancelled due to some freak work by moth-er nature…and with some members sitting out, it has been a tough year. Throughout all this the feedback received through the office phone, email or via social media regarding each of our changes has been vastly varying, and contradictive – so it has been an interesting year. However let me assure you, despite the com-mon perception we do hear everything our members tell us, and consider each piece of information as best as we can.

Take a step back from everything I have mentioned and it is the funerals that I have attended that provide clarity about the way forward. I know what we are doing is in the best interests of the sport.

Twelve months on and I feel we have come along way. I once read somewhere “if the rate change inside of your business is not at pace with the rate of change outside your business, then you are going backwards.” As much of a cliché that it is, I feel it is apt for ski racing. We are poised to make fundamental and positive change to the sport over the next year. I hope you are all along for the ride too.

Safe Racing

Grant Cummin- SRA CEO

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“We are poised to make fundamen-tal and positive change to the sport over the next year. I hope you are all along for the ride too. ”

Page 8: Racer's Edge, April 2016

Darren McGuire (driver), Brett Armstrong (observer), Daniel Cotton & Daniel Graziano (skiers) opened the river classics season in the best possible way, defying the hoodoo of their efforts in 2014 when they retired from the race with victory in sight.

Announcing themselves as season heavyweights, Superman made it two wins on the trot, the only team that would do so throughout the season. Victory helped Cotton & Graziano notch up their second wins at this internationally acclaimed event.

The first victory of the season for Tim Pickford (driv-er), Chris Gelle (observer), Lloyd Woolman and Ben Gulley (skiers) came on a weekend when they were testing a new boat, under the guise of Blazen and everything fell into place.

For the second time this season Tim Pickford came away with his team victorious, using the same boat but rebranded to the familiar Sapphire. After Merc Force dropped out, Sapphire drove to victory with an impenetrable margin.

It was a victory seven years in the making for Don Gulley, who led his Merc Force team of Kevin Boylan (observer), Jake Tegart and Steven Rowe (skiers) to victory, breaking a string of second places accrued across the season to that point.

Emotions spilled over as The Mistress won Australia’s biggest race, skipper Leo Welch scoring a win 26 years after his previous victory. 99 Psycho Clowns created history with driver Jessica Pearse who be-came the first female to win a place on the podium.

river ClassiCs | the Winners

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aRoUnd The bUoys

1

2

3

4

5

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TED HURLEY MEMORIAL CLASSIC

SYDNEY BRIDGE TOBRIDGE

BARRIE BEEHAG

SOUTHERN 80

ROBINVALE/EUSTON

MILDURA 100

Superman

Superman

Blazen

The Mistress

Merc Force

Sapphire

Page 9: Racer's Edge, April 2016

If you’ve attended any of the river classics this season, there is no doubt you have heard commentators excitedly announcing the arrival of the “rice farmers from the Riverina” as the Payne’s cross the line, and with two boats adorned with the bright green signage of Murrumbidgee Madness and Murrumbidgee Maddog respectively, it’s hard not to remember who they are, or at least what their team looks like.

Unlike many competitors, Ian and his family haven’t been involved in the sport all their lives, nor are they second or third generation racers. The Murrumbidgee Maddness story began a short five years ago when Ian and Sharon were looking for a way to get George and Jasmine more coaching, and from there, things esca-lated as they entrenched themselves in the sport.

“We haven’t always been ski racers, we started all this back in 2010 when we were looking to further the kids skills as social skiers,” Ian said.

“Through our research I came across Ski Racing Victoria and they were holding a junior development day, and from there we got ourselves into the sport.

“It wasn’t just the kids that did the learning. I hadn’t done any driving before we owned boats, so I have learnt it all at the same time as the kids and together we have continued to improve and get better in stages. It’s been amazing to do it together.”

While you may not have heard of Coleambally, Ian is adamant that it’s the centre of the universe and checking out the map, he isn’t wrong, they family are ideally located for each of the race locations across the season,

Welcome to the double lives of the Payne family, where Ian and Sharon and their kids George and Jasmine are on their rice farm in Coleambally, southern central NSW one day, ski racing at almost 100 miles per hour the next. The family from the Murrum-bidgee Shire are relative newcomers to the sport, but in the short time they have been involved, they have cemented themselves as popular members of the ski racing com-munity.

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QUIcK FaRMeRs

Page 10: Racer's Edge, April 2016

and even have the opportunity to fit in practice on home turf.

“Our home is in a great location to make all the races. It’s a four and a half our drive to Mildura, four hours to Melbourne, six hours to Sydney, so it is really handy for Ski Racing Victoria and getting to country ACT – I told you it was the centre of the universe,” Ian exclaimed.

“We’re also lucky that we have a storage dam on the farm and when that’s full we have the chance to ski on that and practice.”

It’s that willingness to learn, and improve together that has not only seen Ian’s driving improve but has also seen George and Jasmine come on in leaps and bounds. George has enjoyed success in some form at almost every event the team have gone to, and had a particularly good run at the Australian titles in Bundaberg where he placed second in the 13-16 years boys marathon, third in the 13-16 boys event, third in Formula 2 and sec-ond in Unlimited Outboard.

“George has really gone from strength to strength this season, he’s grown as a skier but also as a person,” Ian said. “As it happens, he didn’t ski with us in Mildura, he jumped in behind Showbiz for Saturday’s social skiing and they did a fantastic job and won the un-der 19 race. While it was different not having him ski behind me, they looked after him and it also opened the chance for Jasmine to ski the return leg with me, which was her longest race on the skis at 50 kilometres in length.

“The next plan with George is to have a crack at the world championships next season, that’s a priority for us and if we make it that’s great, and if we don’t…well, like anything we do we will have had a good crack at it. I would like to go and drive for George and then we can make a team around that.”

Whereas George is beginning to move towards the elite echelon of the sport both in age and ability, Jasmine exemplifies why so many people become involved in ski racing and as she prepares to

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Page 11: Racer's Edge, April 2016

move from sub-juniors to under 13 competition, for now, is solely focused on having a good time.

“I’ve had a pretty big season this year, and have gotten a lot faster so that has been good,” a proud Jasmine says.

“I don’t do a lot of practice, but I do plenty of rac-ing and the hardest thing is towards the end when your legs, hands and fingers start to hurt.

“Next season I go into the under 13’s and I’m excited about that, and I get to race with dad. He dances a lot in the boat, I don’t think it helps my speed, but I love going faster with him. My observ-er is great too. I don’t have any goals yet, I just want to keep getting faster and have fun.”

Like his daughter, Ian isn’t hung up on results. It’s the solidarity within the ski racing community and enjoyment of spending time away with his family that is ski racing’s biggest drawcard.

“I think we had our most enjoyable run in Mildura

during the expert running on the Sunday when we found ourselves up against the 2 Ironic team rac-ing side by side for about 45km,” Ian said.

“One of our skiers ran out of legs right near the end, but it didn’t matter if we won or lost that one. It was a great battle and I had Glen Tooth in the observers seat next to me, George and Alex Watt on the skis and it was one of those magic mo-ments in ski racing where it was an out and out battle. There was a lot of respect shown between them, and us, and it was an awesome way to fin-ish. I hope they got a buzz out of it too.

“At the end of the day, ski racing to us is a good chance to get away with the family. There’s adren-alin, experience and camaraderie with your other ski racers. It’s amazing and in a short time every-one has been so welcoming. It has been one hell of a ride so far.”

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Page 12: Racer's Edge, April 2016

Ski racing is in equal portions preparation, speed, commit-ment, teamwork, opportunity and luck, and on the handful of occasions when all of that comes together, a day on the river may well result in a win. For Don Gulley and his Merc Force team, that’s just what happened at the Robinvale/Euston race. The 2015/16 season had been one of ‘close, but not close enough’ for Gulley, observer Kevin Boylan, skiers Jake Tegart, Kris Knights and Steven Rowe (Rowe joined the team from the Southern 80 onwards to replace an injured Knights) after a string of second places at the Ted Hurley Memorial Classic, Sydney Bridge to Bridge and Southern 80.

However come race day in Robinvale/Euston it all came together for Gulley, whose team had qualified sec-ond in the Saturday shootout and followed out overwhelming favourites Sapphire on race day. Proving that the old saying of ‘to finish first, first you must finish’ rang true, Merc Force received a boost when Sapphire threw a blade prior to the turnaround point and retired from the race.

The misfortune bestowed on Sapphire and their skipper Tim Pickford was just the luck that Merc Force need-ed to establish an impenetrable lead as their speed proved too great for any challenger, rounding out the

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MeRcURIal

don TheIR wInneRs caps In

RobInvale/eUsTon

Merc Force

Page 13: Racer's Edge, April 2016

Pic courtesy: Shaun Williams

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Page 14: Racer's Edge, April 2016

weekend with victory, the first for Gulley since the 2009 running of the very same event.

In behind Merc Force were fan favourites 99 Psy-cho Clowns who notched up their second podium in as many races. Driver Jessica Pearse had become the first female to stand on the podium at the South-ern 80 when the team claimed third place just a few weeks prior, and there is no doubting that the pair of podiums will prove pivotal in Pearse’s career behind the wheel. Close behind 99 Psycho Clowns was Superman, victors in the first two races of the sea-son, the Ted Hurley Memorial Classic and Sydney Bridge to Bridge.

While the dice at the head of the field was enthrall-ing, the weekend at Robinvale/Euston saw another four teams produce record-breaking results to cap off an outstanding weekend on the Murray River.

As Merc Force raced across the line to claim their first victory in seven years, coming in hot behind them was the in-form Pigs Arsenal in the Unlimited Inboard Expert class as driver Chris Stevens, with observer Mark Boyer, assisted Stevens’ sons Jack and Sean across the line to shave two seconds off the previous best time, finishing 60 seconds clear of second placed Elm Street in the process and more than 90 seconds ahead of Stalker in third place.

Following home Pigs Arsenal in the records depart-

ment was the champion female duo of Ellen Jones and Chelsea Blight as they were helped to a victory

in class and broke the record aboard Merc Force F1 by a handy 11 seconds, along with driver Trent Souwer and observer Christian Apps. The result made it an extra enjoy-able day for Don Gulley, who after winning with Merc Force was also able to celebrate the win in the Women’s Expert class with the Merc Force F1 team. Sometimes the planets simply align.

Meanwhile Monopoly broke the record in the 5.2 Litre Inboard Expert class with Matthew Sadler driving, Gary

Sadler observing and Sam Han-dley and Mitchell Mulcahy on the skis. They romped home for a 36 second victory over the Mojo crew of V8 Supercar star team owner/drivers Todd and Rick Kelly who had their father John observing and Gerard Atkins on the skis alongside Todd.

The last of the records broken came at the hands of Seriously Gro Up, who came home to slice 34 seconds off the previous record in the Stock 6 Litre Expert class as driver Alex Handley, observer Ryan Wridgway and skiers Adrian Nix and Brendan Foga-rty beat home Hollow Point and Public Enemies.

When all was said and done, the day belonged to Merc Force who magnificently brought it all together when it mattered most, and put a highlight on their 2015/16 river classics season.

Kevin Boylan celebrates a strong run for Merc Force as they cross the line

Page 15: Racer's Edge, April 2016

It was a weekend that had it all, from intense social racing on Saturday to a dramatic battle in the top 40 shootout, which then transpired into a race filled with high drama, it was seemingly only the outstanding displays from the Southern Waters Ski Show Team that didn’t keep the crowd guessing – and that is saying something considering the variety included in their show!

When the whitewash settled, it was Pickford and his team that included observer Chris Gelle and skiers Lloyd Woolman and Ben Gulley that came out triumphant with a dominant 58 second victory over Superman, skip-pered by Darren McGuire with Brett Armstrong observing and the two Daniel’s, Cotton and Graziano on the skis.

The final event of the Australian riv-er classics season – the Mildura 100 - has been run and won, and after two testing events at the Southern 80 and Robinvale/Euston race it was Tim Pickford and his Sapphire team who finally prevailed, finishing the season as dominant victors.

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However victory for Sapphire didn’t come easily, de-spite the conclusive margin over Superman. It was a result that was put into motion during the Top 40 shootout on the Saturday afternoon. With the Mildura 100 being one of the few races that sees competitors commence the race two boats at a time, beginning on the front row would be crucial, and the battle for pole came alive when Sapphire found themselves locked in a battle with the Don Gulley led Merc Force team.

Following a strong run by Superman earlier in the shootout, it was Sapphire who then wowed everyone on the Murray River by setting a time almost a full second clear of the fast time put forward by Super-man. Despite their seemingly untouchable form it took the wily nous of Don Gulley and his team to send the Race Safe timing system into overload as they rocketed to the first timing sector a tenth of a second quicker than Sapphire, ensuring that the weekend’s entrée would have a grandstand finish.

With the pole position on the line, Merc Force crossed in a time of 4:34.32, falling an agonising hundredth of a second behind Sapphire who had posted a 4:34.31. The stage was set for a gripping race come Sunday.

Meanwhile, in the Unlimited Expert Inboard Class, Southern 80 winners The Mistress were fastest, fol-lowed by Mildura locals Pigs Arsenal and then Elm Street.

Another golden sunrise greeted the Sunraysia region for race day, and every-thing fell into place for Sapphire who got the jump on Merc Force from the start as the two teams set a cracking pace to the turnaround point, that was until Merc Force had skier Steven Rowe fall, ending their hopes at victory. Pleasingly Rowe was fine, however Sapphire

had escaped and was unable to be caught by Su-perman. The team then drove a solid second leg to secure the win, and end the season at the top of the pecking order.

Meanwhile the Unlimited Inboard Expert class had grown in intrigue throughout the race as The Mis-tress faced a significant challenge from a couple of local lads that went by the team name Pigs Arsenal, as they put together an extremely quick first leg to be leading the class and sat third overall.

The day ended prematurely for The Mistress who encountered an issue in the early stages of the return leg, paving the way for Chris Stevens with sons Jack and Sean, as well as observer Mark Boyer to take Pigs Arsenal to a resounding class victory and third place overall, a just reward for the team that had pre-viously won their class at both the Southern 80 and Robinvale/Euston race.

Elsewhere on race day the Sonic Boom race team of Tony Rowe (driver), Ian Kirk (observer), Adam Jones and Luke Watts (skiers) claimed a win in SMOC ex-pert, beating home Velocity Racing’s Timothy Everist (driver), Natalie Reid (observer), Brock Henderson and Joshua Reid (skiers) by a touch under five sec-onds.

There were also close battles in F2 Expert where In Strife battled with Enforcer to claim a 3.53 second victory, while both the 70mph and 60mph Expert classes produced tight competition, Rock It winning the former, while Head Hunter claimed the latter.

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Page 18: Racer's Edge, April 2016

Meet Mick Kelly.

A world champion observer, former win-ner of the Southern 80, top racer, mentor to newcomers - at times outspoken (but always with the best intentions) - Mick’s always up for a chat!

In each edition of Racer’s Edge, Mick puts one of our members under the spotlight for an in-depth chat. They’re not always fa-mous, nor prolific winners, but each person is committed and loves the sport...that’s what turns Mick on.

Sit down, have a breather and spend 5 Minutes with MICK!

Name: Stuart CoxAge: 30 +/-Years skiing: 35Years racing: 24Team: Team 300/1350 this season (I think I have being sacked, after scratching a rim on the van and waving down too often, so open to offers)Favourite Race: Southern 80 for the atmosphere and Robinvale because you get to do half the Southern 80 and have rest.Favourite Boat: Kryptonite (didn’t look much but man did you wave down a lot) Mick Kelly: You’re known as a bit of a social bandit. Why the draw towards social and not the bigger skis?

Stuart Cox: I tried the bigger skis and had little success, with a few big crashes. I tried the social ski (also had a few big crashes, never really got to thank the guys at Grafton Base Hospital but big shout out to you guys if your reading 5min with Mick!) but thanks to Dave, Lex and Lukie, we had some success so I continue on skiing social for many successful seasons with a few different teams.

MK: What are your thoughts on the new rules?

SC: This might turn into 5 hours with Mick… As soon as you stick a number on a boat/car/bike it’s a race and everyone will race to the conditions but push as hard as they can to win. Putting skiers into the rough part of

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5 MInUTes wITh MIcK!

Page 19: Racer's Edge, April 2016

wash on limited rope length where they fatigue faster and are closer together didn’t make much sense to me in reducing the risk. The speed may have dropped but everyone is still pushing as hard as they can to win. MK: Aren’t you like, a Doctor? Shouldn’t you be smart enough not to ski race?

SC: Not many people in the medical profession get it either. MK: There has been plenty of progression over the years in ski racing – talk us through the pro-gression of boats you’ve skied behind to where you’re now.

SC: After a few black races on the social an ‘ex’-friend said I should try the ‘big rail’ out. He set me up with a boat called Shadarack in the Southern 80. I asked him what class we were running, to which he replied Superclass…so my first run on the rail was fifth boat away in Baker Blitz, needless to say it was first of few monumental crashes. After a season with Shadarack, went back to SMOC (The Specimen, or the new fancier name Velocity Racing) where I should have perhaps started. I got on the skis with a unlimit-ed boats for a few seasons, including: Temper, Oscar the Warrior, Frantic, Outlaw (8ltr) and then moved on and skied for Kryptonite for a good couple of years and had a ball. MK: Obviously the 1350 rocket is an absolutely smick piece of gear – do you feel bad skiing be-hind it with that helmet that you wear?

SC: Every team has a weak link… When the team boss won’t even let you attend the show and shine in case you harm his chances, or if the chief scrutineer gives you a sermon each time you head to inspec-tion, it might be a piece of kit that is retired this year. MK: You’ve got a few other toys you play with when not racing – talk us through them?

SC: I enjoy my road/dirt motorbikes, remote control cars, drones, 50cc Skateboard –the shed is one big bad idea after the other… MK: What’s the common theme across all of those passions?

SC: Mum still doesn’t approve of any of them! MK: (His mum should meet my Mum – I reckon they’d get on!!!)

Do you get into the boats very often (driving/ob-serving)?

SC: I was at a series day once and went to get into the driver’s seat; mothers came running from all directions to retrieve their kids from the water. I got into the observers seat once to watch crusty, but I got confused with all the signals so I checked and

replied to a few emails… haven’t excelled at either, just ask around.

MK: You’re ridiculously fit, and have been known to do some ridiculous things like riding across Victoria on a push bike, triathlons and the like – just the challenge, or do you generally like to push yourself physically?

SC: I like the challenge of endurance events such as Ironman, Ultra marathons, and desert races. To be told you can’t and shouldn’t spurs you on further to push yourself.

MK: Yeah… not me mate.

I claim you being that fit is cheating in terms of social class racing – thoughts?

SC: You skied against my hero Wayne Stacpoole? The 10-minute warning to him was an opportunity to light up one final cigarette before he skied, and then he went out like an absolute demon. MK: Hahaha!! That is still one of my original mem-ories of racing!

Where to now for Social Class – what do you think will happen next year with the class after this the first year under the new rules?

SC: I think everyone will have to take a deep breath and assess what worked and what didn’t and come up with a solution that is viable for the class. Social class is a great starting out/feeder class for other ski racing classes and it would be shame to see it fall by the wayside.

MK: What’s the future hold for you skiing wise?

SC: As with the helmet, all good things must come to an end… ask me again in August though…

MK: Anyone you’d like to thank along the way?

SC: The people I would like to thank are all the vol-unteers that make our sport happen. Year after year volunteers from around Australia give thankless hours to secure the future of racing. These guys are the first to cop criticism and the last to take the credit for the great series days/river races/ title races that happen each year. I couldn’t have had the many great years of racing without their commitment to the sport.

MK: Well put.

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MICK

Page 20: Racer's Edge, April 2016

April 2016

RaceR’sedge