The great Mary Mac will start her 50th Straight Bridge to Bridge Ski Race in Sydney! After some 'technical' issues were ironed out at a last minute meeting, Mary will be skiing with her great grandson Brock. We all wish her the very best on her trip down the river, it is an incredible feat and one that may never be beaten.

Hats off to you, Mary!

NZ Bridge to Bridge only 7 Weeks Away

Rollo’s Marine Yamaha Bridge to Bridge Water Ski Classic is on the 3 & 4th of December 2011. This year the race is just 2 weeks following the other NZ river race the Twin Rivers which is to be held in Paeroa/Thames on the 19th of November. The best ski racers from all over NZ and some out of Australia will battle it out for the premier titles in NZ ski racing. The teams will be trying to become ‘King of the Rivers’ with the Twin Rivers and Bridge to Bridge combing to recognise the best Ski Racing Teams in NZ.

The Bridge to Bridge is NZ’s premier Water Ski Racing event that includes Powerboat Racing, Social and Family Class as well as Jetski and Thundercat Racing. There is talk of boats coming from Australia and there is also the World’s greatest Ski Racing Commentator Dave Bishop from Australia is coming back to NZ for the event. There has been a boost to the open class field this year with a couple of international boats being imported by NZ owners/drivers for the event which will make for a competitive spectacle in 2011.

Thank you to all the amazing sponsors of both the Bridge to Bridge and the Twin Rivers as well as the organising team. Please come and be apart of this exciting ski racing action.

For more information as well as entries, check out www.skirace.co.nz

Sandy Hook Ski Club at Bundaberg hosted the first SRA Battle of the Burnett event over the weekend, and what an event it was. With a long winding river course that provided drivers with an opportunity to test themselves (yeah japs!), their boats and their skiers, i'm sure anyone that didn't get up there is kicking themselves.

Saturdays events saw gusty wind whipping up the 20km laps, and making hard work of it on the social skis. Regardless there were some very strong perfomances, and at the end of the day, there wasn't much in it in any of the classes.

Saturday evening saw a social event at the Ski Club, and with Food, good friends and some good stories, a great time was had by all. The ability to get all the competitors in one spot really helped to build on the event.

Sunday's racing saw perfect conditions, with the first boats blasting down the glassy Burnett. Racing was again tight, but it was the superior speeds of the Lab boats that in the end saw Mercury Pro Xs taking the overall win.

Many thanks to the entire Sandy Hook Ski Club for the event. They and SRQ are very keen to work together with the ski racing community to provide racing that caters for all people and continues to grow the sport in Qld. Feel free to forward any ideas to Patto or Mick Kelly on future events.

The Grafton Bridge has again proved one of the toughest races on the calendar. With tough conditions facing the competitors, there was some great racing across the weekend.

Blazen started it's first classic with a bang, the new pairing of Stout and Robbo leading home the dash Saturday afternoon, only just holding out Pidge and Boon behind Merc Force and Cotto and Wool behind Superman.

Come race day, the rain may have held off, but conditions were very tough on course, with some big water down the track, particular at the turn around. The times being up to five minutes slower than last years race really indicating how hard it was out there. Blazen and MercForce left first, and with Blazen expected to leave Merc Force trailing in it's wake after the smooth run around the island, there was surprise as the two boats came side by side out the top of the island, Blazen experiencing some form of engine difficulties. Merc Force was soon to retire after throwing a prop blade, leaving Griffo to wind his way down and back up the river to take line honours. Unfortunately for him, it was Hellrazor leading home Superman crossing the line not far behind them to take the first two placings. This was a great run for Cranny and observer Damo, with a new combination of Pete and Steve Morley doing the hard yards out the back.

There were some great performances across the board, and with a very popular street parade, and successful two days of racing, congratulations need to be extended to the Grafton B2B committee and their band of helpers.

Full results can be found on their website, www.graftonb2b.org.au