Gruelling 190km coastline surfboard marathon kicks off in NSW

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The George Bass Surfboat Marathon, which claims to be the longest and toughest of its kind in the world, has kicked off on the New South Wales south coast today. Participants from across the country will row for the next seven days across 190 kilometres of coastline from Batemans Bay to Eden.

Transcript

00:00The race is officially underway, so you're right, the Georgia Bass Surf Boat Marathon

00:07is on.

00:08We're in its 50th year.

00:09It started in 1975, and it's deeply rooted in surf life-saving culture, hence the surf

00:15boats.

00:16And the surf boats actually don't start here on shore, I've learned.

00:18They actually start out at sea, and then a horn goes off, and then that's when they start

00:23their race.

00:24The first leg is from Batemans Bay to Murillo, it's a 31 kilometer leg, and that's where

00:29they started.

00:30It's also worth mentioning that there are about 18 surf skis also participating in the

00:35George Bass this year, which was introduced in the 90s.

00:39It's an incredibly exciting event, it happens biannually, and it's just crazy because there

00:46were hundreds of people here before, they hailed from all parts of Australia, from New

00:50South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, even New Zealand were participating this year.

00:56It's a grueling race as well, so they've got their first leg, 31 Ks, from Batemans

01:01Bay to Murillo today.

01:04The second leg is from Murillo to Churros Head, that's 19 kilometers, so that's the

01:10shortest leg.

01:12The longest leg is, funnily enough, on day five, which is probably very challenging indeed

01:18because you're already five days into the race, and it's the longest leg of about 36

01:22kilometers.

01:23Look, participants here were incredibly excited about the days ahead.

01:28They've got seven days in them with this race, seven legs, 190 kilometers racing in the water

01:34from here all the way down to Eden, where they finish on the 4th of January.

01:38When they were here, this is what they had to say.

01:42We really wanted to be a part of this one, being the 50th anniversary.

01:46One of our rowers is actually still competing competitively, he actually rode in the 75

01:51race and he's still racing now.

01:53It's always with a bit of nerves, the body's getting a bit older, the rigors of 190 something

01:59Ks to get down the coast is quite a punish on the body, so we'll see how we go.

02:04It's a beautiful, beautiful day to be out here and the wet conditions look really good,

02:09so a very exciting start to the 50th year.

02:12Excited, but a little stressed, a little nervous, but yeah, it should be good.

02:17Once we get day one out of the way, it should be good.

02:20What makes this race so tough is you're out in the open ocean for one thing, so as long

02:25as you're not daunted by the deep ocean, that's one thing you have to overcome.

02:31Then you've got battling the elements, you've got currents, you've got swell and you've

02:35got wind.

02:36The wind is either your best friend in this race or your worst enemy.

02:40If you've got a southerly, you're fighting against it the whole way and unfortunately

02:44there is a little southerly today, so it's not the best start, but conditions are still

02:48relatively fine.

02:50If you have a northerly, right, you're going to go down the coast with a lot more speed

02:54than what you would have otherwise.

02:57This race continues, it started today, it continues through until the 4th of January,

03:03so thoughts to all the participants competing this year while everyone else is preparing

03:07for a lovely, relaxing new year on the beach, barbeque with friends.

03:11These rowers are digging in deep, rowing 190 kilometres all the way down to Eden.

03:17Hats off to them.

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