THE Blue Lake city’s dynamic dinghy duo Anthony Tos and Nick Neave are set to hit the river in Renmark tonight for the opening round of the Riverland Dinghy Club 2020 Championship Series.
Marking the championship’s ruby anniversary, racers will compete tonight in the Dash 4 Cash ahead of Sunday’s main event, the Dinghy Derby.
Kicking off their second year of competing, Tos and Neave hope to capitalise on last year’s success after finishing second in their maiden event.
In line with their technique last year, the pair has done little to no preparation ahead of the event, only taking their boat to the course once – which ended in disaster.
“Not even 20 minutes in we clipped something and went straight into a decent log and caved the whole boat in,” Neave said.
“We took on a fair bit of water, but did not sink which is the main thing.
“I was lucky, I only hit the side of the boat, but Tossy got flicked out and went straight into the water.
“He came up looking like a drowned rat and was trying to get back into the boat pretty quick.”
Although they dubbed the accident as a “mood killer”, the duo took it in their stride.
“Nick’s new name is Tarzan because he bounces off trees,” Tos joked.
With the accident happening shortly before this weekend’s event, Neave said it was all stations go to get back in the game.
“We left practice early and went straight home to fix it,” he said.
“We cut the front off as soon as we got home home.
“The whole boat was about 55mm out of square so I had to ratchet strap it into my shed and pull it all back into square and then jig it up and weld all the new bits in.
“We painted it last Friday night and only got it re-stickered on Tuesday, so it’s been a bit busier than we hoped.”
Despite the shaky start, Tos said it was nothing new.
“We have had pretty much no practice, just like last year,” he said.
“When we did go up everyone was fast and getting in a heap of practice, but because the Riverland is five hours away and we have work commitments it’s just too hard for us.
“We have seen a couple of the guys practising and they are all going pretty fast so we just have to do one better.”
Tos and Neave will not be the only Mount Gambier contingent in the running for the top honours, with new comers Jesse Pfitzner and Brayden Steen also taking to the water in addition to former
Mount Gambier resident Ben Bruhn.
The Pfitzner name is well known in the dinghy circuit, with Tos and Neave not counting out the new pair as fierce competitors.
“We have been helping the boys out a bit where we can ahead of the race,” Neave said.
“It would be cool to have a top five with us, Jesse and Steeny and Benny.
“But if it comes close to the end and we are in second to them, we have let them know we are prepared to scratch the boat.
“The help stops there – they better get out of the way because we are enemies if we are behind them.”
