Four Peninsula crews are within seven points of each other and while some might be happy to trot out the niceties about respect for the others and hope that as many as possible local crews will finish in the top 10, beneath lies rivalry that is as much apart of the sport as ‘budgie smugglers’ and surf caps.

The Oz Wide Loans Manly crew stand on eighth spot with 45 points, too far behind runaway leaders Skilled Avoca. Just three points behind in 9th are Raine & Horne Balgowlah South Curl Curl, followed by Big Fish Group Whale Beach on 40 (11th) and Reilly & Sons Food Services Bungan Beach  (14th) on 38.

Points are allocated according to finishing position of the 25 crews – with the first finisher gaining 25 points down to the last who gets one.

Manly’s second stroke Ben Dawes says his crew are preparing well for a final assault and want a top four finish, which would retain their lead as the leading northern beaches crew.

“We’ve started to hit our straps over the last two rounds and hopefully we’ll peak in this final event,” Dawes said.

“The last two weeks we’ve thrown another rowing session in just to get those starts and buoy turns down to perfection, because in this series these skills, and the finish and run up the beach, can make a huge difference.”   

The experienced Dawes concedes a healthy rivalry exists with South Curl Curl and admits they are a good competitive crew who have improved throughout the series.

Having suffered the ignominy of an early exit in the opening two rounds, South Curl Curl finished fourth and went to within three points adrift of Manly after round three.

Stroke Rob Lowery insists the mood within the crew is positive and they would naturally like to finish as the top peninsula crew.

“We don’t have any injuries, the crew’s clicked and the training’s right, and the boat’s good, so no reason not to be confident,” Lowery said.

“In our minds we feel like we are the better performing northern beaches crew so we’d like to be the top one for sure.

“We’ve been doing a ‘stepped’ training program which is designed to peak on Saturday, so if we’ve done it right we should be going really well.”

Lowery sees Bungan Beach as the local crew to watch. They are the dark horses among the local crews with speed to burn.

“The goal is to win the final round and I think we will,” says Bungan sweep Matt Collins.

Another local crew with momentum on their side are Whale Beach, who sit one spot outside the top 10 following a much-improved performance in round three.

Second bowman Brett Babicci admits the chance to finish ahead of local rivals is motivating.

“We want to get up as high as possible and smash the northern beaches crews from Manly up, because they’re all good competition and it’s only going to help us for the rest of the season,” Babicci said.

After a campaign in which anything that can go wrong has, Skilled Avalon find themselves languishing among the ‘cellar dwellers’ (22nd of 25 crews), but sweep Rick Millar is hopeful of a big final effort from his crew, and believes “if there’s a wave on we’ll create havoc.”

POINTS after Round Three:

MEN –
Skilled Avoca Beach (NSW)                                                     74
e-Go Pacific Palms (NSW)                                                       67
Starrett Austinmer (NSW)                                                     67
Stockland Currumbin (QLD)                                                  65
Multiplex / Pure Blonde Nth Cottesloe (WA)                        55
Flying Herons Red Beach (NZ)                                               50.5
Surf Club Mooloolaba (QLD)                                                   47
Oz Wide Loans Manly (NSW)                                                 42
Ken's Plumbing Bundaberg (QLD)                                          41
Big Fish Group Whale Beach (NSW)                                       40
Pelican Waters Northcliffe (QLD)                                         39
Acrylite Coatings Kurrawa (QLD)                                          39
Reilly & Son Food Service Bungan Beach (NSW)                    38
Lowrance Rainbow Bay L (QLD)                                            38
The Orical Rainbow Bay O (QLD)                                           36
PKF Elouera (NSW)                                                                 33
National Building Group Woolamai (VIC)                                28
Universal Resort Living & Banana Boat Bronte W (NSW)     24
Slattery Half Moon Bay (VIC)                                                 21.5
Bluearth Fairhaven (VIC)                                                       19.5
Skilled Avalon Beach (NSW)                                                     19
Red Steer Hotel Motel (NSW)                                                  19
Hogs Breath Rainbow Bay H (QLD)                                         16.5
Universal Resort Living & Banana Boat Bronte P (NSW)       11