Jaws of strife for racers

Broadwater shark sighting puts wind up regatta sailing crew

A SHARK sighting in Broadwater on Wednesday afternoon, near Wave Break Island, has some of Australia’s best sailors rocking in their boats.

Olympic medallists Nathan Outteridge and Olivia Price were among the six SuperFoiler skippers who were inspecting the course for this weekend’s Gold Coast regatta, which starts today.

Outteridge, skipper of Euroflex, said the finned fish swam past their boat in the shallow water.

“It was just cruising under the surface, it was only a couple of metres,” Outteridge said.

“It was just hanging out towards the southern end of the racetrack, it won’t be the last one we see, I’m sure.

“It would definitely enjoy eating you, and hopefully we wouldn’t hit something like that, but there are definitely plenty of living creatures in the water here so we do have to keep our eyes open.

“Put it this way, I don’t want to fall off.”

But iDintranet skipper Paul

Campbell-James wasn’t convinced it was a shark.

“The boys said it was a shark, but I thought it was a crocodile,” the British sailor said. “But whatever it is, everything

in this country seems to be out to kill me.

“Nothing in England can kill you in the water, but everything in Australia seems to kill you. I’m certainly not going for

a swim anytime soon, but it won’t affect us racing.”

Price, an Olympic silver medallist at Rio de Janeiro and skipper of Kleenmaid, said their high-speed racing this weekend would be more dangerous than an unlikely shark attack.

“I did see the shark pop up, but I don’t think that’s going to be the biggest worry on that racecourse,” she laughed.

The third regatta of the SuperFoiler Grand Prix kicks off on the Gold Coast today.