The heavy rain played havoc on Thursday but the sun shone brightly on Australia's premier surf boat event on Friday.
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Bulli Beach is hosting the ASRL Open, which officially wraps up on Sunday afternoon.
Australia's premier surf boat event has attracted more than 3000 competitors, supporters and event officials to beaches in Illawarra's northern suburbs.
With over 350 surf boat crews from almost 100 clubs attending, it is the biggest stand-alone surf boat racing event in Australia, with divisions of surf boat racing being contested ranging from Under 19s through to Masters.
The event incorporates the Surf Life Saving Australia Surf Boat Interstate Championships.
Bulli Surf Life Saving Club president Jamie Caldwell said unfortunately the decision was made to cancel the Masters event on Thursday due to the heavy rain which hit the region.
"Here specifically our ground level of the surf club got flooded. We also had flooding around the surf club as well. All the event infrastructure was washed away but we managed to save and recover it," he said.
"The heavy rain just threw the event completely off.....the response that was required to save the boats and save the infrastructure, along with how long the rain went on, unfortunately didn't leave any time for a revised program so the Masters were cancelled.
"Significant discussions were held in the background last night between the Australian Surf Rowers League (ASRL), Bulli SLSC and the event committee to determine what is going to happen over the next few days.
"The decision was made to keep the event here.
"We've got a really good bank on the northern end of Bulli Beach and we are using the southern end of Sharkies Beach also.
"We've had to split around the headlands but it has meant we could still host the event here. It is a good outcome all around.
"For us it is pretty prestigious to have an event of this calibre and this size. It's great for us and the Illawarra in general."
This view was shared by Wollongong City Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery.
"We're excited to host the Australian Surf Rowers League open in February - it's an event that suits our DNA as an active community that makes the most of the great outdoors and our stunning beaches.
"In practical terms, it is also great to have 1400 competitors from around the nation descending on Wollongong to stimulate our visitor economy, as they experience the restaurants, small bars, attractions and national beauty of our region."
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
