And we’re off for Mackay Turf Club’s TAB Amateurs Race Day! Seven races and plenty of smiling faces on the track in Ooralea for the first premier race of the year – and the potential pay day.

The warmup day of racing set the tone for the rest of the year: it’s all about the thrill of live local racing, fashions on the field, glamour, good food and entertainment for the thousands who enjoyed the day.

Trackside: Race One was the AUSPEED TUNING Class 3, 1300 metres kicking off at 12:49pm on the main track. Turf conditions were good all-day round, although there had been heavy dews on the nights before.

First winner of the day was jockey Wanderson D’Avila riding Age of Innocence. Innocence was the clear winner for the first race, claiming a cool $9,450. Innocence was followed by Starhattan in second and Sabor in third.

Race Two was claimed by Machinate in the 1300 metres Wendelborn Family Maiden Handicap. Jockey Nathan Day pipped London Bell in second and Shaluna in third for $10,500 in prize money.

Conditions remained good for the 1100 metres Happy Birthday Danielle QTIS Three-Year-Old Maiden Handicap. Cacao, ridden again by Nathan Day, was the winner with a $10,500 prize over Super Vogue and Big Rocket.

Let’s Torque A Deel ridden by Ms Jade Doolan was Race Four’s 2600 metres winner for $9,450, cruising past Naomi and Potawatomi.

Race Five was claimed by Villa Villekulla – Wanderson D’Avila in the saddle once more – with a mammoth $16,000 prize claimed. Master Jamie in second and Planet Warrior in third, ridden by Nathan Day, were close behind.

The 1800 metre Race Six was, again, won by Nathan Day, this time riding Quality Asset and picking up the biggest win of the day: a $16,800 prize. Stars Don’t Rust and Akatino were nipping at the heels, but sadly could not capitalise.

The finale for the Turf Club’s Amateur event was Race Seven, won by the impressive Wanderson D’Avila on Kasinova Kid. Starsonic – ridden by Nathan Day – was close behind but was unable to make it his fourth win.

Quite a few New Zealand horses were featured throughout the race day, and Race Six even hosted Akatino – our third-place getter and a German raised mare.

Fashions on the Field was as popular as ever for attendees who frocked and suited up in their best Sunday dress, taking home prizes in the afternoon.

Next up on the calendar for the Turf Club is the mid-week race day on June 23, and the Mackay Cup is looming large on Saturday, July 23.

It was a massive weekend – both in attendance and prize money – for the Mackay Turf Club’s Amateur Race Day

Plenty of happy faces came out to enjoy the event, courtesy of TAB

Fashion on the Field was ever popular with some fine frocks and fancy hats out in force

Boys in their Sunday best made the most of the day

Volunteers and trainers were eager for the first big race-day of the season for the local club

Laughs a-plenty in the photo-booth at the Turf Club

‍

‍

Congratulations to 11-year-old Jett Howard who caught this impressive 85cm Giant Trevally out at Double Cone last weekend.

Have you landed a big catch lately? Send us your pics for a chance to get published. Simply include your name and age, the size and type of fish and where you caught it. If you want to share more from your story, feel free to tell us the full fishy tail!

On Thursday afternoon, fantastic numbers turned up for plenty of rallies in this week’s instalments of pickleball.

Lorraine and Yoko took on Kate and Bob, with other players whacking the paddle like Gerry, Gay, Sheridan, and Demi.

Saturday morning saw two courts of action packed pickleball, with the return of Sandy, Kaz and Megumi and Lorraine in a stunning set of ladies’ doubles.

This Thursday night after pickleball there will be a Sorrentos get together at 6pm for Murray and Gay, who are heading back to their home on the Gold Coast.

A thought to consider: sports depend on rules. Rules create an environment for fair play in competition, be it social or professional. This is the case in Pickleball as the sport continues to grow and evolve.

Come on don’t be shy, come on down and give Pickleball a good old Aussie go, 4pm Thursday Afternoon and 8am Saturday Morning.

Till next week Paddles Up!

Contributed with thanks to Jenny Kirkman

Frank and Rob playing Robyn and Murray

‍

Twilight Race: light winds were the order of the day last Wednesday for the Whitsunday Sailing Club twilight race on Pioneer Bay.  With a fleet of 15 boats competing in 3 divisions, all was set for a pleasant afternoon on the water.

The first start saw Bobby’s Girl (Mark Beale) leading the fleet away, with QMS Ponyo (John Galloway) and Twister (Kevin Fogarty) close behind.  By the time they reached the first rounding mark, Reignition (Charles Wallis) and Smooth Criminal (Leo Rodriguez / Iyas Shaheen) had joined the race at the front.  As Bobby’s Girl increased her lead, QMS Ponyo and Smooth Criminal jostled for position, with Smooth Criminal just in front by the time they reached the finish.  On corrected time, Bobby’s Girl took the honours from Smooth Criminal and Twister.

Division 3 saw the fleet well-spaced after the start, with Wobbly Boot (Craig Piccinelli) and Shiraz (John Cable) battling it out at the front. Further back, it was great to see Lighthorse (Dianne Forster) under spinnaker, a first for them in a race.  While Masquerade (Tom Vujasinovic) had a lonely race in third place, not so for Rossgo and Lighthorse, who kept each other honest throughout.

Ultimately Wobbly Boot took the honours on the water from Shiraz, while the results were reversed on corrected time, with Shiraz taking the win over Wobbly boot and Masquerade.

Races start from 4:30pm each Wednesday afternoon, so those wishing to participate as crew need to be at the club by 3:00pm.

Off Beach racing: another Sunday afternoon, another day on the water for the Whitsunday Sailing Club off beach fleet.  With 3 races scheduled, it was light going with an easterly breeze of less than 8 knots, providing challenging conditions for the fleet.

Joshua King made it a clean sweep in his Laser 4.7, beating Jesse Frisch in a Laser radial in all 3 races.  In the multihulls, it was close racing throughout, with honours equal on the water, but on corrected time, Michael Van Der Zwaard, sailing a Taipan, held the honours in two of the three races.

Off beach racing is held each Sunday afternoon from 1:00pm, with all classes welcome. The club has a range of boats available for those who do not have a boat.

Contributed with thanks to Ross Chisholm

Bobby’s Girl leading Smooth Criminal and QMS Ponyo

Lighthorse under Spinnaker

‍

The Cannonvale Cannons sent 12 swimmers to Pioneer Short Course Carnival in Mackay, as well as four swimmers competing at the Cooktown Development Carnival and two swimmers participating in an ocean swim in Townsville.

Pioneer results:  Don Algie swam 4 personal bests and achieved fantastic results in his 50-metre events.

Eloise Chegwidden and Jax Clayworth won their Breaststroke, Freestyle and Backstroke events, while Zane Clayworth and Evie Doherty swam extremely well, achieving personal bests and earning three 3rd place finishes.  

One of Harris Delac’s best swim was his 50-metre Butterfly which he swam in 1.22.87 (3rd place). Tora Delac swam super times in her 100-metre IM and 100-metre Freestyle and was very pleased to have qualified for Qld SC.  

Charlie Doherty, Celeste Orenshaw and Isaac Pisaniello swam three personal bests and were very excited with their medals.

Isabella Pisaniello, 11, was not phased that she was in the most competitive age group of the carnival.  She swam four personal bests with her fastest the 100-metre IM, a 1.52.44 and 9.84sec personal best.

Lukas Trevaskis, 12, had a very successful carnival, swimming five personal bests and earning four medals, with his best the 50-metre and 1000-metre Breaststrokes.  

Cooktown results:  Congratulations to Taj Murray, Lani Ogilvie, Daniel and Nate Saunders on their outstanding swims.

TOWSA Club to Club Swim in Townsville:  Jacob and Tiana Bell swam extremely well in the 2-kilometre Strand Swim and were placed in the top three for their 14–16 age group.  

Contributed with thanks to Raylene Rasmussen

Cannons at Pioneer June 2022

‍

This week Tennis Whitsunday celebrated French Open Tennis Whitsunday Style with tournaments across their squads.

Tuesday Early Evening Squad winners Karl and William, with Wednesday 4pm Squad winners Jaxson and Jacob. Thursday Junior Tournament Squad was won by Lucas and Hayden and a close second Lacey, and Wednesday 5pm Squad winners Jack and Josh.

All winners received a prize direct from Roland Garros.

In other news Fit, Fun tennis the upbeat cardio workout on a tennis court was a blinder, Kirsty and Lucy were a hard act to follow. Well done girls!!

A special mention of the youngsters who took part in the Proserpine JDS: Karl and Lacey were winners of their divisions while Hayden, Lucas, Lachlan and Sophie had extremely close matches.

Tuesday and Thursday night social tennis and Saturday morning and afternoon social tennis hosted some players to keep an eye on: David, Val, Tan and Sienna in the evening, Yoko and Robin Saturday morning and Norm and Lynton Saturday afternoon.

Contributed with thanks to Jenny Kirkman

Winners Karl and William with Tuesday Squad

Jaxson and Jacob with the Wednesday

Lucas and Hayden with the Thursday Squad

‍

For the second week in a row the Proserpine Pirates were the only undefeated team on the night in round four of the all-new Friday Nights Under Lights basketball competition.

In the first match of the evening, the Airlie Beach Ballers went up against the Cannonvale Crocs. With each passing week it is becoming evident just how much these players are improving and this was clearly on shown in this game.

Scores were very close until half time however the Crocs ran away with it, 27-16 in the second half.

The next match saw the Crocs back up to face the in-form Pirates. This was a good old-fashioned thriller, with both teams taking turns to lead. Ultimately the Pirates had a little too much heave ho, taking the win 24-21.

The final match for round four pitted the Pirates up against the Ballers. One might enquire what they are putting in the water in Proserpine as these Pirates just seem to be getting better every week. This match ended in a resounding victory for the Proserpineans, 26-10

Amazingly, after 4 rounds of Friday Nights Under Lights, all three teams are sitting on four wins and four losses.

The Pirates lead the table on for and against, followed by the Crocs and the Ballers. With two weeks to go it’s all to play for with the winning team taking home the Friday Nights Under Lights shield, generously manufactured by Bomitali Woodcraft.

“Our community needs more activities for children and families to enjoy and Friday Nights Under Lights certainly ticks these boxes!” Shane Bomitali from Bomitali Woodcraft said.

This is the inaugural term of the Friday Nights Under Lights concept, brought to the community by Whitsunday Basketball.

Games are held at Cannonvale State School on Friday evenings from 5pm and are for children aged 8 to 16 years.

Contributed with thanks to Tim Oberg

‍

Round 10 is just past the halfway mark of this year’s Premier League season, and with a three week break on the horizon, all players would love nothing more than to with a victory on Sunday at Mika.

The first matches were all 7/1 victories for Dom Friend, Joe Wilson, and Jamie Woods, over Nathan O’Hara, Garry Robbie and Alan Green respectfully.

In the second set of matches, Joe Wilson defeated Lorraine Woods 7/2, Kameron Reason and Gary Robbie played out a 6 all draw, and Dom Friend secured his 2nd win of the day with a 7/0 victory over Ross Gallichan.

The last group of games saw Jamie Maher lose his 100 per cent record, going down 7/4 to Andy Peel.

Andy came from three nil down in that game with an impressive comeback. Jamie Woods continues to impress with a 7/1 win over Nathan O’Hara. And Dom Friend made it 3 from 3 on the day by beating Gary Robbie by 7 legs to 1.

The Premier League is proudly sponsored by Mika Airlie and Whitsunday Tattooing Airlie Beach.

Contributed with thanks to Jamie Maher

Kameron Reason playing out a draw on Sunday at Mika

‍

‍

Airlie Bowl’s week started with Ladies Pennants teams Division 1 travelling to Sarina, skippered by Betty Nicole, Ladda Purdie, and Margo Stanley.

The triple of teams won 71-51.

Division 4 ladies’ teams played at West Tigers in Mackay in a 40 all draw.

Tuesday afternoon social bowls welcomed Jess and Thomas Rimene and Natalie Corlette and Benny Daniel.

Steve Cunningham’s team of John Brown, Bill Gordon and Col Morris pipped them at the post for the prize money.

Wednesday afternoon Social bowls saw 26 bowlers compete for the first prize, with Merve Stewart guiding his team to a great win.

Wednesday night’s Business House Bowls saw Gold A beat Tuk Tuks, and PRD beat Woolies Allsorts team by one point.

Aaron DeBrincatt’s team of Kitties giving Hadlow Racing’s team their first defeat, whilst the team of Health Hub won their first game 9-6.

The weekend was the last two games for our Division 1, 4, 5, and 6 teams with Division 6 going down to Sarina 50-40.

Steve Lawrie led his team to a 25-23 win assisted by Dave Micklejohn, Bob Fenney, and Merve Stewart.

Division 5 played Seaforth at home with Noel Crosbie’s team of club favourite Andy McDougall, Graham Cowling, and Ted Cullen winning 32-9 and 47-32 overall.

Sunday, they traveled to Mackay club and Tony Whitehorn’s team won 17-14 but lost overall 41-33.

They May still win their division with one postponed game to be played by Mackay teams.

Division 4 in a closely contested team effort just going down 41-37 with a 1 point rink result .

Division 1 travelled to Southern Suburbs who lead the competition by a large margin. Airlie left with one rink winning and two narrowly losing, which showed the squad next season have the capability to reverse sweep the competition.

Sunday the Proserpine team faced Manny Isgro’s side in a nail biting 64-61 victory, who now possibly finish in second place.

Contributed with thanks to Mark Mawson

John Fielding, Warren Mills, Peter Barratt, Andrew Butler Mark Mawson, Russell Jackson, Manny Isgro, Rod Tucker, Harry Quod, Shane Spann, Bob McMahon, and Luke Kinnear

‍

Sunday: E Dunn, George, W Reddec played B Beel, I Wheeler, P Warren. D Retchless, C Reddit, K Armstrong played P Breakwell, K Coad, L Knight.

T Blair, J Haysony, B Beel, played S Shearing, R Stitt, F Duncan. T Bowen, P Nesbett played B Myers, D Medelry.

Double lead B Russo, M Nesbit, M Wilson played J Breakwell, K Russo, J Stamp.

Monday: B Sims, P McAlpine, D Madeleine played R Payton, K Armstrong, B Dykstra.

S Brunker, G Colquhoun, K Whitton played P Breakwell, J Breakwell, J Stamp. L Warner, G Wills, I Warner played L Danvers, L Knight, G Danvers. K Wallace, S Snow, C Frew played E Dunn, J Hearly, C Hearly. H Delaree, F Richards, P Richards played P Warren, I Wheeler, B Beel.

R Stitt, M Wilson, H Nation played J Haysom, M Drummond, A Rolfe. Double lead L White, T Roach, played Peter Wayne.

Tuesday: B Sims, J Hayston, M Wilson played M Coad, I Laird, M Drummond. R McAlpine, C Rettick, N Reddick, played D Retchless, H Reah, B Dykstra.

M Nesbett, P Warren played M Dridson, P Nesbitt. Double lead D Beel, B Parkey played D Madde.

P Robinson, J Haysom, R Brunker played B Russo, H Reid, L Smith.

Contributed with thanks to Pat Tracey

‍

Wednesday’s competition was a single stroke event for the June midweek monthly medals.

Ladies’ winner Judi Morris 67 nett, runner up Janice Bates 68 nett, while men’s winner on a countback Gregg Aplin 68 nett, runner up Peter Coad 68 nett.

Saturday’s competition was the ladies June Monthly medal.  

Winner Grace Nott 69 nett, runner up Leanne Swan 70 nett, with pin shots to Claire Garrod, Ruth Dunn, Viv Clark, and Paulette Barrett.  

Sunday was the men’s Monthly medal.

Winner on a countback Perry Layton 64 nett, runner up Brendan Wells 64 nett.

This weekend’s event is a single stableford event sponsored by Rekenen Accountants.  

Contributed with thanks to Grace Nott

‍

Proserpine Vets really turned on the weather to host Pioneer Valley Veterans for the first round of the Croker Shield for 2022.

A good field of 52 players competed, with the men's winner on the day Captain Ken Granger on 37 followed by PV's Dale Hoffman 36, with John Oates 34, Richard Treloar 32,  and John Roser 31.

The ladies’ winner was our own Lyn Muller 36 from Jenny Hounsell 35, Jacqui Wall 35, Tessa Aitken 32.

Nearest the pins went to Ken Granger on 2, Phil Luckett on 13 and Jim Bartolo on 16, Rehab Hull in the hole on 2 and Lyn Muller on 16 and 13.  

The overall points for the day went to Proserpine 272 and Pioneer Valley 238.  

Contributed with thanks to Paula McQuat

Lyn Muller and Ken Granger

‍

‍

Whitsunday Brahman’s were at home last weekend, facing off against the Moranbah Miners at Les Stagg Oval.

The Townsville Pirates kicked off the afternoon of rugby, having travelled from down the coast to take on the Whitsunday Brahmans Old Bulls.

The Over 35s master’s game was played in great spirits as excellent entertainment with player’s turning back the clock to show some skills from yesteryear, and men trying to do things they haven’t done in many years.

Reserve Grade were the first competitive fixture, and had a very strong side bolstered, believe it or not, by a heavy presence of the Brahman’s U20s team.

Halves pair of Ben Nosworthy and Lachie Wake steered the team around the park.

Brahmans found their groove and were in control after 12 minutes for the rest of the game.

Reserve Grade Coach Matt Court was happy with the whole team and especially to come away with the first win of the year.

“All we needed was a win to get the confidence up and we got that,” Court said.

“We finally played as a team for the full game and looked like a football side; we finally realised we can win and play football, so a big thanks to the 20s which stood up and made the win possible.

Reserve Grade Men’s win 38-18 against Miners.

The A Grade Brahmans took to the field for the final game, again with a few absentees from their full-strength side.

It was a bit of an ill-disciplined thirty minutes in the middle of the fixture that cost the Brahmans though.

A sin bin for Brahmans saw Miners capitalise, scoring a couple of tries either side of half time and giving them a six-point lead going into the final ten.

The home side managed to score a great try in the corner with a few minutes remaining, with a conversion nailed from the sideline to even it up.

But it wasn’t to be as Brahmans turned the ball over at kick-off and a few poor decisions led to Miners kicking a field goal after the buzzer.

A grade coach Ricky Bourke said there were a lot of positives to come out of the game.

“A lot of hard lessons learnt about winning tight games though. With only two games between us and first there is still plenty to play for this year in such a tight comp,” Bourke said.

A Grade game finished 26-27.

Brenton Waterhouse in the reserves up against the Miners

‍

Welcome to a fitness community with heart and soul located at a venue where you can reach your health goals at your own pace while training with others in a team environment.

Welcome to the new F45 Training Centre in Airlie Beach.

Owner Sonny Ivanovic said that making friends is easy at F45 because the foundation of this unique fitness club is centred around bringing people together.

“It’s all about the team – you start together, and you finish together – it’s as simple as that,” he said.

“No-one can fall behind and no-one gets rewarded if they lift more than the other person – it’s impossible to beat someone or be better than anyone else at F45.”

Members leave their mobile phones and headphones at the door so that they can be completely present and focus on the workout.

There are no mirrors, so everyone participates without concern for what they look like.

These two factors alone breed a new form of fitness which is all about community yet, behind the scenes, F45 is still completely backed by science.

Members can attend any one of seven 45-minute week-day sessions, or one of three on a Saturday, and experience a different work out each day.

A maximum of 36 people will take the class which is supervised by multiple trainers and supported by a pre-programmed screen-based work out to the backdrop of pumping music.

Each session has been specifically designed and programmed by the F45’s central athletics department to be fully balanced for the body, including building core strength.

The trainers then work with participants to ensure they move correctly and maximise the potential of every work out.

“Nowadays there is such a lack of accomplishment for people,” said Sonny.

“With F45 it is impossible to not feel proud of yourself – if you can get those little wins in your week then that’s a real positive for you – I just don’t think there’s enough of that”

Sonny has operated several F45 training studios and says he is looking forward to creating a new community in Airlie Beach having seen the benefits this type of fitness club can bring to a town.

“You have your home, you have your work - we want to be that third comfortable place in your life,” he said.

“I want people to feel at home, we know them, they know us – yes we do exercise but the ‘why’ is so much more than that.”

F45 Training Airlie Beach is hosting a soft launch this week to members, if you sign-up today you are welcome to join this exclusive event.

The official launch party with DJ and giveaways will take place on Saturday, June 25 and everyone is welcome to attend.

No-one can fall behind and no-one gets rewarded if they lift more than the other person at F45

‍

On a stunning Saturday morning, 80 people ran, jogged and walked the 5km oceanfront course. 17 were first timers in Airlie Beach and 10 recorded new Personal Bests. Well done to Kadon, Carly, Jodie, Aaron, Laura, Dean, Susanne, Libby, Braxton and Barbara. Byviana travelled from Sydney to complete her 25th parkrun in Airlie Beach.

After parkrun a large group caught up at Shingley Beach for a picnic to celebrate our community. Chris Harvey arranged a sausage sizzle and Ron McCall brought along delish baking.

The event was made possible by 17 wonderful volunteers: Nick Beecroft, Kara Olver (run director), Sylvie Martin, Margaret Coote, Aimee Sulzberger, Guy Thrupp, Greg Olver, Nathalie Blomme, Kirsty Daniels, Christopher Harvey, Calvin Murphy, Ronald McCall, Ashley Gerrard, Laura Oates, Ken Johnson, Lynne Oates, Amber (photographer).

Every Saturday Airlie Beach parkrun meets at 6:50am for a briefing at area D, Coral Sea Marina (adjacent to the top carpark). Parking is free in the lower carpark till 9:30am if a parkrun barcode is placed on the dashboard. Post parkrun coffee and chat is held at My Rainbow Bakery, Shingley Beach.

There are no winners at parkrun and nobody comes last – the Tail walkers do. Regular participation is rewarded rather than performance, with ‘parkrun milestone shirts’ available to people to recognise their achievements in coming along.

Contributed with thanks to Airlie Beach parkrun

Dogs are welcome on a short lead

The team of wonderful volunteers

‍

‍