LAKE Eppalock was in the fast lane this weekend as the scene of some full speed boat action.
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Adrenalin junkies turned out to watch the annual Eppalock Gold Cup at Derinnal presented by the Victorian Speed Boat Club with boats reaching speeds of up to 160mph.
Organiser Greg Holland says since the drought years which saw the event put on hold for 11 years, speed boat racing has been quiet in the Bendigo area but this weekend’s event certainly turned the volume up.
“We were badly affected by the drought but we got back on the water as soon as it was at 80 per cent,” he said.
“Now we have a new lease of life and the club has never looked better.
“We keep it communal and get the kids involved. You can’t do anything without your family.
“The kids can race as soon as they turn 12 in a 15 horsepower boat.
“I have been coming for 35 years, I raced years and years ago and all of my boys have done.
“It is a great event. We get thousands coming over the two days.”
It is certainly a family day with lots of the teams bringing the generations together.
Accountant Natasha Heffernan was on the shore waiting for her father Tom Heffernan to finish his race so she could to get in the boat herself.
“I couldn’t let my dad have all the fun so a few years back I bought myself a boat and I raced in it for about seven years,” she said.
Meanwhile Defending Gold Cup champion and current world champion Grant Harrison, who has teamed up with his dad Keith, was making ready to defend his title.
“Anything can happen,” he said.
“You have to start and you have finish.
“I like the camaraderie and the adrenalin of competing.
“Although I hate having to work in the garden in winter when you are wearing three jumpers and it’s raining but it is all worth it, at least so far.
“I have had three fairly major accidents, one major one when I was in a coma for four days and I had drowned and broke my neck. I am a miracle boy really. But I had about 18 months off and then I came back to it.
“I enjoy it and it is in the family.”