After a huge day in Manly Cove the day on the Saturday for the Hawaiian Airlines Sydney Harbor Challenge, everyone was warmed up and psyched for a fun day of N1SCO Racing. The Sunday morning started with blue skies, a glowing sun and no wind, what more could you ask for. With the glassy blue N1SCO racetrack (aka Manly Cove) ready to roll, the excitement on the beach was starting to build as the 55+ competitors assembled for the start of N1SCO Manly.
To start the day it was the Grom and Junior competitors that got to hit the coarse first, with ages ranging from 4 -12 years of age, it was amazing watching the enthusiasm and fun the kids all had. After 3 exciting heats, it was fair to say that everyone was a winner today with smiles on every little face. But I think the kids most enjoyed the Adult and Child racing where they were paired up with one of the adult competitors on the one board and raced the 200m Sprint coarse. With some interesting starts and even more tactics for carrying the kids on board, the Adult and Child teams raced two heats of the sprint coarse to finish to a massive applause and tones of laughter on the beach.
Onto the more “serious” side of the day (if there is such a thing with N1SCO?) with the Men and Women’s Sprint heats. In a le-mans style start, each race was full of high speed spills and thrills as the Open’s, Over 40’s and Over 50’s battled it out over 3 rounds of Sprints. Manly cove was amazing, providing close racing with excellent spectator exposure. With some of the big names in Australian SUP racing there, every heat was racing at it’s best with the One Design aspect of N1SCO really putting these paddlers against each other on a level playing field. Probably the most entertaining of all the sprints was the Men’s Open final, with a Bradbury style wipeout at the start, it was clearly Grant’s race, well until James decided otherwise as he B-lined it directly to the second mark in an attempt to dismount him unsuccessfully.
After a series of Distance race heats and a final, the day was done. With James Casey proving to be too fast for the Open Men’s, Sam Parker taking out the Over 40’s Men’s, Mike Hayes leading the Over 50’s Men’s, Tammy Montgomery continued her winning streak in the open Women’s and Lucy Kelly taking out the Over 40’s Women’s in the distance races. A great presentation with plenty of medals was had on the beach as every relaxed. In usual N1SCO style the day was all smiles and laughs mixed in with some of the closest N1SCO racing I have seen to date. A massive thanks goes out to Sam Williams from Jamieson Park Paddle for hosting the event, and Wind Surf n Snow as the major sponsor.
Results
Groms (200m)
1st Milly
2nd Jessica
3rd Jemima
Juniors (200m)
1st Campbell
2nd Rudy
3rd Cyrus
N1SCO SPRINTS (400m)
Adult and Child Race
1st Jacy Shimahara & Jamima
2nd Grant Hardiman & Jessica
3rd Sam Parker & Jake
Women’s Open
1st Tammy Montgomery
2nd Alex Darnley-Stuart
3rd Lana Hardiman
Women’s Over 40’s
1st Lucy Kelly
Women’s Over 50’s
1st Rebecca Graham
2nd Lesley Gregory
Men’s Open “A” Division
1st Grant Hardiman
2nd Evan Green
3rd Scott Hardiman
Men’s Open “B” Division
1st Kieran O’Riordan
2nd Andy Davies
3rd Matt Burgess
Men’s Over 40’s
1st Sam Parker
2nd Chris Cross
3rd Paul Matthews
Men’s Over 50’s
1st Mike Hayes
2nd Brett Babe
3rd Lee Condell
N1SCO Distance Race (1km approx.)
Women’s Open
1st Tammy Montgomery (0:05.24)
2nd Lana Hardiman (0:05.40)
3rd Alex Darnley-Stuart (0:05.44)
Women’s Over 40’s
1st Lucy Kelly (0:05.55)
Men’s Open
1st James casey (0:04.22)
2nd Scott Hardiman (0:04.33)
3rd Toby Cracknell (0:04.35)
Men’s Over 40’s
1st Sam Parker (0:04.40)
2nd Chris Cross (0:04.53)
3rd Chris Ting (0:05.11)
Men’s Over 50’s
1st Mike Hayes (0:04.49)
2nd Lee Condell (0:05.02)
3rd Brett Baber (0:05.06)
