All eyes are on the skies in the lead-up to this weekend’s inaugural Mouth to Mouth Outrigger Regatta, with weather conditions set to play a major part in the race.
The 40-kilometre ocean challenge, being hosted by the Port Macquarie Maroro Outrigger Club, will take competitors from the mouth of the Camden Haven River at Pilot Beach to the Hastings River entrance at Port Macquarie.
Race director Mick Wilson said organisers were keeping a close eye on the weather in the countdown to Saturday’s event, which has attracted close to 150 paddlers from throughout NSW and Queensland.
“Our preference will be to start the race at Pilot Beach and send the crews up the coast to Port Macquarie with the wind and swell assisting them,” he said.
“At this stage we’re looking okay, but if the wind swings around and blows from the north-east we’ll be starting at the Lady Nelson Wharf and will hopefully see an exciting finish at Dunbogan.
“It may be Friday before we can make a final decision, and if conditions become dangerous there is always the prospect of having to move the race into the Hastings River, but this is an ocean racing sport and we are very much hoping to run the event in open water.
“Regardless of what conditions we end up with, the weather is going to play an important role in terms of strategy and tactics,” Wilson said.
Lake Cathie Club President Wayne Barnard thanked the Mid-North Coast community for its support of the event.
“We have been very fortunate to have such a great response from this community, including volunteers and sponsors,” he said.
“Local boat owners from Port Macquarie through to Laurieton are also giving up their time to operate support boats, and we simply couldn’t run the race without their involvement.
“We are looking forward to a great event for the region and I would encourage anyone interested in catching some of the action to head down to Pilot Beach on Saturday.”
Barnard said the race was due to start at 11am, with crews expected to take between 3.5 and 4.5 hours to complete the course.
