With nine boat crews competing in the surf, captain Mick Conomos said they should come out on top in a number of divisions.

“Crews from Queensland will be coming down and crews from Sydney will also be coming to compete,” Conomos said.

“It’s an annual carnival but the first three rounds are part of the North Coast Boat Series.

“We should go well as the U19 Men are in top form and they should put on a good show and the 160s and the Masters should go all right along with the A’s.”

The Kempsey-Crescent Head Surf Club has two new surf boats, both of which will be launched this weekend.

“The newest boat is named after a man who has given his time for many years at the club,” Conomos said.

“Its called the Maurie after lifetime member Maurie ‘Moz’ Fuller and the second boat is named after life member and chief fundraiser Ev Jacobs, which is named the Ev.

“It’s the first time we have had new boats in 30 years, which is really good. The Ev is second-hand but the Maurie is new. The new one is lighter and it’s slick so we’ll have no excuses with everything nice and tight.”

On Saturday week last, the Kempsey-Crescent Head crews competed at Cape Hawk Beach in Forster. 

“A two to three foot shore dump made it really tricky on the edge with almost every crew at some stage coming unstuck,” Conomos said.

“The winds turned from onshore to offshore which changed conditions in the middle of the day creating lots of roll-overs.

“The U19 Men had no-one to row against on Sunday but they handled the conditions well and stepped-up against the A’s and beat them once .

“The Wags ended up winning on Sunday and the Chooks were leading going into the final but they got hit by two big waves and ended up being kicked out on the beach at the start of the race.

“However, this didn’t stop us from cleaning-up on both days and we won the Club Championship.”