Record falls at fastest Southern 80 ski race yet
Annual festival of fast skis clocks an impressive benchmark finish time averaging more than 163km/hRecords fell in the 2019 Southern 80 ski boat race on the Murray River held over the weeknd, with the fastest boat crossing the line and smashing the 30-minute barrier.
Competing in the Superclass category, TR driven by Ian Tricker with Nathan Miller in the observer’s chair, and skiers Reece Simmonds and Raymond Ball, completed the 80-kilometre high-speed run in a time of 29 minutes, 22.28 seconds and at an average speed of more than 163km/h.
TR also won Saturday’s shorter Baker’s Blitz in a time of 6:44.48 to start first for Sunday’s full-length race.
The finish wiped 21 seconds from the previous record, set by Hellrazor in 2015. Second-paced Arkham Asylum, with driver Brett Spits, observer Daniel McMahon and skiers Clancy Vaughan and Jake Ellery, finished in a time of 29:56.73, while the other boats in the Superclass category – Pig’s Arsenal (after a fall late in Saturday’s Blitz) and Superman – both baulked at the start line and did not record a time.
“We knew we could run around the thirty, and we knew we could perform at the level required to win,” Miller told the Riverine Herald after snaring the historic win.
“But to get this time is almost surreal. I was looking at the splits as we were going through and I thought I must have started my watch wrong because we couldn’t have done that time. It’s honestly unbelievable.”
The third-fastest result was set by The Mistress, competing in the Unlimited Inboard Expert class. Driver Zachary Welch, observer Leo Welch, and skiers Wade Stratten and Daniel Cotton completed the course in 30:11.93.
Special trophy winners include Hitman (rookie), The Mistress (fastest local boat) and Cinders (fastest wood boat).
The event's official results across all the categories are listed here.
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