FORSTER-Tuncurry will definitely host two rounds of the Shaw and Partners ocean ski paddling championship next year, race director, Dean Gardiner confirmed.
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Two rounds of the national championship were conducted here last weekend, the Nine Mile from Black Head to Forster Main Beach on Friday and the Forster Classic, a 20 kilometre paddle from Elizabeth Beach at Pacific Palms to Forster Main Beach on Saturday.
Despite what Gardiner described as 'crappy weather' both were completed without incident.
South Australian Cory Holt won the men's divisions on both days, with New Zealander Danielle McKenzie taking out the women's Nine Mile section while Jemma Smith from the Central Coast was successful in the classic.
McKenzie withdrew from Saturday's race due to illness..
Around 200 competitors from around Australia took part in what were rounds three and four of the 16 round series.
"It was another great year at Forster,'' Gardiner enthused.
"We love it there and can't wait to return."
Gardiner, speaking from Perth, said the Great Lakes was a 'fantastic place' to conduct the sport.
We're stoked with how last weekend went.
- Shaw and Partners ocean ski padding championship race director, Dean Gardiner
"I've held a few paddling camps in the area so I knew how good it is,'' he said.
"We're stoked with how last weekend went.''
He said Wallis Lake also provided organisers with a contingency plan if conditions were unfavourable for ocean racing.
"That's another bonus,'' he said.
This year's program included a free coaching session for the public conducted by some of the competitors on Thursday afternoon and a welcome dinner that evening.
The series came to the Great Lakes for the first time in 2021, although this was relatively low key due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Gardiner said there were plans to expand the event next year.
He said he would look at the possibility of linking the race weekend with Pacific Palms Surf Club's Rock-to-Rock ocean swims, should the two events occur in the same week in 2023, as was the case this year.
"It's worth considering,'' he said.
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