SURF BOATS
Northern suburbs foes Bulli and Austinmer are among the favourites in tomorrow's national surf boat selection event at North Wollongong.
Twenty-three of the best crews in Australia will line up in the open men's section, while Corrimal, Helensburgh-Stanwell Park and Austinmer will contest the 16-crew open women's.
The selection trial features four rounds of racing and crews earn points based on placings. The winning crews will represent Australia in next month's international showdown with the Kiwis in New Zealand.
Austinmer and Bulli usually rank among the nation's top crews and will surely like their chances at a beach they know well.
Opposing sweeps Paul Jones (Bulli) and Jack Patison (Austinmer) are highly experienced and have had their respective crews in great form throughout the season.
"It's a race distance of 800 metres out and back through the surf to the beach, so it should be fast and furious with extremely tight finishes," event spokesman Darren Saffin said.
"With good size surf predicted this weekend and sunny weather, thrills and spills are expected."
Racing begins at 8am and finals are scheduled for 1.30pm.