Compared with last year, this year’s Iron Cockatoo Race on 17 June 2023 had pristine weather. It was a chilly Winter’s morning, but the sun was out and the wind was light so it made for some fast course race times.
This time around, the race was Race 3 of the 2023 PaddleNSW Harbour Racing Series. Situated on Wangal land and located in the far west of the Sydney Harbour National Park, the course takes in 4 of Sydney’s working islands: Snapper, Spectacle, Cockatoo and Rodd, all of which played a significant cultural and historical part of Sydney’s early development.
The host club, Pacific Dragons, were at Salton Reserve early to set up the race course and site, directing paddlers where to park and set up their craft. Thanks to paddlers for turning up on time which meant the event could be run as smoothly as possible. The race briefing and all waves started exactly on time.
Congratulations to everyone who competed. Of the 104 entries, there were a few no-shows, however a strong field nonetheless. Only one incident out on the field where a paddler lost his rudder but made it back to the start line, all other starters returned safely.
Long Course: 55 craft including 7 U18s and 2 double skis with adult/juniors racing and the overall fastest time taken out by Cade Barnes in 1:08:02.5
Short Course: 31 craft or which 45% were female and including 4 juniors and 1 SUP and the overall fastest time taken by Viliam Mako 39:03.5
Iron Cup results on WebScorer: 2023 Harbour Racing #3 – Iron Cup | Race results | Webscorer
Harbour Racing Series Point Score on WebScorer: 2023 PaddleNSW Harbour Racing Series Point Score | Series results | Webscorer
Race photos available on Flickr – thanks to PaddleNSW: 2023-06 Harbour #3 – Iron Cup | Flickr
A special thank you to Pacific Dragons’ volunteers who helped to make the day possible and such a great success: The set up and pack down crews, the parking and the on-water safety crews, registration and finish teams plus of course the BBQ and Raffle teams.
Thanks also to PaddleNSW and all entrants who came along and supported this race.
Looking forward to seeing you all on the water for Race 4, Hacking Classic Saturday 29 July hosted by Cronulla Sutherland Kayak Club. Enter now via WebScorer: 2023 Harbour Racing #4 – Hacking Classic | Event registration | Webscorer