You'd think a nine-year-old and an 81-year-old would both be a little nervous about being pulled behind a speeding boat. Not Northland pair Curtis and Don Williams. Young Curtis and his great-grandfather Don are both competing in the Kai Iwi Water-Ski Club championships this weekend, and also the national water-skiing championships nextweek, at Kai Iwi Lakes. Never before have a great-grandfather and great-grandson competed in the same national tournament, but it is testament to the legacy the Williams family has in water-skiing in New Zealand. Five of the Williams family will be strapping on the skis for the nationals, which begin on Tuesday. Don has competed in every nationals for the past 30 years, and reckons he will be around for a good while yet. "I'll be doing it until I can't stand up any more," he said. He is competing in the senior men's over-65 category, and at 81 is probably 10 years older than most of his competition. There has never been anyone over 80 compete in the nationals. Don has skied for nearly 50 years, and at the lakes since 1965. "Of course, they only invented water-skiing when Pop was in his 40s," his grandson Glen said. Don has certainly seen the changes since then. "When I was first here, there was nothing," he said. "We certainly didn't have that jump over there (the ramp in Lake Waikere), and the boats were different. They only had outboard motors, not the fancy Perfect Pass." Perfect Pass is a cruise-control system in which the boats are controlled by a touch-button. In contrast to his `Poppa', Curtis is the new kid on the block, having only skied for around 15 months. "I'm happy to have got in the nationals," he said. Curtis said he has made a lot of progress since the beginning of the ski season in September. "I've got heaps better. I only went around the slalom course for the first time three weeks ago." Curtis will be competing in the trick and slalom events in the sub-junior (under-10s) category, the only category where males and females are together. "My best trick is probably a wake-180," Curtis said. A wake-180 is when the skier shifts and makes a 180-degree turn on the wake produced by the boat. And it looks like Glen's brother Rhys' national jump record would remain unchallenged, by Curtis and Don at least. Curtis has yet to attempt jumping, and Don had to give it up 15 years ago. "My knee's packed in, can't handle the jumping any more."
