Paddle Puts Racers Through Their Paces

By Dan Hutton on October 25, 2010 in

“We wanted to come up with something new that brought all the various paddle crafts together for a great day in the water,” Itchy told The Beast.

The event will be comprised of three separate races, with the main event a 9-12 km paddle starting at Bondi and travelling down to Coogee before circling Wedding Cake Island and returning to Bondi.

“The main event will be open to ocean skis, paddleboards, and Stand-Up Paddleboards (SUPs), and we’ll also be holding a 2km SUP race and a Dash For Cash for surfboards on the day,” Itchy said.

According to Whippet, the motivation for creating The Bondi Big Paddle was two-fold, “Obviously as lifeguards we get time off during the winter, and we decided that we wanted to create an event that was in line with our own interests and open to surfers or paddlers ranging from the beginner, to the elite level.”

The lifeguards also wanted to use the event to continue their support the Sydney Children’s Hospital.

“We’ll be holding a massive raffle on the day with some awesome prizes, and the proceeds will go to the Children’s Hospital,” Whippet said.

Aside from the raffle, Itchy assured us that there will be substantial cash and prizes for the individual races and largely thanks to the support they have received from local businesses.

“We have been working with Crust Pizza Rose Bay as our major sponsor for the event. I reckon that Whippet was particularly happy with this deal, as he is no stranger to a large meat deluxe.”

All jokes aside though, The Bondi Big Paddle, 2010 is shaping up to be a fantastic event and hopefully a permanent fixture on the local sporting calendar. The event will kick off at around 7am on the December 12 and will be finished by 1pm, with the presentation to be held at Bondi Icebergs, who are also supporting the race.

Whippet and Itchy encourage people to visit the event website, www.bondibigpaddle.com.au, for more information about the event and to find out how to register.