2 October 2024

Ski Racing Australia have been notified that the Executive Director of NSW Maritime has ordered a Special Purpose Investigation into water ski racing safety in NSW.

The intention is that the Special Purpose Investigation will lead to safer outcomes for water ski racing with the investigation to be conducted pursuant to section 104 and section 107 of the Maritime Safety Act 1988.

NSW Maritime have identified that during the period 1st January 2006 – 30th June 2024 there have been 14 fatalities related to water ski racing.

They have appointed an external expert in biomechanics and ergonomics with their majority of work in safety and injury prevention and an experienced marine investigator to jointly conduct the investigation.

The terms of reference of the investigation to consider and report on are:

  1. The number and type of marine accidents arising from Water Ski Racing (including any accidents during training) that resulted in serious injuries and/or deaths over the period 01 January 2006 – 30 June 2024.
  2. Any trends identified, including but not limited to injury type, speed, waterway and course type.
  3. The race class in which the victims were participating,
  4. The adequacy of PPE, including that currently available and that which is reasonably likely to be available  within 5 years.
  5. The main causal factors involved in the identified marine accidents.
  6. Recommendations to reduce the number of fatalities in Water Ski Racing.

SRA will collaborate and cooperate accordingly to ensure the best outcomes for the sport.

The initial investigation phase will be 3 months and indications are that no Aquatic Licences will be issued during this period in NSW. We also understand that Maritime Authorities in other states are taking a “watching brief” over this NSW investigation. Therefore, there will be no racing prior to the end of the year at a minimum.

Your SRA Board is now going through a process of considering all options regarding memberships during this 6-month (30th June 2024 – 31st December 2024) period.

The enormous amount of work being conducted by SRA, as outlined in previous correspondence, will continue and will form a crucial part of returning to racing safely in concert with the NSW Maritime investigation recommendations.

Ski Racing Australia will continue to update members as we move through this next phase of returning to racing via regular communications.

Regards

SRA Board