the young clubbie killed at the aust titles on the goldy

[mustkillmulloway]

seems be a mixture of reactions going on

some calling for the charging of the organizers with man slaughter :?

others saying let it go ...notable that would be gold coast councilors most likely trying limit there own liability

other iron men are coming out and publicly saying they will never race again

so, wats everyone think

my 2 c....they should moved the event early on for safety, but think they stuck with it cause they craved the publicity the footage and photos of guys getting pounded would bring

i don't think the organisers should necessarily face criminal charges

but i do think the only right thing they can do morally is resign from the organisation

it was there call....and they just killed a kid....plus a heap other clubbies got injured

why :?

[bc]

Getting rid of surf boats and skis from anywhere with waves might be a nice start.
Has anyone NOT been close to injury from one of these things bearing down on you in the lineup?

[tiger]

Agreed. Archaic, non functional surfcraft that should have been abolished years ago.

[matt...]

i can't comment on the conditions because i only saw snippets in the news/pay tv, etc.
i suppose you guys further up the coast would have more relevant comments on this.
i just couldn't gauge the severity of the swell/conditions from down here.
it is tragic that a young man has lost his life.

[dUg]

All competitors in events that involve craft must wear helmets. Actually... make them wear helmets for the March Past too. Flourescent pink. God knows it couldn't look more ridiculous...

[matt...]

clubbie events in big seas always remind me of a bit of footage, i think it was from a bruce brown movie, where a wooden clubbie boat catches a HUGE wave at the bower, everyone bails & the boat is smashed to splinters.
bravado or idiocy?

[alakaboo]

Agreed. Archaic, non functional surfcraft that should have been abolished years ago.

+1!

[oldman]

It would seem the young bloke was hit by his own surf ski.

Only saw one piece of footage on the news, which showed a fellow competitor, who was in front of him, getting smashed by a wave and his ski was turned and was heading towards the young blokes head, who was powering into the wave to try and get over it. The TV reported that the other fellow's craft collected him, but they stopped the footage well prior to impact saying that it was too gruesome ( - TV news being a bit responsible about what they put on the screens at 6.30 at night - what next )

It's an anomaly these days, the old clubbie events. There is inherent danger in waves of any size, but if there are no waves it really is no more than an ocean swim meet, oh, plus a march past. OMG - define anachronism.

But if they don't go out in waves, they are a bit of a laughing stock.

Considering the fact that swings and monkey bars in council parks are considered a threat to humanity these days, I do wonder how they are allowed to continue.

[munch]

I'm with dino on this, who is the politician responsible for this, they should be sacked forthwith.

Having got that off my chest, I wonder what the reaction would be if someone died at the eddie ?
I think it'd be more about they died doing what they loved and it was only them who put themselves out there.
But I suppose at the eddie they are riding the right craft for the conditions and aren't riding the wrong craft, like the the clubbie was.

The footage I saw from the event was of ruff seas @ 6ft with boats running over each other, sweeps diving for their lives ... utter stupidity if you have [nearly] been run over by them in the past ... funny otherwise i suppose

[Spoon]

They should of looked at the option of moving to Bilinga/North Kirra where there is plenty of sand to fit them all and calmer seas. It just isn't the right part of the coast with no real gloss there at all. Kurrawa has the Broadbeach shops and clubs set up behind for the 11,000 competitors to spend money there, disregard the fact that it is a open windswept beach full of sweeps and rips, especially at this time of year.

[Buff_Brad]

Boats and skis are as dangerous as P-Platers after 10 drinks.

If the Association was serious about saving lives.....it should be a Jet Ski comp.

ie the vehicles they used to look for the drowning kid.

[lessormore]

Ok so far we've got to blame.

Surf life saving Australia
The Council
The Spectators
other competitors
Surf boats
Surf Skis
Manufacturers of both craft ( charges of genocide at least)
The Ocean/God
Jews

Now if we can some how tie it in to government subsidised roof insulation we should be able to wrap this sucker up by lunch time.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Peter Garret collapsed after bodysurfing at Maroubra a few years ago!
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Gar ... 57410.html

[Nick Carroll]

Look you guys, I'm gonna speak from a different perspective on this. I competed at Kurrawa in the masters a coupla days before Saxon died, similar conditions, in one race against his Dad Phil, and the u-15 Newport kids whom I coach are in the same swim squad as Saxon was. (Their part of the comp was moved that day to north Kirra btw.)

What happened was just a tragic accident; nobody was to blame. The conditions were complex but not over the top in any particular way, and certainly well within the grasp of the competitors. Open ironmen and women at Australian championship level are phenomenally skilled at handling surfcraft such as skis and racing boards, far better at it than most surfers are at handling normal surfboards, but even so, things can occasionally go wrong. Saxon suffered a fate we've witnessed in surfing numerous times in the past 20 years or so, notably at Pipe (recall Malik Joyeaux?) but also at other locations; he was knocked unconscious, breathed in water while in that state, and subsequently sank well beneath the surface, where he couldn't be spotted by anyone. Lots of whitewater and water movement kept him concealed from assistance -- looking for him would have been needle in a haystack stuff. Once they did find him, they gave it everything resusc-wise but by then the kid was beyond miracles.

I'd urge you not to make judgements based on what you've read in the newspapers about the incident, particularly the Murdoch press within the first two days following Saxon's death. Their attempts to incite blame and infer "police investigations" etc, at the same time as turning sales on front page sob stories, were fcuken reprehensible. If they'd done some solid research instead of seizing on the first chance to inflame the story, they'd have ...well, they wouldn't have had a beat-up opportunity. The swell wasn't anything to do with TC Ului for a start -- it was a generalised sea state caused by long fetch easterly groundswell, a distal fetch off TC Tomas near Fiji, and a fair bit of SE windswell chop. Yet no, this was "savage cyclone surf".

In a week you'll all have forgotten about this, well Saxon's family won't have, neither will my Newport u-15s. Like a lot of the superkids surf racers on the northern beaches, they'll be dealing with it for some time. Some of them might even read this thread. So think about what you write here.

[Nick Carroll]

Considering the fact that swings and monkey bars in council parks are considered a threat to humanity these days, I do wonder how they are allowed to continue.

A bit more perspective for you oldman.

The Australian SLS championships are the biggest sporting event in the nation every year. This year 8100 competitors were entered, most of them in water events of some kind or other. The Austs are preceded by State and regional champs which include several thousand more competitors between them. Dozens more surf carnivals occur each year just in NSW; when you include the whole country, they might number over 100. (That's just open carnivals, doesn't include Nippers, masters etc etc.) In all those competitive numbers and hours, in all ranges and manners of surf conditions, there have now been two deaths in 15 years.

In the same period, numerous surfers in Australia have died or been severely injured while surfing, including several by shark attack, several by heart attack, stroke or other medical complication, and a couple via more or less exactly the same path as Saxon Bird. It would be a freezing day in Hell before you (or I) would suggest banning surfing though, hey.

[Nick Carroll]

And a last point for everyone to mull over. Most of the young clubbies involved in those Aust champs, including a lot of Saxon's clubmates, really love to go surfing and a lot of 'em are pretty good at it -- chicks too. As I mentioned -- some may even read this thread.

The barriers here are a lot thinner and fuzzier than many seem to think.

[oldman]

I understand you are close to this Nick. You may be reading some of the responses here wrong. Not sure what meaning you have ascribed to mine.

For the record, I'm happy for well trained athletes to go out and take on the surf in those and worse conditions. I would be very surprised, in fact a little disgusted, if they weren't supremely fitter than me, and certainly more capable with their various surf-craft. I would even hope that they were better at assessing the risks than I am, but that is less likely. Risk assessment is a particular hobby of mine.

I would also like to see schools and councils reinstall swings and monkey bars in playgrounds.

Go on, call me a madman, but I think risk aversion just leads to boring people leading boring lives. My comment was an ironic aside, not a call for banning clubbies events, (with the exception perhaps for those damned medieval boat races)

Perhaps I should attend Dino's school of straight shooting with a bent barrel. You know what, I have interpreted Dino's comments saying 'blame everyone', as sarcasm, and that really he doesn't want to see the hand-wringing blame and fear merchants coming out of the woodwork.

But perhaps I have misinterpreted Dino, and he is a card carrying John Howard loving conservative misfit with tourette's syndrome.

It was a freak accident. That is all.

Condolences to family and friends.

[Nick Carroll]

^^^ Just making the point that this isn't an anomaly at all, nor is it anachronistic, nor even particularly risky -- that many thousands of Australians do stuff like this for fun and in a competitive setting, the same way many thousands of us surf...and that indeed the two seemingly separate activities are closely linked.

[3 prong]

thanks Nick....as i've tried in vain to explain to the people at work it's a tragic accident(bad luck).No different to a rugby scrum/tackle gone wrong.
The mindset seems to be due to the litigious nature of our community that blame has to be apportioned to a person or controlling body.
Like no doubt numerous others on this site i've been hit by my own and other boards/reefs and once a kite surfer in 30+ years of surfing YET i've been "lucky"enough to have come out ok everytime.
Anyone who knows the skillset these athletes need to attain to compete at this level would never question their ability in the surf.Kelly Slater seems happy enough to have Trevor Hendy as a tow partner.
As an ex clubbie(Queenscliff) and now nipper parent my thoughts go out to Saxon's family and friends.