HE WON a prestigious water skiing race, where he skied over a 15-metre long whale and also became a minor American internet sensation.
You might say it was a good day for the Hawkesbury’s Kevin Vahtrik on July 18.
Vahtrik was in America last weekend to race at the 67th Catalina Water Ski Race for the first time in his career.
The race starts at Long Beach, California, with boats towing water skiers to Santa Catalina Island, off the Californian Coast, and back again.
During the race, and unbeknown to Vahtrik, a whale surfaced just ahead of the boat he was racing in.
A helicopter, which was following Vahtrik spotted the whale and a photographer onboard started snapping pictures, and captured the whale passing underneath the boat and Vahtrik as he skied behind it.
Vahtrik said he had no idea the whale was there.
‘‘The guys in the boat saw it and they were just hoping it didn’t pop up again until we went past it,’’ he said.
‘‘I didn’t know it was there. I saw a lot of shark fins out there, there is lots of marine life out there, you wouldn’ want to be hanging around out there that’s for sure.
‘‘I became a bit of a celebrity over there because of it.’’
American media got hold of the pictures, and two days later when news of a shark attacking Mick Fanning off the coast of South Africa emerged, it turned Vahtrik into a minor celebrity.
Vahtrik won the expert men class, despite a setback which cost him five minutes in the race.
‘‘I did it in an hour but we had a few engine problems at the start which cost us five minutes,’’ he said.
‘‘One of the engines wouldn’t fire up at the start and we got left behind for a bit.
‘‘All in all I lost a bit of time, but once we got into a rhythym we started overtaking boats along the way and kept going quicker. You have to be mindful though because if you go too quick you get spat off into the waves.’’
Vahtrik skied behind the boat driven by American duo Dave Tully and Stan Leder, while Australian Simon McMah was Vahtrik’s observer.
Vahtrik said the race was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in the world for water ski racing.
‘‘It is a pretty sought after race to win from anyone all over the world,’’ he said.
‘‘When you come over the finish line, you get pulled into the boat and you just sit there and wait and see how other boats went.
‘‘All of a sudden a boat came over with a chequered flag and said you’d won.’’
Vahtrik said after the win, his crew celebrated in true American style.
‘‘We celebrated for a few days up in Las Vegas,’’ he said.
‘‘This is basically ticking it off the bucket list. I’d never done it before.
‘‘I was happy to finish in the top three in my class, happy not to fall off basically.’’
Two other Hawkesbury residents entered the race and did well too.
Jake Tegart won the open men’s class and Ellen Jones came second in the open women’s class.
