History wouldn’t repeat in 2017 after they claimed a Country Championship gold medal at South West Rocks ahead of Minnie Waters from Wooli on Saturday.

Boat captain Tony Kee was thrilled with the performance of the crew who row regularly in the open men’s division in the North Coast Surfboat Series.

“Because the North Coast Surfboat Series is an ongoing competition, there’s no doubt the country championships are the highlight,” he said.

“The boys went one better this year and any time you can bring home some bling is always a good effort especially when it is a country title.”

Kee said the under-23 crew was made up of the same rowers who fell agonisingly short last year.

“Last year we focused more on our technique, but this year they were building up their training and it’s shown.

“It was good to see them improve on last year’s performance.”

Wauchope-Bonny Hills also claimed a silver medal in the reserve grade men’s division against some high-quality opposition.

“It was a really tough competition because the top three crews were Yamba and Mollymook,” Kee said.

“Yamba usually compete in the Queensland competition and Mollymook usually compete in Sydney. We don’t usually race against crews like them so it was a great effort.”

To cap off a successful day for the club, the master’s women surprised everyone and won a silver medal as well.

“The girls snuck into the final and got better and better as the day went on,” Kee said.

“They finished fourth, then third and then second throughout the day.”

Kee was thrilled at the performance of the girls after current Australian champions Woolgoolga took out the gold medal.

“There’s nothing wrong with coming second to them,” he said.

Kee said the under-23 men put together a beach relay team on the day and finished with a silver medal to go with their gold.