The third leg of the race began at Coila Beach, with 13 surf skis and 25 surf boats on the water.

The course took the crews around Potato Point and Dalmeny before pulling into the beach near Narooma Surf Club, a 22 kilometre trek.

The crews were greeted by fantastic rowing conditions, with the only negative a slight south-easterly wind.

That didn’t stop the boats from flying down the coast, however, as the winning time of one hour, 46 minutes, and 45 seconds was more than 15 minutes faster than day two’s 18-kilometre leg.

Narooma’s Masters Men’s sweep Brendan Constable said day three’s leg was important to his crew.

“Hopefully it gives those boys a little extra to come home as quick as we can,” he said. 

“It’s probably one of the most important legs to us, and I think it’ll spur them on a bit.”

Bulli’s Open Men’s crew won on all three days, and had a solid lead in the competition heading into day four.

Crew member Adam Barlow admitted day three’s leg was the toughest so far.

“Today was the big test,” he said yesterday. “We burnt a lot of energy yesterday (Monday).”

“We figured this would be the day that everyone would come out and have a crack at us.

“It took us a little while to shake them, and Long Reef just kept coming at us all day.”

North Cronulla’s Open Women’s crew copied the feats of Bulli, taking home their third successive leg win in a time of 1:53:09.

North Cronulla also entered a Men’s Masters crew in the competition, and spokesperson Steve Swane says the mix helped their preparation.

“We’ve got a good group of blokes and girls who have been training well together,” he said.

“Our men finished fourth today which was a bit of a bummer, but it was one of those off days.

“We’d like a big downhill skid tomorrow; we’d love a big north-easter to come in.”

Pambula’s crews have faced a unique challenge this year, with their sweep  Wayne ‘Superman’ Kent suffering a heart attack after day one.

Crew member Andrew Holt said his crew were fighting hard in spite of the setback.

“Super had trained up one of the new rowers to be a stroke, and I told him he’d be really proud of the way he rowed today,” he said.

“We’ve kept his thongs in the boat, and we’re not going to take them out.

“The whole group will be happy to see some of the people down home. They’re pretty keen to get back down on our turf.”

Barlow believes the key to the rest of the competition is tactics.

“There’s a temptation to keep your best four going and really thrash them, but you can fall apart at the back end,” he said.

Swane echoed these sentiments, and said recovery was also key.

“Whoever can recover the best will do the best tomorrow,” he said.

“Even when you get out of the boat to get in the support boat to recover, you’ve still got to do it right.”