A blustery day met almost 300 junior and senior competitors at the weekend, as six of the regions Surf Life Saving Clubs fought it out on Port Douglas' Four Mile beach.

Four Mile came alive with competitors and spectators from as far south as Etty Bay, up to Port Douglas. The Carnival stretched 500 metres down the beach from the front of the Surf Club, with room for all age divisions.

With windy conditions producing a challenging swell, those with competent surf skills were at an advantage and it took sheer determination from our youngest competitors simply to negotiate the break. Most of the board events were completed with what most would consider "Big Wednesday" in Port Douglas.

Boasting almost half of the competitors in the carnival, Cairns club reigned supreme on 1966 points. Ellis finished in second with 1284 points and Port was third with 732 points.

Port Douglas Surf Life Saving Club competitors now have less than three weeks to prepare for the Ellis Beach carnival to be held on the 21st/22nd September.

Please send your event photos to editor@thenewsport.com.au and we will add them to the gallery.

Results

Special Mentions

• Finn Devine-Cameron: Winner of the elite U15 male category
• Sofia Cullen: Age champion for the U8 girls

Masters

• Nikki Innes, Col Cameron, John Goodman and Brian Markham were all winners in their respective age groups.
• Lynn Butterss placed in third place overall behind Kelly McNamara, who finished in second place with winning performances in craft events.
• Michael Bolt won the swim, ski and Ironman events and placed third in his age group.
• Steve Pollard (60+) made a dramatic exit severely injuring his calf muscle in the first sprint event of the carnival.
• New clubbie Steve Pollard (40+) finished fourth overall in his category in his first carnival while Grant Knight was third.
• Ed Lukin shared second in the 45+ age group just one point behind Cameron.

Under 8s

• Competing alongside Under 8 female champion Cullen, Reef Ward earned several points with fourth in three events and fifth in another.
• Jasper Maunder just missed out on first place due to a slippery flag
• Georgie Rockley was sixth in her sprint race.
• Jacob Pederson, Sam Hackett, Taylor West and Zara Soltwedel were outstanding additions to the Under 8 relay teams.

Under 9s

• Jonte Revell faced stiff opposition just missing out on age champion having finished first in flags, second in the sprint and wade races, third in the surf race and fifth in the board race.
• Hunta Langley finished third in the board race as well as earning points in the flags event and in the sprint.
• Jesse Smith was consistent finishing fourth in three events.
• Mercedes Ramsey continued her rise up the ranks with third place in the board race, and points in both beach events.
• Corey Bickford was sixth in his first attempt at flags and narrowly missed out on points in other individual events.
• Poppy Maunder and Phoebe Brown were both sensational contributing to the club's tally in team events.

Under 10s 

• Sophie Knight continued her fine form finishing first in the wade, second in the surf race and sixth in the board race.
• Oliver Lukin was similarly admirable, finishing first in flags and in points position in three other events.
• Kade Bickford was terrific at his first carnival, finishing first in sprints and second in flag.
• Harper Woods was fifth in the wade.
• Zane Innes-Collins joined forces with Lukin, Woods and Knight to win the wade relay
• Yolanda Passlow and Lucas Pollard teamed up for more points in the beach relay.
• Ethan Pedemay was Port's best on beach in the Under 11 age group, finishing first in flags and third in the sprint.
• Darci Maunder and Kai Smith also fared well, with Maunder finishing fourth in flags and fifth on the board. Smith was fourth in his board race and was joined by Liam Sands and Harrison OGorman-Petrack to finish well in relay events.

Under 12s

• The intrepid trio of Derek Sorensen, Jai Hackett and Ryan Stanaway was a division highlight. Sorenesen was especially unlucky not to be age champion having won all water events, including the gruelling ironman. Hackett and Stanaway fought head to head  in their events with Hackett claiming fist and second on the beach and sixth in the surf race while Stanaway was third in both beach events and sixth in both the board race and ironman event.

Under 13s

• Mitchell Knight secured gold position for the third time this season in the surf race and third in the board.
• Che Innes-Collins continued to rise up the ranks with superb results including third in the ironman, fourth in the board race and sixth in the swim.
• Finn Stanaway had his best moment on the beach finishing second in the sprint while Kalani Revell finished second in flags.
• Neisha Elkins in her first ever carnival put in what was probably the best effort of the day to complete the ironman event and also finished sixth in the sprint. 
• Josh Lukin and Toniesha Phillips helped secure second place in the cameron relay
• Mia Devine-Cameron assisted Knight, Lukin and Phillips to third in the beach relay
• Moses Hannet Wade, Sam Pollard and Raine Ward were awesome in team events adding to the club's tally. 

Under 14s

• Sophie OGorman-Petrack and Harry Goodman, still in contention for North Qld Branch junior team places, fared well securing points in all their individual events.

Under 15

• Mia Devine-Cameron, Simon Kramer, Eliza Markham, Sabrina Uhlmann and Hugo Walker were standouts.
• For the first time this season, Devine-Cameron finished first in the prestigious ironmen event.
• Markham took out gold position in the board race and accumulated more points in the surf race and ironwoman.
• Kramer contributed admirably in point position in four events while Uhlmann was sensational finishing third in flags.
• Walker, in his first ever carnival, assisted Devine-Cameron, Markham and Kramer to further points in team events.

Open category

• Irene Cats was impressive in the water, finishing strongly in the open surf and the board race.
  

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Congratulations to all the competitors for attending, and a ‘Big Wednesday’ thank you to the many volunteers that made this spectacular event possible. Good show, Port Douglas!

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