Concrete Classic October 06 Report

By Ben Wright --- www.WaveMonkey.com.au
November 09, 2006

The Concrete Classic was held at Penrith White Water Stadium over the 28th and 29th October. Just under 30 paddlers made it from all over Australia to compete in the “Classic”, with juniors as young as 10 entering the fun.

The event is designed to allow all skill levels to participate, from beginner to advanced. Races included “The Ball Race”, where teams of paddlers battle in heats to race their exercise ball from an eddy at the top, down to the bottom pond, a boat-a-cross (soon to be a national event), relays, freestyle events held on a number of features and the all-levelling “Gift”.

The Gift is a deckless race over the length of the course. If you’re still floating by the first bridge, you are doing very well.

The results from the weekend are as follows:

Ball Race:
1st Place Team: Jez, Liam, Ben
2nd Place Team: Dave, Jimbo, Frase

Beginner Freestyle (Adult):
1st Place: Jimbo
2nd Place: Raj
3rd Place: Mick

Beginner Freestyle (Junior):
1st Place: Declan

Boat-a-Cross:
1st Place: Fraze
2nd Place: Boz
3rd Place: Dave

Boat-a-Relay:
1st Place Team: Chris, Declan, Boz

Advanced Freestyle (Adult):
1st Place: Andre (26.5 points)
2nd Place: Jez & Russ (19 points)
3rd Place: Boz (18.5 points)

Advanced Freestyle (Junior):
1st Place: Liam (21 points)
2nd Place: James (16 points)

The Gift Race (deckless):
1st Place: Liam
2nd Place: Andre
3rd Place: Russ

A great time was had by all and nearly $2000 of prizes were given away over the event, both to race winners and as spot prizes. I don’t think a single paddler left empty handed on the Sunday.

Prize donors included WaveMonkey, AdventurePro, Wetspot, Kayak4Play and Entropy Gear. WaveMonkey had some great support from James and Liam Corr in setting up the venue and running both days. Team paddler Fraser also stepped up to the plate on Sunday morning when we were a man down.

Photos of the event can be seen under Paddle Events in the WaveMonkey gallery.

WaveMonkey intends to make the Concrete Classic a bi-annual event, held at the beginning and the end of the summer season.

The next event will probably be held in Feb/Mar 07 and is now sanctioned by Australian Canoeing as part of their ongoing commitment to our sport.

We’d love to see more juniors and ladies compete in the next Classic, so come along and join the fun.