The 2011 Goose Gosby Bodyboarding Memorial will be held on the 19th March. One of the best loved bodyboard competitions on the Australian East Coast.
There will be Grommet, Cadet, Junior, Men, Women and Drop-Knee divisions for all ages, with great trophies and prizes. All bodyboarding rides will be displayed at the Lighthouse Beach, Port Macquarie.
The Goose Gosby Bodyboarding Memorial celebrates the inspirational lives of David "Goose" Gosby and all those bodyboarders who are no longer with us in body, but certainly live on in spirit.
After a lifetime of struggling with a congenital heart condition and undergoing open heart surgery at the age of 12 (1983), David, for the first time ever, started to enjoy good health.
It wasn't until David had to have a pacemaker after his heart operation that he decided to trade his surfboard for a bodyboard because he felt it was safer for him.
Goose was one of the original members of the Hastings Body Boarding Club, founded in Port Macquarie, September 1987. On 19th September 1990, one Wednesday afternoon after school, David went surfing with a mate at Lighthouse Beach.
We’ll never know the real reason he drowned that day because he was a very competent bodyboarder.
Dave suffered much during his life and yet never complained of pain. His philosophy in his last two years was "No grog, no drugs, live life the best you can, for God, for country, for self".
Spectators are welcome and waves will certainly hit Port Macquarie. If you're interested in competing, contact Jim Rutherford.