Weekly Powerboat and Fishing Summary

FOUR RESCUED

A seven-year-old girl was among four people rescued when a 15-foot half cabin runabout sank off Cronulla on Saturday 10 October. They swam to a passing yacht and were taken to a nearby yacht club at Port Hacking, where Water Police and NSW Ambulance crews attended.

SUSPICIOUS BOAT FIRE

About 3.10am on Monday 12 October police and other emergency services were called to a marina in James Craig Road, Rozelle, following reports of an explosion and fire. A seven-metre boat in a dry dock area of the marina was well alight and sustained extensive damage. It was valued at over $300,000. A crime scene has been established and the fire is currently being treated as suspicious. Police are appealing for public assistance.

POWERBOATS

Stinga took out the 2009 East Coast Commercials Grafton Bridge to Bridge with the crew of Greg Houston, Kevin Boylan, Daniel Campbell and Grant Patterson crossing the line in a time of 37 minutes 9 seconds, only 13 seconds outside the record. Stinga was followed home by Hellrazor and Merc Force. Conditions were not ideal with a 25 kilometre per hour breeze gusting down the Clarence River. More details at the Grafton B2B.

Boating’s world authority the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) meets this month to ratify the 2010 world boating championship calendar across the globe. The 2010 Lake Mulwala Power Festival in Victoria from Nov 20 - 28 is expected to be on the calendar for racing in the world’s fastest automotive inboard class. The Grand Prix Hydroplane is powered by supercharged V8 Chevrolet engines which propel these machines to over 270kph (180mph) on water. In the meantime it is full steam ahead for this year’s Lake Mulwala Power Festival on November 27-28. Lake Mulwala Power.

Sarah Donohue took a host of celebrities from across the globe to Dubai for a crash-course in powerboat racing. Donohue was charged with making the celebrities understand what powerboats were, the difference between mono-hull and catamarans, how to handle the course as well as performing the tasks that every powerboat racer must carry out before they take to the water. The Croatia city of Split will host the opening round of the 2010 Powerboat P1 World Championship season on 16-18 April 2010. More info at Power Boat P1 website.

An expedition led by Anders Bilgram, a Danish explorer, became the first to successfully travel all the way around the Arctic Ocean by open boat. Polar Passage 2000, powered by two Suzuki DF140 four-stroke engines, recently completed the 26,000km journey over eight summers. The team of four explorers travelled in the modern Eskimo way, by speedboat, living with indigenous people en route. Travelling by open boat they won the respect of the people and experienced true Arctic hospitality in Siberia, Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Norway.

FISHING & FISHERIES

A closed season applies to all species of tropical rock lobster from midnight October 1 to midnight January 31 in Queensland tidal waters north of latitude 14°S, south of Cape York and east of longitude 142°31´49´E and in the Gulf of Carpentaria, shoreward of the 25 n mile line and south of latitude 10°48´S. More details at the QLD Government website.

The Sea World Research and Rescue team and Queensland Boating and Fisheries rescued a five metre baby humpback whale entangled in shark netting off Mermaid Beach on 8 October.

A new state-of-the-art Aquatic Ecosystems Laboratory was opened at Port Stephens on 7 October. The $700,000 research centre will assist in preserving the long-term sustainability of valuable aquatic resources in NSW and bolsters the campaign to help save the critically endangered Grey Nurse shark.

SYDNEY HARBOUR EXCLUSION ZONES

Exclusion zones may be in force during the World Masters Games’ aquatic events on Sydney Harbour until Saturday 18 October. For more information on exclusion zones see Maritime.nsw.gov.au/wh/world_masters.html. For event information see 2009 World Masters.com/.

SAFETY CHECKS

NSW Maritime Boating Safety Officers carried out more than 1300 on-water safety checks state-wide over the long weekend as part of operation ‘Boat Safe.’ More than one hundred penalties and formal warnings were handed out with the most common offence being failure to comply with lifejacket requirements. For more details visit Maritime NSW.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Oct 17 – 18 -- Sydney Harbour Island Hopping on Saturdays and Sundays for all ages on four islands. Harbour Island Hopping.

Oct 17 – 18 – Darwin Boat Show, Darwin Convention Centre. Darwin Boat Show.

Oct 21 - 22 - Rodd Island Tea Dances, Sydney Harbour. Be transported to the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s with the New Trocadero Dance Orchestra. Harbour Island Hopping. 

Oct 24  25 -- The Copper Cove Marina Festival in South Australia will combine the best products and produce from local boating, seafood and wine suppliers. Visit wCopper Cove Marina Festival website for more details.

Oct 25 - Perfect Picnic - DJ Lady Tre will set the ambient mood for an afternoon chilling on Clark Island, Sydney Harbour. Harbour Island Hopping.

Nov 1 – Try Sailing Day NSW - Sailing and yacht clubs around NSW devote their club, boats and instructors to give people of all ages, with little or no experience a chance to experience the joys of sailing for free. BIA Try Sailing.

Nov 6- 8 – Bundy Thunder – Queensland’s biggest powerboat racing spectacular at Sandy Hook, Bundaberg. Bundy Thunder.

Nov 21 – 23 -- Club Marine Boating Extravaganza, Goolwa, SA - 150 on-water sites, more than 200 hard stand sites and a number of hands-on exhibitions and demonstrations. Boating Extravaganza.

Nov 28-29 - Lake Mulwala Power Festival Lake Mulwala Power.

Photograph courtesy of Mercury Outboards: AlienForce won the ultra-competitive SMOC class at the Grafton Bridge to Bridge ski race. (D: Rod Bickerton. O:Diana Micaleff. S: Craig Walker and Matthew Campbell)