Held over hundreds of kilometres down the pristine NSW coastline, the George Bass is not for the faint  of heart and that is why the Tathra team has been training for nearly six months. 

Sunday morning at Tathra and the crew is launching two boats into pounding seas and a harsh onshore wind, but Meaker said the crew has a gritty determination and unshakable willpower to see the race through. 

“Days like today where it's pretty crap, everyone still turns up to come and do it,” Meaker said. 

“There is a mental toughness to it all.”

As sweep, Meaker said the task for him isn’t as much physical, but mental as he tries to keep up morale in the boat, particularly during the longer legs of the race. 

However, it’s a task he’s done for about 20 years and he’s looking forward to the challenge again. 

“I just enjoy being around the blokes, it's not hard to be at the back and keep them going - I find it fun.” 

Buff Britten is another stalwart of the Tathra club, with more than 10 George Bass races under his belt in a surfboating career spanning more than 20 years. 

Meanwhile, two newcomers to the team this year have only been in the game for little over six months. 

Both Jed Cutter and Jamie Meaker will rely heavily on the knowledge of their team-mates going into the event. 

The longest leg of the race is the run from Bermagui to Tathra, but it’s not hard to get the team pumped. 

“It's easier for me to get the boys primed on our home day, there is always something special about coming in to your own beach, that's for sure,” Meaker said. 

However, depending on the swell, the day could take three to four hours and rowers have been known to drop five kilograms in that time. 

One of the biggest developments over the history of the marathon has been the sport science and Meaker said the crew had stringent measures to make sure members weren’t dehydrated. 

“We are far more prepared than we were [20 years ago], it was nothing to finish a Bass and be just a shadow of yourself,” Meaker said. 

“But now, we weigh in at camp and make sure we’re back to weight each day.”

He said records from history still stood on some legs, but upgrades in technology and training had certainly brought teams to a more level playing field.

The George Bass nearly fell over when there was trouble forming a committee this year, but the branch has since rallied behind the marathon. 

“Hats off to the branch, president Tony Rettke and the team around him have stepped up to acknowledge that we need this event,” Meaker said. 

As a nod to the long-standing history of the race, the Tathra team’s support is owned and run by Bob Barker, who competed in the first ever event in 1975. 

The George Bass will run early in January.