Mildura 100 race to run without waterskis amid sporting suspension

Daftar Isi

The folks behind the world's speediest waterski competition have announced they won't be using any waterskis for this year's event.

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Four people died in waterskiing incidents between February and October last year, which led to the sport's temporary suspension.

Typically, the Mildura 100 draws entries from over 600 participants.

This year's event will be conducted as a 100 kilometre point-to-point boat race.

The field will be restricted to competitors who have participated in the event since 2023.

Critical tourism dollars

The club's organiser and committee member, Geoff Thompson, said they still believed it was a good idea to hold an event over the Easter weekend.

He reckons the event lured tourism bucks to the riverside community and helped secure the financial stability of the club.

This year's event will probably be held on the same track as previous years.

"We're building the plane as we're flying it at the moment," Mr Thompson said.

The committee is finalising the arrangements with its new governing body, the Australian Powerboat Association.

Mr Thompson said the participants would be licensed drivers.

We also track boats via satellite these days. There's a speed limit of 105 miles per hour, which is about 168 kilometres per hour.

It's controlled mainly by how fast it's going and very much by tracking it through satellites.

To participate in the race, competitors must take off their ski poles, have two people in the boat and enter one of the new Australian Power Boating Association categories – S1 or S2.

'Ski racing is a very high-adrenaline sport.'

Mildura Ski Club president Brandan McGlynn said it was the nature of an extreme sport to have big risks.

"All of us who put on a racing suit and grab hold of a steering wheel or strap on skis and grab hold of a 300-metre rope know exactly what we're doing when we do it," Mr McGlynn said.

The sport's a real adrenaline hit, it's a rush and that's why we love it so much, racing against our mates.

But we all want to catch up with our mates at the end of the day and celebrate the win, loss or draw.

Two investigations are happening at the same time as the water skiing ban.

The first one was an internal review by Ski Racing Australia that started in March last year, after a skier died at the Robinvale Euston 80 near Mildura.

New South Wales Maritime is examining the safety aspects of the sport individually.

Mr McGlynn said he was optimistic the safety inquiry would contribute to making the sport more secure.

He said he was stoked to be hosting the function, even though it had to be changed around.

"I'm stoked that as a club we can back the local power sports event each weekend and create an unreplaceable vibe for the region," McGlynn said.

We're all about finding the best solution so, with the help of the team members on the committee with me, we've done the legwork, done the networking and made the boat race a success.