MAY CAMP HIGHLIGHTS....

The reality that our summer was nearly over came home hard in the week leading up to camp, but mere weather  was never going to get in the way of the country's keenest barefooters. Friday evening saw these dedicated souls descend on Findlay Park for a weekend of skill work and winter preparation.....

The usual greetings and social activities took place Friday night before we all settled in and got ready for the important Saturday morning session. The amazing team of "kitchen bitches" had a nourishing breakfast ready for all at 7am and camp leader Kathy O'Donnell briefed us all on boat crews and rules.

The weather was holding  ok and the first boats slipped away right on 8am. Most elected to go down towards Piarere which seemed like the best water conditions. That was until Freddy managed to snare a hunk of floating rope around the O'Donnell Sanger's prop!!  Four boats worked the stretch from the bridge down SH1 nicely with some calm but back-washy water. Most skiers concentrating on skill work on the bar and finishing with a set of long line slalom.

Back to camp for the lunch break and some stunning "Rere" soup was just the ticket! Boat crew changes for the afternoon session and we were back on the water by 1.30pm.  More of the same for the afternoon with skiers making use of the coaching skills and gleaning all they could. A fair bit of rain tried to make things difficult, but it did help the water conditions improve.  The boats were back and loaded up by 4.30. The camp spa got a solid workout as some tired bodies enjoyed the warm water.

Saturday evening was a great event with a fantastic dinner, homemade apple crumble and Stacie Gardiners 18^th birthday cake! We were all entertained by the inaugural performance by the S.O.P.E.T.T.E.S Cha Cha slide that was simply inspirational! The "after dinner" events were high energy as well with most taking part in the 4-aside indoor soccer contest that really is more a cross between cage fighting and Aussie Rules than soccer!

The Sunday session started right on time at 8am and in some good Waikato fog.  Boats going both directions in total glass conditions. Our boat soon learned that the second weekend of duck shooting season is not the right time to go way up river, especially if there are decoys out around the Mai mai's!

Skiers worked hard on technique and skill work to finish off the set as the weather started to blow in and make conditions unskiable.  Back to camp for lunch and get the boats all sorted out.  After lunch Rob Groen and Lewis McNabb took the squads through fitness testing and programmes for the winter months. All skiers tested and benchmarked for future reference and performance growth. 

After the big clean up it was time for farewells and we all headed back to our homes with some great results and fun memories from another super successful NZBWSC event. A massive thanks to Kathy for all her work and experience in making this weekend the success it was.

A huge thanks to Phil Leach, Noel Binns, Rob Gardiner, Lewis McNabb and Gary O'Donnell for the use of their boats. These would have made an impressive lineup at the boat show the week before! Thanks also to the amazing team of coaches and background helpers that made the weekend work.