While some people at a lifesaving carnival are wary of approaching the boat area, believing they may be a different breed to those which launch their 200kg craft into the break, that didn’t stop a contingent of internationals from getting involved at Kurrawa today.
Wednesday marked the opening day of the Interclub Masters Surf Boat competition at the 2024 Lifesaving World Championships and one crew which couldn’t wait to get to the Boat Area were the Perranporth Pixies.
The Women’s 180yrs+ Surf Boat team have travelled all the way from Cornwall to represent their club and team at the Lifesaving World Championships.
The team comprises Paula Bright, Kim Marie Jackson, Ruth Creamer, Becky Jeffery and Tina Pascoe along with sweep Peter Gaisford.
Gaisford, 69, is a veteran of the Lifesaving World Championships, taking part for the first time 34 yeares ago when LWC was last on the Gold Coast.
The crew are all aged between 40 and 49 years of age and vary wildly in experience. Creamer and Pascoe rowed eights and fours at University, while Jeffery’s first experience in a surfboat came as little as five years ago.
With their opening day of competition presenting perfect conditions overhead and kind conditions in the break, the Pixies were keen to take it to the opposition and maybe even see the swell increase over the next 24 hours.
“There’s a bit of chop and a bit of a wave,” said Bright, Perranporth’s Surfboat Captain. “We didn’t want it to be completely flat having flown half way around the world.
“We’re used to rowing in chop and we’re used to rowing in surf so hopefully we’re ready for it and we’ll see what happens – give it our best shot.
“It’s hot, it’s sunny all the time and we’re having a brilliant time. The water’s warm, everyone’s happy, we’ve got some waves so it’s good.
“We’ve never seen so many boats or flags at a surf lifesaving event, so it’s been great.”
While Perranporth have been training hard for their trip to southeast Queensland, a group of Indian rowers attacked the waves with the ferocity of athletes not knowing the fear of how a big wave and a big boat can cause a big contest!
Jayanth Singh, Ravinder, Chakrabarty, Sweekrith Anand and Sekar Patchai representing the Rashtriya Life Saving Society from India were all smiles after their first event after taking on teams from NSW, Queensland and Western Australia.
“It was difficult, but a good experience,” they said, hoping to learn more about the sport and pass on the knowledge when they return home. “We want to take the good things from the Gold Coast back to India.”
Interclub Masters Surf Boats will conclude on Thursday 29 August. Click here for results.
