Gizie & John's Summer in Europe?
Budapest - Hungary’s 1^st Barefoot Competition
The Meridian Challenge July 15-16, 2006

Budapest is the capital of Hungary and is relatively a small country in Europe in area but not in population. Having said that, the sport of barefoot water skiing is only new and very much in its infancy. There are less than twenty people who barefoot water ski and a Barefoot Water Ski Club has not been established. So how is it, that Budapest is able to host a European tournament? Diana (Dió) Dörflinger was the main driver and organiser. Her father was one of Hungary’s first ever water skiers and barefooter. She has been skiing for many years and spent six months in Australia with Gizie and I in 2001 learning new tricks and skied in her first competition. To host a barefoot tournament in Budapest where her father once taught her to ski has been a dream of hers and now it has become a reality.

Friday 14 July, after a good night sleep recovering from the road trip, we head to the site to start setting up for the tournament. Hilmar was already on site and the road gang made a start to putting in the jump and course buoys. The Danube River was flowing at 5kph which made it very difficult to set the jump and course. After six hours we finally managed to set up the course but the jump was moving around with the flow of the water and created turbulence in front of the jump, in the ‘danger zone’.

As the day proceeded officials and skiers started to arrive. Echard (Ecky) Bencina from Germany was Chief Judge, Chico Cohen from Belgium was the Homologator with drivers from France and Italy. Judges included Andy Harris, Gerti, Rob Molencamp and Bob Gregory, as Scorer. The list of skiers was equally as impressive, which included: Patrick Wehner (FRA), Evert Aartsen (FIN), Mamo Colosio (ITL), Massimo Mastelli (ITL), Zane deVilliers (SAF), Emily and Dan Goldie (GBR), Svenja Hempelmann (GER), just to name a few. The junior ranks were filled with skiers from Belgium, France, Austria, Italy and Netherlands. In total there were 21 skiers entered.

At the start of the tournament on Saturday morning the skiers were challenged by the flow of the Danube River. Slalom was the first event, towed by the Charger with a 200 hp Suzuki 4 stroke motor. The boat wash and speed were not an issue. Patrick puts a 15.2 on the board which was the best slalom score of the first round. He was followed by Massimo from Italy with 14.1. Unfortunately, conditions were not conducing to reach personal best levels.

The event was stopped to be restarted later due to river traffic. The organisers together with the Hungarian Water Police finally managed to close the river and keep the public boat traffic at bay. The Chief Judge, Ecky was able to complete two rounds of slalom and one round of ticks on the Saturday. The skiers struggled a little throughout the tournament with boat speeds due to the flow of the river. You had to add or subtract 4 km from your usual speed to compensate for the current.

Dan Goldie Toe up Start	It's SUPERMAN. No, it's Chico doing a Flying Tumble-up Tower start
Patrick Wehner (FRA) Line Step in Trick Pass	Patrick Wehner finishes Line step

During the day music and commentary was provided from a local DJ, working together with World Champion, Gizella (Gizie) Halasz. Gizie was able to explain the tournament format, describe what was happening on the water and chat about other aspects of the sport to the Hungarian public who came to watch. Many had not seen barefoot water skiing before and Gizie was able to explain it all in their own language, Hungarian. Having a couple of plasma TV screens on site enabled spectators to get a, behind the boat, view.

On the Saturday night the parents of one of the local skier’s, Peter, made a traditional Hungarian Beef Goulash to feed 50 people, cooked in a huge gas cooker on site. Dinner was dished up at the official host Hotel Noe, with some delightful bottles of white and red wines, not to mention many beers and the odd shot or two. It is not unusual for skiers and officials to become very social on the Saturday night of a tournament and party. As fate would have it, it was Andy Harris’ birthday. Knowing how much he doesn’t like to make a fuss of his birthday a surprise birthday cake was organised and a wonderful rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ was performed. The cake proved to be the perfect sweet to complete our Hungarian meal.

John Price taste testing the Beef Goulash		Pre-Dinner Drinks
The cheeks are starting to get rosie		Skiers and Officials
Andy's Birthday Cake		Birthday Boy Andy Harris

As the night went on more Hungarian ski enthusiasts arrived to liven up the party atmosphere. So more shots were served and the crowd got louder. The mention of a visit to the night clubs starts a core group of 15 negotiating car rides to ‘the island’. There is an island along the Danube River between the tournament site and Budapest itself which only has restaurants and night clubs on it. During the day there is a cable water ski park operating and other recreational events are planned through the summer months.

The club we went to had a swimming pool and a spa in the middle, so you can imagine what might happen in the later hours. Luckily or unfortunately, not all of us were their late enough to see what happens. Some skiers did stay into the early hours of the morning and were entertained by the late night activities.

Sunday was another 33 degree day with a slight breeze, yet good water conditions but the current was still running fast. The skiers agreed to cancel the jump event due to the continuing curtain of turbulent water in front of the jump created by the current. A safety decision had to be made. So round two of the trick event was the only remaining event which then completed the tournament.

This gave everyone a chance to pack up and chill out until the final results were posted for the presentation. Unfortunately, some had to leave for their flights home. A Yamaha Motorcycle Team was on site to give a demonstration and the timing was perfect. They put on a very impressive show defying the laws of gravity. Our birthday boy, Andy Harris also got to double up and experienced the ride of his life.

Sadly our European skiing adventure had come to an end. Gizie and I enjoyed catching up with all our European barefoot friends and meeting many more. We’ll be taking home a big bag filled with great memories. Thanks to Dió, Imme, Peter and Les for organising the tournament and working so hard to make it a success, together with their other countrymen. It was great to see so many European skiers make the effort to travel to Budapest for the tournament and their support had been very much appreciated. Perhaps next season there will be another competition in Hungary (but this time on a lake).  

The Italian Connection	Emily Goldie and Svenja Hemplemann
Svenja Hemplemann from Germany	Stefan Wimmer and Lukas Heis
Stagi Ettore from Italy takes Gold in Mens 2	Peter's Dad cooking up a storm
Chico, Timo, Timo's Mum, George, Gizie and John enoying an afternoon drink	A well earned lunch, John, Geoffroy, Zane, Lukas, Svenja, and Peter

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