The young man has been water-skiing in his hometown of Kellyville in Sydney since he was two.
Patrick and his team of (driver) Brandon Cropper and (observer) Danny Cropper drove the nearly 800km, eight-hour journey all the way to Echuca-Moama for one reason — to win the Tadpole class of Under 10 Boys in the Southern 80.
Mission accomplished.
Patrick, towed behind the Team 26 boat, won the class with a time of 10mins, 52.6secs — beating his competitors to the line by nearly 30 seconds.
And although that time isn’t a class record (set in 2008 by Michael Brooks, Steven Hammond and Jackson Hammond with 8mins, 20secs), he did beat the 2018 class winners by 20 seconds.
Results:
Boys top three:
1. Team 26: driver: Brandon Cropper, observer: Danny Cropper, skier: Patrick Valencour — 10mins, 52.6secs.
2. Meltdown F2: driver: Dylan Cuff, observer: Lloyd Woolman, skier: Jett Avard — 11mins, 21.18secs.
3. Stinga F2: driver: Darren Osmotherly, observer: Jonathon Cooper, skier: Bailey Cooper — 11mins, 23.74secs.
Girls top three:
1. Time n Money: driver: Nathan Walker, observer: Abbey Walker, skier: Jenna Walker — 15mins, 45.45secs.
2. Velocity Racing: driver: Timothy Everist, observer: Malinda Sheehan, skier: Indiana Kennedy — 16mins, 54.50secs.
3. Harrasment: driver: Ross Harris, observer: Ray Curtis, skier: Abbey-Kate Evans — 34mins, 10.0secs.
18°C