North Coast Speedboat Classics recently returned to the Murray River for their 60th run as a group.
Photo by
Oliver Shedden
North Coast Speedboat Classics showed off their vintage vessels before taking them for a fun run on Sunday, March 22.
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The group met at Victoria Park in the morning for a display before cruising along the Murray River to Wills Bend for a lunchtime gathering.
Member-owned boats on display at Wills Bend.
Photo by
Oliver Shedden
Noel Palmer, Narelle and Jeff Reardon at Wills Bend.
Photo by
Oliver Shedden
Event organisers Jeff and Narelle Reardon said they’ve been organising runs for eight years, and the group has ballooned to about 6000 members in that time.
Mrs Reardon said members were based all over Australia, but their Facebook group had received international interest as well, particularly from the United States.
“We were getting a lot of Americans showing up (on Facebook) looking to come to this month’s run,” Mrs Reardon said.
Rod Hay with his Stiletto Swift Craft.
Photo by
Oliver Shedden
John Bowman and Warren Box at Wills Bend.
Photo by
Oliver Shedden
It all began after the Reardons moved from a farm to “suburbia”.
“We went to suburbia, and it was only about three weeks after we moved in, I said ‘Narelle, I’m going to go nuts here — there’s absolutely nothing to do’,” Mr Reardon said.
Their son suggested they purchase a boat to restore, which sparked Mr Reardon’s interest in the hobby.
After restoring a Stiletto, the Reardons tried to find a group for social rides but found most groups had regulations that were prohibitive, so they decided to start their own.
They said it was lovely to see their community continually growing.
Runs have been held around Echuca-Moama over the past few years to coincide with celebrations around the Southern 80, and this year’s event marked the group’s 60th run nationally.
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