One of Australia's top surf boat sweeps believes protective helmets should become mandatory for all surf craft competitors in dangerous conditions.
Jack Patison has been a sweep at Austinmer Surf Life Saving Club for close to 20 years and guided open men's and veterans' crews to nine national titles.
He was chasing his 10th championship at last week's Australian titles on the Gold Coast before the tragic drowning of Sydney-based under 19 ironman Saxon Bird prompted officials to cancel the annual carnival's final two days of competition.
The championships had been the centre of controversy after they were given the go-ahead despite Cyclone Ului stirring up a brutal 3-4m swell.
"We don't feel ripped off," Patison said of his crew's reaction to missing the chance to win a gold medal.
"It's just a real empty feeling. It was pure silence on the beach when everyone heard what happened and everyone just feels hollow.
"It would've been good to come up and have a crack at it, but you keep things in perspective when something unfortunate like this happens. The bottom line is that all my crews are safe, and they can all go home and come back next year."
Bird was competing for Queenscliff on Friday when he got into difficulties in the rough conditions and was hit in the head by a ski.
He was believed to be unconscious in the water and had little chance of survival after disappearing for several minutes. He was eventually located and died in hospital on Friday afternoon.
On Saturday morning, organisers cancelled all water, craft and boat events in all age groups for the remainder of the championships. Beach sprinting, flags and relay events were run as normal, with Thirroul's Taylor Davies claiming a silver medal in the under 15 girls sprint.
Patison said his heart went out to Bird's family. He believes the state under 19 ironman champion's death could have been avoided if he had been wearing a safety helmet.
"I'm not scared of the surf at all, but I went and bought a helmet to show I'm not scared to wear one, because you can be stuck in the water with a broken arm or leg, but it's a lot different when something hits you in the head," the father of two said yesterday.
"That kid was a state champion so he could obviously look after himself in big surf, but no amount of swimming ability helps when you're knocked unconscious.
"We've competed in worse conditions and in bigger surf. Up here it's been more messy than big, and the currents are really powerful. They should've moved the whole carnival somewhere safer at the start, but they thought it was best to go ahead at Kurrawa.
"In future they should make everyone wear helmets when the conditions are like that. I'm not saying we should run to still water as soon as there's a wave, but we have to be smart with how we do it. Everyone knows helmets can save lives and the helmets we use are very light and they're designed to go in and under water.
"What happened up here might never happen again. The thing is we have to do something about it to make sure it doesn't."
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