1978 Margaret River Rowing Regatta

In the 70s the Margaret River Rowing Club held Rowing Regattas on the Margaret River near Wallcliffe House.

Margaret River locals and visiting SW surfers met on the bank of the river to compete in the Regatta’s rowing boat and surfboard paddle races and enjoy a drink or two.

Margaret surfer Adrian Wilson attended the regattas in the 70s and provided his recollections.

Adrian Wilson. “In the early Regattas big John Hohnen used to cruise around with a shotgun under his arm as a deterrent to bikies who used to turn up….there used to be a massive tug of war with a heavy duty rope…I can’t remember who was against who…was it held on Australia Day?

Back then one could drive down to the unrenovated Wallcliffe House…unfortunately the historic house built in 1865 is no longer with us after the Margaret River bush fire in 2011.

It was a classic day….. the paddle race was so popular the organisers were forced to impose board design rules to prevent unfair advantage. The first couple of regattas in 1976/77 Billy Gibson won the surfboard race with me second…Sam Sadleir’s run came a bit later. I have memories of trying to catch Billy Gibson…but just couldn’t bridge the gap. I saw Billy out at Huzzas today…his high speed paddle style hasn’t changed!

Billy was part of a hard core Scarborough surf crew…all great surfers…who used to frequent down south in the 70s…the Waller brothers (Mark and Paul), Shaun Atkinson, Kim Hewton just to mention a few.

Paul Waller was a handsome young chap…one particular night at the Margaret River tavern he was drinking a flaming shot….a bump on his shoulder resulted in a minor burn on his cheek….Paul was very worried about a scar. That night the car he was a passenger in, hit a cow on Wallcliffe Road….next time I saw Paul he had plaster on one arm and various bandages…I said that on the bright side, you couldn’t see the burn on his cheek.

Life at Margs in the 70s had much more of a pioneering carefree atmosphere. Life was much simpler then….only one food shop…Wesfarmers…and the tuckshop for apricot pies with cream….no mobile phones, internet or 24 hour news cycle.“

Classic Photos

Adrian Wilson. “This is a collection of Classic Ric Chan photos of the ‘78 event with many familiar faces… I reckon this was towards the end of the regattas at Wallcliffe House (don’t think the shotgun patrols were still going!)…..

Peter Davidson is sitting next to the beautiful Irena….

Typical in the background of Hog Hannett is a beautiful woman.

Great photo of Ric Chan in full flight……I don’t remember Tony Harbo doing the loudspeaker thing….don’t think he featured in the early ones…but I could be wrong!

Sam Sadlier was a grom when I surfed at Cottesloe…but it was obvious he had amazing talent and general athletic ability…..he went on to be a great surfer……I saw him a few years ago, now living in the south west, I think.

One surprising omission from these early photos are images of the Hocking brothers…Bruce and Ian and Col Ladhams. They were regulars at Margarets……Bruce the master of getting barrelled at the Margaret River mouth. Bruce Hocking was an amazing surfer…his backhand surfing at lefties was even by today’s standards outstanding. These guys used to stay with Rod White in his converted bus next to the speedway track in Margaret River. Col Ladhams used to shape at Len Dibben’s in North Freo until Greirson Surfboards started…….“

1978 Rowing Regatta Races

In 1978 Yallingup surfing legend Tony Harbison was MC and called the rowing & paddle races.

1978 MR Rowing Regatta Race1 Rowing collage_photocat — Top: Spectators watching rowing race from river bank.
Bottom: (Left) Race caller Tony Harbison with loud hailer. (Right) Spectators.

1978 Paddle Board races

Marg River’s Billy Gibson won the paddle board race 1976 & 77. Cottesloe surfer Sam Sadleir also won the paddle board race two years running later in the 70s.

Paddle Board Races competitor pics #1.

1978 MR Rowing Regatta race2 paddle Sam Sadleir collage_photocat — *(Left) Sam Sadleir preparing for paddle board race. (Right) Paddle Board race & support crew.*

Paddle Board Races competitor pics #2

Gary Greirson. “That’s me coming last in next pic.”

1978 MR Rowing Regatta race3 Paddle Gary Greirson collage_photocat — *(Left) Gary Greirson preparing for paddle board race. (Right) Gary competing in paddle race.*

1978 Rowing Regatta Social

There was a strong social aspect to the Rowing Regatta with families & friends participating.

Attendees competed and enjoyed a cold beer or sipped wine under the trees in the afternoon and then stayed on for Graham Noakes’ ‘Windspan Band’ which played at the Regatta Dance held afterwards in the Club House on the river Bank.

Peter ‘Reffo’ Felton (Yalls) recalls – “one year bikies tried to join the party but they were quickly dispersed by locals and visiting surfers.”

A fun time was had by all😊.