The surfboats head into Narooma surf beach on Tuesday, January 2 and then depart for Bermagui the following day. Head down to support the local crew and catch all the action. Narooma Surf Life Saving Club is again entering it men’s veterans crew, which has won its division in the last two George Bass races.

Organisers said they were thrilled by the number of crews signing up to race the iconic event at the end of the month. “This year is shaping up to be one of the largest in the 42-year history of the event,” event director Andrew Edmunds said. 

Thirteen ski rowers and 25 separate surfboat crews will embark teams comprising up to eight rowers and a sweep each. The masters men is the strongest field of the lot with 11 crews representing areas spanning South Australia to Noosa in Queensland. There are also surf crews visiting from Victoria and even a masters women outfit travelling all the way from Darwin in the Northern Territory. 

Officials said the 190km course over seven days meant the George Bass was the longest and considered to be the toughest surfboat race in the world. A number of entrants would have been “gently persuaded by their ‘mates’ to enter”, but completing the George Bass was also a thing of dreams and included some of Australia’s best coastline.

It was Bega District News editor Curly Anabel who launched the surfboat race 42 years ago in 1975 and the Tathra surf crew still race in a boat named after him today. 

Each of the seven race legs will run from 9am daily, but organisers said each leg is a standing start offshore and beach launches are not part of the timed events. 

There is no denying the George Bass is a gruelling event, but entrants seem to be gluttons for punishment, with some rowers celebrating 20 or more years’ involvement over the summer. 

The fifth day of competition is the longest leg of the week with teams covering 35km from Horseshoe Bay in Bermagui south to Tathra and even the quickest boats are expected to take a little over three hours to finish.

The final leg of the competition is from the Pambula Surf Lifesaving Club into Eden – with rowers normally finishing in Twofold Bay and pulling out of the water at Snug Cove on Saturday, January 6. 

Spectators are more than welcome to visit the beaches and cheer on the teams as they launch each day and you can even track the boats online. Implemented in 2016, you will be able to follow the progress of each surf crew during the race legs online at www.georgebassmarathon.com.au/live-tracking.