There are few people who had a busier opening two rounds of the North Coast Surfboat Series than Steve Monaghan.
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One look at the race schedule will tell you there was little to no time between races for him to rest his weary muscles.
The Wauchope-Bonny Hills Surf Life Saving Club sweep had no more than a couple of minutes to finish one race before he had to dash to the start line and jump in the next boat.
He did that 30 times at Woolgoolga last weekend and the results spoke for themselves with the under-19 girls crew finishing the weekend at the top of the standings.
The club’s open men’s crew also finished in the top two by the end of the 10th race on Sunday and now the challenge for the girls is to stay on top.
Cape Hawke ladies masters crew also benefited from Monaghan’s expertise with a few podium finishes.
“We (the under-19 crew) smashed them both days which was really good to see; they rowed really well,” Monaghan said.
Of the 10 races they competed in, the girls won eight of them with both days following the same pattern.
“They lost the first race on Saturday morning and the first race on Sunday morning so you could say they were slow starters,” he said.
“We knew we would be in there amongst it.”
The result didn’t come as a surprise, but Monaghan admitted they did enter the unknown.
“Coming up against new crews we haven’t met before it’s always hard to tell how they would go, but they definitely put together some beautiful racing all weekend.”
In a division that saw under-19, under-23 and reserve women’s crews all compete against each other, Monaghan said their consistent effort was the key factor.
“It’s just about working as a team and controlling the aggression through the entire race and not just little spurts; it’s putting a whole race together,” he said.
“When there are opportunities you’ve got to make the most of them; when there are little runners and waves you’ve got to chase them down and they did all that well.”
While conditions were “fairly calm”, Saturday provided a slight challenge when the afternoon sea breeze kicked in.
“It got a bit rougher, but they got better as it got rougher,” Monaghan said.
“It wasn’t big by any means, but they’re starting to do a bit of surf work and their surf skills are quite good.”
The crew of Grace and Lucy Monaghan, Emma Eggins and Jesse Willis all played vital roles in their success.
“Everyone is expected to put in; you can tell when someone isn’t so it’s hard to pinpoint a dominant rower,” he said.
“It’s the ultimate team sport in that regard.
“They were very consistent and that’s what we were after.”