HURTLING down a river behind a speedboat at 140km/h requires nerves of steel, near- superhuman strength and sometimes even a stroke of good luck in order to stay upright.
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Just ask Kristy Nicholls, who has faced her fair share of physical and mental challenges since taking up ski racing with her family-based team in 2006.
But it would take more than the agony of fatiguing muscles or the fear of a high-speed crash to stop this confessed adrenaline junkie getting back in the boat – or strictly speaking, on the end of a tow rope – for more fast-paced competitions.
“I love it and I think everyone who is in the sport is addicted to it,” says the 34-year-old, who teaches maths at Girton Grammar in Bendigo when she’s not zipping along the water.
“I love the fact our whole family does it and we get to go away to so many different places together. The racing itself is a real adrenaline rush – I think it’s in my blood.”
Ski racing is a true family affair for the Nicholls clan.
Brothers Daniel and Craig have driven boats for their sister, while dad Russell acts as the team’s observer, keeping a careful eye on everything happening around them.
“My third brother Brody, who doesn’t race, still skis and comes along to events to watch us,” Kristy says. “And mum (Linda) still skis and is at every single race, often in charge of putting the boats in the water and all those other jobs we don’t really like to do, but have to.”
Over the years, Kristy and her family have won a range of prestigious races, mainly in the 5.2-litre inboard motor class in Daniel’s boat, Bad Influence.
Their best result was taking out the 2009 Australian title, but they’ve also been victorious in the Mildura 100, Berri 110, Robinvale 80, Victorian Point Score Series and Victorian and South Australian championships.
A serious accident two years ago cut short Craig’s skiing career, shattered the family and almost caused Kristy to lose her nerve, but they have all bounced back in the best way possible.
In June, with Craig behind the wheel of his own outboard-motor- powered vessel Electric Shock and her dad sitting in the observer’s seat, Kristy won the South Australian open senior women’s title on the river at Murray Bridge.
Of her brother’s crash, Kristy recalls: “It was no one’s fault. He was going about 160km/h and he got slack rope when the boat became airborne.
“When it landed, he was yanked over, his arm got caught in the rope and it pulled several nerves out of his spine. He lost a lot of movement in his right arm and has since had multiple surgeries.
“He’s getting better and better by the day now. When it first happened, it was devastating because he was in his prime, fit and healthy, and a really good skier.
“It was such a freak accident and it makes you think twice about everything you are doing out on the water. But he’s bought a boat and is driving it, doing an amazing job considering his injuries, and he has got a love for the sport again, which is great.”
Kristy has been involved in some rather spectacular crashes herself, if indeed an accident can be described as such.
“I remember saying one year if I ever have a big crash I want it to be right in front of the crowd so everyone can see how spectacular it is,” she says.
“That did happen one year at Berri. I cartwheeled for about 30m, but I was fine afterwards.
“I had a pretty major one behind Daniel’s boat in Mildura last year. I hit something in the water and came tumbling off – ended up concussed, with broken ribs and black eyes. Couldn’t finish that one!
“Sometimes you can have what looks like a major fall but you fall the right way and you’re fine and can just get up and go again, other times not so lucky. But really, any time you stack and don’t end up with a major injury you are lucky, especially at those speeds.”
Though she has been clocked skiing as fast as 150km/h, she says she feels much more comfortable going (only slightly) slower, at around the 130-140 mark.
Kristy learnt to ski as a four-year-old and barely remembers her early attempts.
“Mum and dad also started around that time because my uncle had bought a boat and they’d take it out to Cairn Curran and have a bit of fun,” she says.
“Being four and having no fear, I was keen to try. A few years later, my parents bought their first boat and we’ve had one ever since. We often go out social skiing as a family.
“I got into racing through Craig, who started the year before me. We’d always gone to ski races to watch, but never knew how to get involved.
“When Craig was 18, he decided to give it a shot, bought all the gear and just started attending lake races asking random people to tow him. That’s how you do it.
“My older brother Daniel had a race boat sitting in his shed and it motivated him to get his boat ready to race. He had it ready for the 2006 season and that’s when I started ski racing.”
The Nicholls team enjoys taking part in both river and lake ski races.
The former is a long-distance point-to-point event usually involving teams of four (driver, observer and two skiers together) that start in 30-second intervals, with the fastest across the finish line declared the winner.
The race name often indicates its length, as in the 80km “Southern 80” from Torrumbarry to Echuca, or the 100km “Mildura 100” from Mildura to the Wicketts Sandbar and back.
Lake races involve single skiers doing laps around a course with boats starting in a grid formation from pole position back. The race ends when the first boat completes the pre-determined number of laps.
Competitors can be classified according to the engine capacity of their boat and whether it has an inboard or outboard motor, as well as on age and gender.
Kristy has spent most of her career in the 5.2-litre inboard class, but Craig’s 300hp boat sses her placed in the MOC (modified open cockpit) or unlimited outboard sections.
“We won a race in Grafton last year in the unlimited social class,” Kristy says. “That name is actually a bit deceiving because it means you are skiing on a shorter ski with a shorter rope. That makes everything harder because you are closer to the boat, so you cop a lot of spray and the ski is more flighty.
“I rarely enter the women’s races because I am usually skiing with a guy.”
Ski racing is a male dominated sport and Kristy estimates females make up only 20 per cent of entrants.
Though there are a few younger girls coming through the ranks, she is often the only woman in her age group and she ends up getting “thrown in with the boys”.
So what does it take to be a successful ski racer?
“You need to be fit,” says Kristy. “It places a lot of strain on your legs. You use a harness that takes a lot of pressure off your arms and shoulders. You still feel it, but it’s all about leg strength.
“You are constantly fighting against the pounding of the ski against the water and the rougher it gets, the more it takes out of your legs. Because some of the races are over 100km long, you have to be able to sustain a high speed.
“Some people say you must have no brain, but I say its more about having no fear. You need to be strong-willed because you are going so fast that if you stop and think about the consequences of falling at that speed, it could really put you off. You need to be able to stay focused.”
Despite the dangers, Kristy says every race she completes provides a new highlight.
“If you start with no flaws and go through the race as fast as you can and you finish, you feel on top of the world,” she explains.
“It’s a team sport and you don’t want to let anyone down, so if you get through a whole race without any hiccups you cross the finish line with a massive grin on your face.”
After seven years on the end of the tow rope, Kristy has just this year started to learn the role of the observer – and she says it has been an eye-opening experience.
“I didn’t realise how much weight is on their shoulders. I always thought they just sat there backwards making sure you are upright.
“But they really have to know the skier well and be able to tell when they are out of control and they have to constantly communicate with the driver about what is going on behind you, whether it’s about the skier or other boats around you.
“My dad probably has his hands full at times as an observer with his daughter skiing – I’ve had a few dicey moments and I think his heart rate has gone through the roof many times watching me. He might have to give it away one day.”
Kristy, however, has no immediate retirement plans.
“I am getting old,” she laughs. “A lot of people started much younger than me so it’s hard for me to keep up with them. Fitness is not a worry, my main concern is always the fear factor.
“I will keep skiing for as long as I can. My mum said she would set herself an age limit of 65, but now she’s getting closer to that she’s talking about pushing out to 70 or 80.
“I will definitely ski forever. Racing, however, I’m not sure, because it is hard on your body, especially the knees and lower back in the rough races.
“I guess I’ll keep going until my body tells me to stop.”