Many thanks to all who attended the IRB weekend. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and had a great time in Barry. I would like to congratulate Saunton Sands on winning the overall title and also the guys from Mumbles on winning 3 of the 4 individual event trophies - but perhaps more importantly all the Crews who took part in the event for making the inaugural Welsh IRB Championships the great success it was. I was nice to see everyone smiling and enjoying themselves in the heat of competition but somehow also managing to achieve a happy chilled out atmosphere on the beach.
I would especially like to thank the guys from Hossegor, Kleve, and Friedberg for attending as we are aware that in the current economic climate travelling long distances is not the cheapest thing to do. Thank you for going that extra mile (or kilometre) to attend. We tried to save you as much money as we could by offering cheap entry fees, the odd free beer and the luxurious splendour of Barry Clubhouse to sleep in on Saturday night!
Also I thank Barry St John Lifeguard Club for the use of their building for 36 hours nonstop and the help they gave us with the organisation of the competition from its early days and the Vale of Glamorgan Council for the unrivalled help and support they have offered us since this event was first discussed in the early part of 2009. I have heard a rumour that we are in the Council Calendar again for 2010 so it looks like we will be back in Barry next year!
I would also like to thank everyone who ‘officiated’ at the weekend and also the European Rescue Boat Association for breaking down some of barriers that exist between different countries of Europe. Unless you are from Australia , Surf Life Saving is an extremely small community and the Rubber Boat part of Surf Life Saving is an even smaller minority group. By getting people together from different backgrounds and sharing ideas we can all hopefully learn off each other and improve our skills and knowledge. As I was told a long time ago a drowning man does not care what ‘badge’ the guy who rescues him is wearing.
For those off to Bournemouth or St Davids in the next few weeks enjoy yourselves and for the rest of you enjoy your winter and I look forward to meeting up again with you in 2010.
