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Ski Racing Archives |
1999 Robinvale Classic The Robinvale is the second of 3 Victorian River Classic race. With a course of 80 km long in total, it's split into two 40km legs. You go upstream on the Murray River, 40km, stop, wait for the sweep boat to come down after all the competitors have been through, then go 40km back downstream. The weather was overcast with the wind picking up a big on Saturday. Saturday night it rained and Sunday was still overcast but a calm. NSW boat, Showdown, won his second Victorian River Classic on the weekend, by winning the Robinvale 80 River Classic in a record time of 28:59.11, breaking God's Gift time of 29:16 in 1995. The Showdown team of driver Ian Tricker and observer Steve Cotton, drove the twin Mercury outboard engines to the limit, skiers Daniel Cotton and Jamie Oliver were the skiers controlling the ski's on 200 feet of rope out the back of the boat. Jamie Oliver was one of the skiers behind God's Gift when it gained the record in 1995. The average speed of this team was 166kph. Following Showdown across the line and for a second placing was The Axe in a time of 30:10.34. Madness from Victoria was outright third placing. Showdown broke the record for fastest up with a time of 14:29.49, breaking the previous record set by Action in 1989. At the half way mark, Showdown had some gearbox trouble, and spent some time adjusting it, then went out on the water to continue the consistent form with a return time of 14:29.62. Harv's last years winner of the event withdraw on Sunday morning, as it experienced mechanical problems in the Dash for Cash on the Saturday. The crowd on the bank on Sunday was treated to some close and exciting racing as records were tumbled in both the social and expert classes. A high percentage of boats completed the course which ensured that the crowd were treated to a continual supply of boats hurling down the finish straight. The Junior Dash proved to be a popular race on the Saturday, with 12 teams competing, Moama boat Rebel was the winner there. The Dash for Cash saw Showdown win in a time of 5:22.72, with The Axe second in a time of 5:33.89 and Harv's third in a time of 5:44.14. The Tadpoles event saw Victorian Champion - Kane Howard behind Tongala's Little Man the winner in the event. The Veterans saw Shepparton boat Agrovation take the honours once again. The next event on the Victorian Water Ski Calender is the last point score for the season on Sunday 21st March at Green's Lake Corop, followed by the third race in the King of the Murray series, the Mildura 100 on Easter Sunday. The top ten fastest boats were:
Full results now at: http://users.mcmedia.com.au/~golledge/robinval.htm |