Port Macquarie’s outrigger paddlers have scored a clean sweep of victories in their opening regatta of the season.
The Maroro Club won all three open mixed events it contested at Sunday’s Pasha Dasha Grand Prix event in Newcastle, providing an ideal start to its 2011/12 campaign.
The club’s number one crew was particularly dominant in the feature 15km long course race, putting a huge gap on a field that included crews from Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle, Port Stephens, the Central Coast and Canberra.
Coach Lincoln Beddoe said he was proud of the efforts of all his paddlers.
“A number of our paddlers have been working through the off-season, including racing in the Cook Islands, and I think that extra preparation served us well on Sunday,” he said.
“Our “A crew’ was very impressive in the long course but I was also very proud of our “B crew’ members, who found their share of trouble during the race but kept their heads up and fought hard for their sixth placing.
“The performances of Jason Doyle and Warren Ryan, both racing in their first regatta, were very encouraging and I’m hoping we’ll see them back up at our next regatta.
Beddoe said the club fielded three crews for a novelty sprint race to kick off the day, resulting in an early win for Port Macquarie.
“We also made a belated decision to enter the short course event and that decision paid off with our third win for the day,” he said.
“I expect we’ll face a tougher challenge at our next regatta in four weeks’ time as it looks as though we’ll be missing some key personnel, but it will be another good challenge for the group.”
The club’s next assignment will be at Pittwater on February 19.
