While a full carnival of the North Coast Surfboat Series couldn’t be completed due to the weather, Wauchope-Bonny Hills Surf Club Open finished third in the Open men’s, first in the Reserve men's and fourth in the Master’s women.

And the day was long enough for Port Macquarie Surf Club.

Their Masters men’s crew finished with a first place – something boat captain Rick Rolff said they were already “dining out on.”

“That’s because they’re saying they’re the only crew to win a race on Flynns Beach; so they’ll be talking about that for a few months yet I’d suggest,” he said.

“We also got a second and a third in the master’s women.”

Rolff said around 35 crews competed in round eight, although it was mother nature who had the last laugh with the carnival being cut short due to an electrical storm.

It came 12 months after a different set of circumstances prevented a full round being completed at Rainbow Beach.

On that occasion, the weather whipped up huge seas which were deemed unsafe to compete in.

Rolff said it was great to see surf boats on the beach again and was hopeful they wouldn’t have to wait as long to host the next one.

“Everything was going well until the storm came through. We waited about half an hour and then got back in the race and completed another one.

“Then there was still lightning around so the patrol captain cancelled the carnival for safety reasons. But it was a really nice atmosphere and the club seems to be alive again,” he said.

The next round is scheduled for South West Rocks along with the NSW country titles on the first weekend in February.