The seven-day, seven-leg 190-kilometre George Bass Surfboat marathon was decided by a matter of seconds on Saturday.
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Despite a remarkable row and leg win on the final day the Moruya Vikings open men’s crew lost by a single point to the Bulli crew, who went back-to-back as champions.
Vikings’ sweep Gavin Hunt said coming so close to the overall win was a tough one to take after a competitive week.
“Full credit to the Bulli guys, they were too good during the course of the week and thoroughly deserved their win,” Hunt said.
“To get a couple of leg wins (day three and seven) and to come so close to overall victory was a great result.”
It was a three-way battle between Bulli, Coogee and Moruya in the open division and Hunt believed Bulli had an edge in larger surf.
“It was a pretty rough week and Bulli slightly handled the southerly conditions better than the rest of us,” he said.
“All three of us were slightly quicker than each other in different types of conditions.”
While the crew came away unscathed from a few “dicey” moments, its boat may need a few repairs before its next race after the hull was cracked as it passed Haycock point.
“We were the first boat through there and we have a fairly significant crack on the bottom of the boat to show our troubles,” Hunt said.
Hunt praised their support crews both on and off land.
“We were really fortunate to have a fantastic powerboat driver and crewman all week,” he said.