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It was a case of six of the best for Kiama Downs as the South Coast club powered home to claim their sixth consecutive NSW IRB (Inflatable Rescue Boat) Premiership Series last weekend.

Kiama Downs were frontrunners all season with impressive victories each round ultimately securing the title ahead of Caves Beach and Queenscliff in a result that was a repeat of 2016.



The reigning champions blitzed the field in 11 events overall including three out of four in Open Male and Female and Over 35s Mixed. Along with the confidence taken from the victory, the club takes home an IRB motor thanks to Lakeside Marine.



The final round of the series at Cape Hawke SLSC on the state’s Lower North Coast dawned with favourable conditions allowing a full weekend of racing enjoyed by all the competitors.



This was the final chance to race not only for points, but also fine-tune their preparations for next month’s State Championships at South West Rocks.



Kiama Downs SLSC IRB Captain Nathan Foster says he’s very proud of the clubs effort throughout the Premiership.


“It’s very nice to win this season especially as we didn’t know how we would go with not having an Over 45s Mixed team. Our IRB team is made up of a good balance and with the Premiership pointscore you don’t need a big team you just need good crews and we’re lucky we have that,” Nathan Foster said.

“We hope our form can continue into next month’s State and Australian IRB Championships.”



At Cape Hawke, second placed Caves Beach were dominant in the U23 Mixed division winning three events while in the Over 45s Mixed they cleaned up in the Tube and Rescue events.



Other clubs who enjoyed impressive results at the weekend included Woonona who took out the Open Male Rescue and Catherine Hill Bay who were too good in the Open Female Tube.



Forster took full advantage of their local knowledge by taking out the Over 35s Mixed Tube event. In the Over 45s, North Avoca held strong in the Teams division while Terrigal finished on top in the Mass.



In the Rookie division, Woonona and Avalon Beach finished on top of the Rescue and Mass events respectively.



The spread of podium placings augurs well for the future of the sport in NSW, and gives confidence to the clubs as they wrap up preparations for the final races of the season which includes the State and Australian Championship.



Surf Life Saving NSW Sports Manager, Rob Pidgeon says the Premiership Series has been a huge success.


“Congratulations to Kiama Downs for winning the Premiership, it’s an amazing effort by the club. It’s also positive to see the quality of racing from all clubs improve this season and we’re very much looking forward to the State Championships,” Rob Pidgeon said.

“We thank Caves Beach, Mollymook, Ocean Beach and Cape Hawke for hosting the Premiership rounds as well as the Officials for their amazing efforts over the last two months.”



The 2017 IRB State Championships will be held at South West Rocks SLSC on the first weekend of July with the Interstate and Australian Championships hosted by Cudgen Headland SLSC from 14-16 July.



Download 2017 NSW IRB Premiership Pointscore



 



Friday 16 June 2017


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