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The Boat Blog – contributions from Charlie ‘Chicka’ Kuhn
SOUTH CURLIE BOATIES AT ALEXANDER HEADLANDS FOR NATIONAL SLSA CHAMPS
Our Boaties started their campaign on Monday 18th April with the surf a sloppy 4 foot for the Masters championship. We sent three crews; ‘White Bread’ 220s crew of Bucko, Champ, Marko & Dave Hoy rowing in Bill’s seat, with Ribs, ‘The Supremes’ Craig, Steven, Graham & Andrew with Flea sweeping. Flea also had a 200s crew, ‘The Short & Curlies’, Marc, Bryan, James & Mark.
Both of the 220s crews made the final, with White Bread rowing their usual race for Gold, and the Supremes taking sliver. In the 200s final, Short & Curlies were on the same wave crossing the line, a desperate ploy by Flea not enough, North Cronulla snuck in the Gold, Curly – Silver.
On Wednesday 20th, the action in the club relays was fierce, on a glassy sea Curly made the final. Gus swept the senior crew and made a blistering run to give Termite’s ‘Lamp’ a good start in the chase after Palm Beach who had made a terrific start. Lamp held on to 2nd place for the ‘Straw Hats’ to carry on out and back, hitting the beach with North Cronulla. Another exceptional run from Gus, but it was not enough and Curly had to be content with Bronze. Gus was the standout individual competitor for the day, showing previously unimagined pace over the sand.
Thursday 21st. Today the surf was small. We had the little girls, ‘What Happened’, that is Elizabeth, Lauren, Racheal and Daana; with a little bit of help through the year from ‘Straw Hats’, they’ve come along very well – a couple of rows today and through to tomorrow. The Cols, ‘The Thunderbirds’, Ryan, Toby, Luke & Jacob with Termite. And the Reserves, ‘The Indians’, Rob, Brad, Benny & Nathan with Gus were invited back as well.
Friday 22 – surf 3 foot. The ‘Slickers’ under 19 crew; Rory, Thomas, Toby & Trent with Phil sweeping, were as fast as the res but missed out in the tangle across the line. It was here that the ‘Lamp’ crew almost came unstuck; three boats hit a wave going out, our heroes sweep broke, uuuurrhh. But it held together long enough to get them back to the beach in third spot to proceed on.
Sat 23 – Attrition Day. Five on a wave finishes put paid to the hopes of the ‘Indians’ and the ‘Thunderbirds’. Meanwhile ‘Lamp’ had progressed though the quarter and semi finals of the Under 19s winning those and line up for the Final. They set off very well into a sloppy sea, went round the can in 1 or 2, but lost the race on the way home, being placed fourth. Second in the State, fourth in the Aussies – not bad at all. The ‘Straw Hats’ are through to their semis tomorrow.
Sunday 24th. This day came up with no surf to speak of, and no wind. However about 10am a southerly came up and got stronger as time went on. ‘Straw Hats’ were on-song, they were the crew to beat, taking two wins and a second in their semi. The days action was being live streamed and it was here that there class was on display. Sophie, Emma, Charlotte & Ellie with Gus, on a day of high stress, in a sloppy sea, going across a 20mph side wind were a pleasure to watch. On full power, on automatic drive and it looked effortless. However, on their way back the crew on their left got a private runner and took the lead and crossed with our girls taking second. An Aussie open boat silver medal will look very fine in the cabinet with all their other shiny stuff.
I called Gus on Sunday evening about 6pm. Woke him up, he was totally done. He goes around the cans more than anyone counts, every week, and it had caught up with him a bit at the end of the season.
I guess that’s it folk. Put the boats away for a bit. You brought home some jingly stuff and lots of fun memories
CHARLIE CHICKA KUHN.
ASRL NATIONALS Shell Harbour Feb 2016
On Friday Ribs and his 220s Masters Crew of Champ; Bucko; Mark and Dave Hoy, who is sitting in for Billy for a while, showed their surf skills and went through the supplied difficult break a couple of times to carry off a fine Gold medal result; it was very nicely done.
The rest of Team Curly carried on with the following results:
Gus’s little girls: Rachel, Dana, Buffy and Sophie – Rowed well all Saturday, took a few hits here and there but made it through to Sunday, to their great credit.
Termites Colts: Ryan, Luke, Toby and Jacob – Rowed well all Friday and Saturday and got a start on Sunday but didn’t make it past the first round. This is a very tough Division, in which they performed well.
Reserve Crew (rowed as A Crew): Termite, Ben, Nathan and Chris Hughes (who filled in for Brad who was home looking after his wife and brand new baby, congratulations Brad) – This Crew had five amazing rows on Saturday, and were sixth in their area against all the best Crews in Australia. They went through the first round on Sunday, but were put under one in the second race by the starter, but almost rowed back into it to get 4th, but only three go through. Bugger. Well done guys, and I should not forget Gus who pushed them around the course. Has anyone ever counted the number of times Gus goes round the cans each day?
Open Women: Sophie, Emma, Charlotte and Elly, with Gus – They did all that had to be done to take them to the semis. At this stage a normal finish was five boats on a wave, and it was here that the new electronic finish line was proving it’s worth, allowing the judges to get as accurate an finish across the line. With five in a row the girls took a steep little curling devil and it speared them over the line to put them into the Final. There was a similar finish here and they came away with the Silver. Well done indeed, Straw Hats. A great crew with real surf skills.
Termites Juniors: Sam, Brady, Chris and Owen, with Termite Sweeping – A well planned and executed weekend by these guys who finished top of the points on Saturday, made the Final and took home the Silver Medal. Most impressive, and at the right time of the Year.
I spent four hours on Sunday PM watching all this on-line, and it was GREAT, particularly with the electronic finish line. Look forward to seeing you all on Saturday at PAC PALMS CK
The Boaties at Palm Beach Branch Champs, 2016-02-25
South Curly went up to Palm Beach for the local Derby, the Branch Championships, full of hope, and as usual, full of beans. It was a clear day, but a rotten Nor Easter popped up early, and made for hard work, in a boat.
We had seven crews in action on the day, here’s how they went.
Termites Juniors: Sam, Chris, Brady and Owen – Well, they had a busy day, rowing in the As as well as the Under 19s, finding that they were very competitive, finishing 2nd in one very strong heat. Didn’t make the semis, but they had a lot of fun. Their main game was the Juniors , where they took home the Silver in the Final.
Zulu’s Juniors: Trent Settree, Tom Fuller, Rory Adams and a new rower, Sophie Berry, who rowed Stroke – they had a wonderful day, and made the Final. Sophie is a most impressive talent, and fits the Curlie scene very well.
The Thunderbirds: Ryan, Luke, Jacob and Toby, with Termite sweeping – Did lots of rowing, two round robins and made the Final and took home a Silver Medal for their efforts. Good stuff, fellers.
Open Women: Ellie, Buffy (filling in for Sophie), Emma and Charlotte, with Gus – worked hard all day and got fourth in the Final
Under 23 Girls: Buffy, Celeste, Dana and Rachel with Gus – are improving every time they get in the boat, and had a great day.
Reserve Men: Ben, Brad, Termite and Nathan with Gus – Were performing very well, but took a wave. Just after the start in their semi, at the can Termite lost the blade from his oar, but rowing with the bladeless oar they still maintained position, but Termite crabbed when they rowed for a wave on the way back in. He did very well to maintain rythm with the crew on the way home, the crab when it happened is not surprising.
There are no details about Flea’s Reserves Crew Agreat days boating, now off we go to ASRL
Aussies 2013
07 May 2013 @ 21.52 PM AEDST | By Boat Bloggerupperer + Charlie Kuhn
On Monday the ‘200s’ Boat Crew of Bill, Mark, Bob and Champ, with Ribs up the back, finished their rowing season by taking Gold in their Division. They won this race last year as well. Add this to their win in the ASRL National Final at Stockton in February and you see they have made a pretty fair Statement. Very well done guys.
Tuesday it was the turn of our people contesting the Lifesaver Event, which is quite an epic event, for which the results came up late in the afternoon. We have some very talented people contesting in this show, and they are coached by a First class team. The end result, with Kiori Bennett taking a Bronze in the Under 19s; Bella Charlesworth 5th in the Under 15s; and I must say that if you make the first six in any event of this nature then you are at the top of the game. Kiori won this event at the State Champs.
Our Boat Crews in the Club Boat Relay led all the way, with a run to the finish line, but in our case this included crossing a channel, which allowed two other runners to cross ahead of Gus Bugger…Bronze
The A Crew rowed in a Quarter Final which had the top crews in Australia. All rounded the cans together and all were on the same wave at the finish. One judge said Curly over Bungan, another said Bungan over Curly, which the Chief Judge accepted, which put our guys out. A portent of things to come.
Gus scratched his leg somehow during the week and it went bad on him and he spent Saturday night in Hospital, checking himself out Sunday Morning, but he could take no further part in the competition and went back into Hospital, where he remained until Wednesday. His place being taken by Ribs.
So Curly went into Sunday with the Reserves, the Open Womens, and two under 19s Crews, all of whom were really performing.
These four crews were defeated not so much by the opposition, but by Judges opinions in the melee as six boats crossed the line on the same wave. Somehow Curly always got 5th, after leading all the way. I watched, appalled, on my computer screen as it all unfolded.
With most crews moving their boats at maximum hull speed through the water these days, five and six boats on a wave at the finish has become the norm, and it is time to start using electronic finish tools. Well meaning mens opinions are no longer acceptable when six boats cross the line together. We need transparency .
Comment has been made about rowers getting infections supposedly from contact with our boats. Considering that 30 odd mostly undressed people use the boats very regularly, and add that to the environment in which they are stored, in a dank, dark ,humid cave, which has lots of rats, well that’s a pretty good scene for a nasty microbe to flourish. Casso has told me that he often has to brush mushrooms off the seats in the mornings before training. Roll on our bright new boatshed
Signing off for this Season, I’ve really enjoyed your company, and I’m looking forward to next Season
Charlie Chicka Kuhn
