2009 Worlds results and photos

[obnoxious001]

I found some really great photos, no Enlish on the Belgium based site, but Robbie's newsletter confirmed what the podium photo showed, Todd Haig was able to win the first round of the men's "F1" race today.

Any of you think that ski racing is just hanging on to the handles,, look at some of the great shots! http://worlds.waterskiracing.be/

 

[obnoxious001]

More photos here, from previous races in Belgium: http://www.wkwaterskigent.be/fotos.php

 

[Crazyhippy]

I thought the whole idea behind skiing wrapped up was so the skier couldn't let go

It's not just hanging on, it's trying not to fall down, because the boat race going on around you isn't going to stop

Congrats to Todd. To bad he wasn't rocking the RDP shirt on the podium:champagne:

Lots of USA shirts up there, a few 2nd and 3rd places in the same race.:thumbsup

 

[Crazyhippy]

I found some really great photos, no Enlish on the Belgium based site, but Robbie's newsletter confirmed what the podium photo showed, Todd Haig was able to win the first round of the men's "F1" race today.

Any of you think that ski racing is just hanging on to the handles,, look at some of the great shots! http://www.wkwaterskigent.be/fotos.php

Translation from babelfish...

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translat...skigent.be/wk.php&lp=nl_en&btnTrUrl=Translate

Not perfect, but decent enough to get the point across

 

[Halvecto]

Interestingly, that #1 triple outboard in the pics sporting the stars and stripes scheme is not a USA boat. I guess Australia likes our flag.

 

[LV R SCHIADA'S]

Thanks for the pics, too bad the states don't give these badass skiiers the props they deserve !!!! congrats to team usa !!!!!!

 

[DLR1994]

Interestingly, that #1 triple outboard in the pics sporting the stars and stripes scheme is not a USA boat. I guess Australia likes our flag.

Not an Aussie boat

 

[DLR1994]

and also the photos are not from the worlds, they were taken at last years diamond race i believe. and a few from the 05 worlds

 

[obnoxious001]

and also the photos are not from the worlds, they were taken at last years diamond race i believe. and a few from the 05 worlds

Good point,, just went back and looked at those podium shots. The 2nd link is the 2009 worlds site.

 

[Mondorally]

Found some videos here. HD even!

http://www.skirace.net/?p=3657

 

[Boat211]

Good videos. Makes me want to put a ski on. Guess I will have to wait till we get to the lake for the weekend.

 

[obnoxious001]

These shots don't make me want to go over and ski in that canal! It does show why the Bernico boats are designed and built like they are. The 2nd shot is Nico Bertels driving in the F1 class, I think.

 

[RiverDave]

Those videos are crazy.. I'm not sure if you saw the 5th video down or not? The beginning of that is just nuts! One boat is catching up to another, the front boat cuts him off, and the skier is skiing within a couple feet of the boat catching up to him.. The spray off the boat completely envelopes the skier, and then they hook a right around the front of a ship to give more room?

I can drive in some crowded conditions, but just watching that video made me nervous.. LOL

RD

 

[Crazyhippy]

Anyone know why Todd is behind the 191 boat instead of the usual 193 white and orange MERC #6 boat?

Isn't the 191 boat the dual drive dealio?

 

[Rexone]

CH, My guess would be very rough conditions in race 1.

 

[RiverDave]

My guess would be very rough conditions in race 1.

No kidding.. did you see those videos? Good god man..

RD

 

[Rexone]

No kidding.. did you see those videos? Good god man..

RD

Yes, that is pretty standard fare for the straight sided canal races. It gets pretty tough compared to most US races.

 

[obnoxious001]

Those videos are crazy.. I'm not sure if you saw the 5th video down or not? The beginning of that is just nuts! One boat is catching up to another, the front boat cuts him off, and the skier is skiing within a couple feet of the boat catching up to him.. The spray off the boat completely envelopes the skier, and then they hook a right around the front of a ship to give more room?

I can drive in some crowded conditions, but just watching that video made me nervous.. LOL

RD

No kidding.. did you see those videos? Good god man..

RD

Now you are getting a better feel for why a few guys are stressing safety, it can get a little nuts! That canal deal with water bouncing off the walls, and limited space is extra crazy!

 

[Halvecto]

Anyone know why Todd is behind the 191 boat instead of the usual 193 white and orange MERC #6 boat?

Isn't the 191 boat the dual drive dealio?

Yea. I have heard the dual drive allows for tighter turning, and in that narrow canal it helps. As you can see in the video, he is on the inside and the boat almost does a 90 degree turn.

 

[River Lynchmob]

Anyone know why Todd is behind the 191 boat instead of the usual 193 white and orange MERC #6 boat?

Isn't the 191 boat the dual drive dealio?

Todd almost always skis behind the 191 boat no one else will and Mallory and who ever else Randy pulls will go behind the 193 boat.

 

[boat527]

Looks like Mawer got Todd at the finish of the second round. Todd will still be leading on time though...Lumley took the 2nd round for the women.

http://twitter.com/robbiellewellyn

Go Team USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[red ant]

Today's conditions were much rougher than the 1st race on Sunday. I read where Todd crashed just past the finish line. Katelin crashed in womens f1. Don't know how she ended up. Dawn Wallace (USA) took 2nd womens f2. Amy and Kelly did not have as good of a day. Waiting to see where they ended up. From what I heard, skiers crashing everywhere. The water was huge!!! Videos will be awesome and scary to watch.

 

[RiverDave]

Today's conditions were much rougher than the 1st race on Sunday. I read where Todd crashed just past the finish line. Katelin crashed in womens f1. Don't know how she ended up. Dawn Wallace (USA) took 2nd womens f2. Amy and Kelly did not have as good of a day. Waiting to see where they ended up. From what I heard, skiers crashing everywhere. The water was huge!!! Videos will be awesome and scary to watch.

I'm definately looking forward to the videos.. That water was unbelievable in some of the videos I've seen..

2 more races to go then correct?

RD

 

[obnoxious001]

2 more races to go then correct?

RD

That's correct Dave.

Nice win by Cameron King today in men's F2. Not sure how old he is now, but several years ago I took him for some local Puddingstone training,, practice on starts if I recall. His mom and dad (Mike King and Kelly Ireland) have to be super proud!

 

[reb939]

link to a great vid of race #2
unbelievable water conditions....... ballast tanks topped off for this run

[video=vimeo;5700531]http://vimeo.com/5700531[/video]

 

[boat527]

I watched this last night and was truly amazed.. Todd is trying to jump some of the Sh*t and Mawer is just Mawer.. Pinging thru it!! Hats off to those guys... Boat breaking water for sure. Makes Catalina look easy..

Dave

 

[obnoxious001]

As per Robbie's twitter page, Wayne Mawer just won the 3rd race by 50 yds,, going to come down to the last race assuming Todd finished 2nd today.

I guess Womens race has to be rerun tomorrow due to extreme rain stopping their race before the halfway point.

 

[obnoxious001]

According to Robbie Llewellyn's report, Todd won the race and the championship. Wayne Mawer was close enough to make it interesting on points, but apparently fell or failed to cross (only 5 meters from the line) the finish somehow!

Congrats to Todd Haig, also his driver and observer Randy Davis and Dennis Hall!

 

[AFUEL7067]

I heard Todd lost by one point , I went back to look and its all gone ... hopefully they won you usually have good info .......

 

[SKIA36]

I heard Todd lost by one point , I went back to look and its all gone ... hopefully they won you usually have good info .......

Not what I read, Todd won race 4, Mawer fell 5 meters short of the finish line...Todd was ahead by 4 points in the standings and only needed to finish close to Mawer.
9 Protestb in FG1 to be decided...

 

[AFUEL7067]

Robbie posted that Todd didnt win the race or the overall it was up for a few minutes and he took it down now his site says to much confusion lol dont really have any interest but i can read.... and I saw what he blogged...

 

[SKIA36]

Robbie posted that Todd didnt win the race or the overall it was up for a few minutes and he took it down now his site says to much confusion lol dont really have any interest but i can read.... and I saw what he blogged...

Just saw the round 4 final results...Mawer 1st, Todd 3rd.

Wayne Mawer is the world champ!

 

[obnoxious001]

I just read Robbie's twitter, apparently they dropped Todd to a 3rd place finish today for some reason and gave the win today to Wayne, perhaps they judged that he was cut off and had to drop into the water or something.

 

[obnoxious001]

I heard Todd lost by one point , I went back to look and its all gone ... hopefully they won you usually have good info .......

There may have been some confusion, apparently it took them 9 hours to decide. Cameron King did lose the F2 championship by a single point.

 

[ikester]

I have heard from the races that Todd got the short end of the deal. Todd finished first and ahead of Mawyer, but because Todd's crew thought they had one lap to go (Blue Flag lap), when the crossed the finish line which was at the turn and was the Checkered Flag, Todds crew proceeded to go for another lap turning left at the turn and thus Mawyers boat was on the inside line had to avoid Todd and Mawyer was not able to cross the finish with Mawyer skiing. Mawyer settled in the water and his crew had to come around and get him back up and cross the finish line

Sounds like they (Mawyers) used all the rules to their advantage and protested and won. Todd beat Mawyer and from what I have heard there was no way that Mawyer could have made up any more time to beat Todd on time. There was just not enough racing left, but becasue they had to avoid Todd and were not able to finish across the line they protested. It is a bummer it had to come down to this.

 

[jody165]

Would be interesting to know how close Mawer was to Todd at the finish....if he was within a line length then he had an honest chance of winning the championship on final points. Both would have 2 wins and a very close second, would come down to who had the closest second. Todd's best second place was within a line length roughly.

But if Mawer was behind more than a line length, then they would not have won the championship anyway and maybe should have considered withdrawing their protest...

Just my 2 cents. Both teams are amazing.

 

[racerden]

I have heard from the races that Todd got the short end of the deal. Todd finished first and ahead of Mawyer, but because Todd's crew thought they had one lap to go (Blue Flag lap), when the crossed the finish line which was at the turn and was the Checkered Flag, Todds crew proceeded to go for another lap turning left at the turn and thus Mawyers boat was on the inside line had to avoid Todd and Mawyer was not able to cross the finish with Mawyer skiing. Mawyer settled in the water and his crew had to come around and get him back up and cross the finish line

Sounds like they (Mawyers) used all the rules to their advantage and protested and won. Todd beat Mawyer and from what I have heard there was no way that Mawyer could have made up any more time to beat Todd on time. There was just not enough racing left, but becasue they had to avoid Todd and were not able to finish across the line they protested. It is a bummer it had to come down to this.

BOTH teams were served penalties: Todd's boat penalized 9% for passing inside a turn within the 100M bouy (rule #9.10), Wayne's boat penalized 3% for running too close, -2M (rule #9.10). Either way, what a Worlds! Gotta hand it to every team member competeing in speeds and conditions like Belgium handed out. Congrats to everyone attending.
________
Fake weed

 

[jody165]

passing inside a turn within the 100M bouy (rule #9.10)

Can you explain this more? I don't understand it the way it reads...

 

[racerden]

Can you explain this more? I don't understand it the way it reads...[/QUOTE Hi Jody. I'm not dead nuts sure but after reading the rule at www.worlds.waterskiracing.be here's what I decifer:
There's a buoy 100M from the turn entrance buoy, like a commitment mark. Apparantely, all passing for position must take place before this buoy. It sounds like Randy was the pursuing boat and stuck a nose inside after this buoy forcing Wayne's boat to alter his pole position for skier safety.
Maybe I'm wrong but it sounds to me that's what happened concerning the penalities that were handed out. RDP folks, remember these may or may not have have any influence on the finish, they are just penalties.
The Worlds sure had some awesome ski, driving and observer racing eh? Made Catalina look like childs play.
DV
________
Wendie 99

 

[RiverDave]

Robbie posted that Todd didnt win the race or the overall it was up for a few minutes and he took it down now his site says to much confusion lol dont really have any interest but i can read.... and I saw what he blogged...

it is confusing as hell..

RD

 

[AFUEL7067]

Dave yes it was , Randy Dennis and Todd did a hell of a job under the conditions they raced in ,very exciting......

 

[Goldfinger Racing]

Can you explain this more? I don't understand it the way it reads...[/QUOTE Hi Jody. I'm not dead nuts sure but after reading the rule at www.worlds.waterskiracing.be here's what I decifer:
There's a buoy 100M from the turn entrance buoy, like a commitment mark. Apparantely, all passing for position must take place before this buoy. It sounds like Randy was the pursuing boat and stuck a nose inside after this buoy forcing Wayne's boat to alter his pole position for skier safety.
Maybe I'm wrong but it sounds to me that's what happened concerning the penalities that were handed out. RDP folks, remember these may or may not have have any influence on the finish, they are just penalties.
The Worlds sure had some awesome ski, driving and observer racing eh? Made Catalina look like childs play.
DV

What i cant understand is why, if Mawer got penalized also, did he get 1000 points? Robbie even twittered that Kirkland crossed the line before him. Also, why in the hell would they put the finish line in the turn anyway? I heard several reports that the blue flag did not get up in time for team 191 to see it. They got shafted! So sad to see it end like that after some of the best races of all time.

 

[racerden]

What i cant understand is why, if Mawer got penalized also, did he get 1000 points? Robbie even twittered that Kirkland crossed the line before him. Also, why in the hell would they put the finish line in the turn anyway? I heard several reports that the blue flag did not get up in time for team 191 to see it. They got shafted! So sad to see it end like that after some of the best races of all time.

I agree, the F-1 race series was one of the best ever. I was trying to figure the points deal out also. Wayne's boat got a penality for running too close (rule # 9.12, 3% penality) and he still was rewarded 3K points for race #4 (race #1 was throw out as his lowest score). Hell, maybe the penality went to the boat overall standings??
Go figga...
________
Iolite no vapor

 

[Goldfinger Racing]

the videos are up now of round four. looks like USA got screwed to me. they had to make that turn, there was a boat on the outside in front of them. boat #5 had plenty of room in my eyes but turned it too sharp and dropped Wayne in. Boat #5 driver error if u ask me. apparantly they didnot allow the video at the protest.

 

[Firecracker]

I can't believe there is not more buzz about this. It clearly looks like Todd won and in the video he is even on the podium being announced as the new world champion. I know that Wayne Mawer is a great guy but I think it must be embarrassing for him to even accept the trophy knowing in his heart that he got beat fair and square. I'd love to hear what Todd thinks.

Needless to say Team USA was not very happy with the way the end of this Worlds went down. Todd got royally screwed, and there were illegal boats out there racing too. The same committee that allowed 27' running surface boats run as 21' running surface boats, is the committee that gave Mawer the win. The person who should have gotten the 1000 points is Darren Kirkland. He crossed the finish line before Wayne did. And one thing that Wayne's team did not do, and was a strict rule that even Mallory's team was penalized for was not pulling the skier completely into the boat, and bringing them 50 meters outside of the turn to restart their lap. When a skier fell within 100 meters before the turn, or 50 meters beyond the turn in what was called the "box" the teams were ALL instructed to pull in the ski lines, and pull the skier COMPLETELY inside the boat then proceed 50 meters past the turn before attempting to restart your lap. As you cal all see Wayne's team did not do so. Mallory was penalized becuase they said the 193 team did not pull her completely inside the boat before taking her out of the turn. Go figure...

A lot of controversy in this worlds... We could go on for hours about all of the penalties and warnings that were given to some teams, and not others who were more deserving of them.

In the end the USA still ended up on top with 100% legal equipment, and each and every person on the team worked their ass off to get there.

I had the time of my life over there. Even though it sucked racing three days in a row because the women's Antwerp race was called off due to rain after the race got started, it was still a great time. I would love to go back next year and ski the Diamond Race, which is held in Viersel. The place of the #4 race.

There wasn't much time for partying over there, but if you go to BevMo, do yourself a favor and buy a bottle of Duvel beer. It is 8.5% alcohol, and freaking awesome!

 

[Firecracker]

Here's some photos that I took while I was over there...

Opening Ceremonies

Gent Men's Race (Race #1)

Genk Men's Race (Race #2)

Enjoy!

 

[RiverDave]

Did you take any pics Firecracker?

RD

 

[racerden]

Needless to say Team USA was not very happy with the way the end of this Worlds went down. Todd got royally screwed, and there were illegal boats out there racing too. The same committee that allowed 27' running surface boats run as 21' running surface boats, is the committee that gave Mawer the win. The person who should have gotten the 1000 points is Darren Kirkland. He crossed the finish line before Wayne did. And one thing that Wayne's team did not do, and was a strict rule that even Mallory's team was penalized for was not pulling the skier completely into the boat, and bringing them 50 meters outside of the turn to restart their lap. When a skier fell within 100 meters before the turn, or 50 meters beyond the turn in what was called the "box" the teams were ALL instructed to pull in the ski lines, and pull the skier COMPLETELY inside the boat then proceed 50 meters past the turn before attempting to restart your lap. As you cal all see Wayne's team did not do so. Mallory was penalized becuase they said the 193 team did not pull her completely inside the boat before taking her out of the turn. Go figure...

A lot of controversy in this worlds... We could go on for hours about all of the penalties and warnings that were given to some teams, and not others who were more deserving of them.

In the end the USA still ended up on top with 100% legal equipment, and each and every person on the team worked their ass off to get there.

I had the time of my life over there. Even though it sucked racing three days in a row because the women's Antwerp race was called off due to rain after the race got started, it was still a great time. I would love to go back next year and ski the Diamond Race, which is held in Viersel. The place of the #4 race.

There wasn't much time for partying over there, but if you go to BevMo, do yourself a favor and buy a bottle of Duvel beer. It is 8.5% alcohol, and freaking awesome!

Hi Amy..first, great effort kiddo. That was some tough skiing for sure. As for the Mens F-1 title, even the AUS chatter on Facebook reflects your thoughts. But it's over and I'm sure you have a lifelong memory nothing can ever erase...My 1st Worlds had controversy but the experience over-rode the BS. Welcome home buddy!
________
Cannabis seeds

 

[LetsTalkSkiracing]

Ok. First up. Todd and Wayne both skied incredibly throughout the week. I feel they were both deserving of the win. I'm not here to say either team was in the right or wrong, and I definately feel that all involved got less than they deserved through conditions and circumstances.

I think a lot of people are missing a few of the details though. While Robbie commentated that kirkland crossed the line before wayne, he failed to recognise wayne's restart after the incident as valid. This was due to the box system. However, as far as i can tell, the box system was not valid as it was not a corner, it was the finish straight and his restart was a valid finish, Thus putting him across the line ahead of kirkland by some time. Also what i think people are missing, is that Todd was leading Wayne across the line, but Wayne may still have been in a position to take the world championship, as he only had to finish within a few seconds of Todd to still take the overall win. Whether he was within this time or not, who knows?

Now i am certain that people will think that as an aussie i am simply sticking up for wayne, but that is not the case. It was a terrible way to end and the penalties ended up effecting other peoples results negatively also, so no one won from the experience. I think perhaps the greatest thing to come from this whole experience is that perhaps Belgium was not the best venue for a competition of this magnitude.

 

[RiverDave]

Interesting to hear the other side of the story.. Not knowing a whole lot about it, I was wondering how much of what is on here, is a legit gripe vs national pride. I'm quite sure I still don't know the answer to that, but it is interesting to get a different perspective on it now. Thank you for sharing that.

What do you think would be a proper venue for a competition of this magnitude?

RD