WATER SPORTS
SPONSORED BY ROBERT HALF FINANCE & ACCOUNTING

Many months of planning had gone into the first ever BADCASS Watersports Evening, held at Middlemoor Waterpark in Somerset. Water skiing, wake boarding, jet skiing, donut rides and BBQ…all we needed was the weather! The week prior to the event saw temperatures of 30 degrees hitting the City of Bristol and then the day of the event and yes…typical, here comes the wind and rain!

However, just as the first cars start arriving at Middlemoor the wind drops, the skies clear and the water looks goods!

After everyone has signed their lives away on numerous disclaimers the first wake-boarders and water-skiers take to the water, with Dan Cason of Goldwyn’s pulling some slick moves.

After a stearn safety speech by the lake owner, we saw the first round of jet skiers out on the lake. These 120bhp beasts are not for the faint hearted!

A few rounds go to plan, lots of smiling faces exiting the lake. Then (due to my bad planning!) we see six guys out on the three skis. It’s pretty obvious really…six guys, a lake, a crowd watching and 360bhp is not a recipe for safety! Jim Norcott hits a bend at full throttle and the crowd watches on as Gary Creaby flies off the back and is sent skimming across the lake!

After a stern talking to by the owner (Steve), we see the final round of jet skiers. Contained within in this is the committee’s student rep. Ben Honeywood. Within 20sec, Ben has managed to clog then engine of the £8000 ski with reeds. After much cursing by the owner, Ben takes to the water again. Little more than a minute later we notice there are only two skis on the lake. The one and only Ben Honeywood managed to miss-time the bend (this is not good at speeds of up to 50mph!) and end up on the bank in the middle of a field! I’m just thankful no one was one the back with him!!!

After a prime BBQ, we all take to the water one last time for a ride on the 5-man donut. As the name suggests this is a large donut for 5 people towed behind Steve’s 320bhp speed boat. As we are running out of light Steve is kind…he gets the donut on to it’s side but doesn’t flip it over. Then we see Honey take to the donut. You could see the look on Steve’s face…pay back time for wrecking my jet ski! I’m just sorry I placed Becky Thorn and Gemma Gilbert on the donut with Honey. Then the inevitable happens…right in front of the crowd, Steve hits the bend, the donut hits the wake and all you can see is 5 bodies flying through the air!

We owe a big thank you to Robert Half Accounting and Finance for their generous sponsorship of the event.

I would also like to thank participants for their support and enthusiasm for making the event a huge success…I think it took a week to wipe the smile off my face! It was also really good to see a number of trainees from the smaller firms attending the evening.

click on photos to enlarge