After 18 months with the sport suspended, the Special Purpose Investigation into Water Ski Racing has been completed and the finished report recommends sweeping changes that put at risk the 60-year history of the Southern 80.

Commissioned by Transport for NSW, the final 52-page report was released publicly on Thursday, making eight recommendations.

Crucially for the locally-held Southern 80 and Beehag 100 ski races is recommendation two, which suggests “Transport for NSW prohibit all water ski racing on river courses’’.

Should the recommendation be adopted the consequences for the Southern 80 and Beehag would be great, as both events are held on the Murray River each year.

The report supported this recommendation with the finding that river courses are “significantly overrepresented in water ski fatalities”, with 12 of the 13 fatalities occurring in NSW since 2004 taking place on river courses.

Southern 80 and Beehag 100 organiser Moama Water Sports Club president Steve Shipp was critical of the report and the way it was conducted.

“We need to look and say, ‘Well you can’t put kid gloves on everyone, can you?’ and we’re a bit disappointed in the report and the way it’s been done,” he said.

“I myself, or anyone from the club, have had no contact to discuss any of the fatalities at our race with the Maritime investigator.

“(The investigator’s) just gone off and made his own call looking at the coroner’s report, so it’s a very clouded report in that regard.”

Ski Racing Australia said upon the release of the report that the recommendations were “still to be discussed with the executive director NSW Maritime and the SRA board are awaiting confirmation of a meeting to discuss conditions of aquatic licences that will be applied for in NSW’’.

The report also recommends that all ski racing of more than 110km/h be prohibited by Transport for NSW.

Southern 80 skiers in the Superclass are currently capped at 120 miles per hour, or about 193km/h.

Transport for NSW has had a 110km/h limit in place for all towing since the sport was put on hiatus in June 2024.

Ski Racing Australia made lengthy submissions to the Special Purpose Investigators regarding the fatalities and injuries that have occurred in the sport and the planned future steps to improve safety.

The investigators were critical of many of the SRA’s present and future policies and plans, asserting that they would have minimal impact on injury prevention and mitigation.

“Maritime (NSW’s) got to take a stand back here and have a real look at this and go, ‘hang on, this isn’t what we wanted (the investigation) to really do,’’ Shipp said.

“SRA’s been trying to get a lot of information to them about where we go in the future, the changes we want to make, and there are going to be significant changes made to the sport to try and alleviate as much risk as possible.

“You’re never ever going to get rid of 100 per cent of risk.”

The 2026 Southern 80 was cancelled in December as clubs waited for the report’s release and the club is planning a boat show as a replacement event this year, like the one held in 2025.

More details on the boat show are expected later this week.

Find a link to the full 52-page report at https://tinyurl.com/4x5u3axb

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Thursday, 13th August 2026

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