The Sydney Uni Waterski and Wakeboard Club has been around in various forms for longer than many would realise. Its origins can be traced back as far the 1960s, although it really began to flourish in the 90's with the efforts of Sydney Uni students such as Jo Robertson. The club's boat at this time was a centre-mount Gilflite, and the orientation of the club was predominantly 3-event biased (slalom, trick and jump). This was because the club was fortunate enough to be based at a venue where the facilities for 3-event were available, and other variations such as wakeboarding were still a few years away.
As the club grew in strength and members, we developed a close relationship with Malibu boats, and consequently
we were equipped with the latest and greatest, starting with a Response, which at the time offered the best wake
for the rapidly growing sport of wakeboarding. As time went by, wakeboarding began to take over and the subsequent
boats became more and more dedicated. Our next boat was one of the first Wakesetter's in the country, and was often used at many of the inter-varsity
competitions. By this stage, our club boasted many members who competed at state, national and international levels.
The latest boat is the crowning achievement of the club, with a lot of hard work from its dedicated committee members
a sponsorship arrangement was struck with Vodafone, who were the main sponsors of the Gravity Games held in Perth.
The official towboat for the Games was Supra, so in conjunction with Supra and Vodafone, we acquired the latest Supra Launch 22SSV.
This was, and still is, one of the best wakeboarding towboats around.
Unfortunately however, the club has been through some tough times over the past couple of years since acquiring this fantastic boat. VSU (Voluntary Student Unionism) was introduced in July 2006, and resulted in Uni students not having to pay compulsory student union fees. This in turn affected the Sydney Uni Sports Union (Sydney Uni Sport & Fitness) which helps fund and run all the sporting clubs associated with the university. There was much uncertainty as to how much funding clubs would receive and whether or not our small club would get swallowed up. Fortunately, SUSF has fought a hard battle for all clubs and we have managed to pull through relatively unaffected.
The club was then hit with another massive blow. NSW Maritime introduced new legislation which classified the club and its boat as a commercial vessel, requiring it to adhere to strict survey requirements. It was up to little university clubs and other non-profit organisations to fight for their own survival. Many thanks go to Giles (our current club president) who attended numerous meetings with SUSF officials, lawyers and NSW Maritime officials. All hope look lost as NSW Maritime did not want anything to do with us and blatantly knocked back all suggestions. Finally, with the support of many other clubs and individuals alike we managed to persuade the Minister for Ports and Waterways to extend the exemption on non-profit organisations with a few slight changes to the rules, allowing our club to continue after all!\\
This latest ruling only happened last winter (September 2007) of last year, so we are starting to rebuild and are looking forward to better years to come. Last season (07/08) we were still running under the initial exemption, but from July 2008 that has expired. Over the winter members of the committee have been working hard to ensure the club, boat drivers and equipment all meet the new standard so we are ready and raring to go once the warmer weather greets us in Spring 2008.
So for the opportunity to ride with some of the best equipment, riders and coaches around for the cheapest rates anywhere (Wakeboard Schools cost over 5x as much for a casual ride) and come join us on the water! Even if you have never ridden before its a great way to meet a bunch of cool people and have loads of fun.