Kempsey Airport hosted SuperRad boogie a couple of weeks ago. It was Jamie Clark’s first time organizing an event. Talk about throwing yourself in at the deep end! I asked Jamie what the experience was like.

Why SuperRad Boogie?

Well, the idea come from us all being 182 DZ’s on the mid north coast. For us jumping from a caravan is a luxury, so we thought let’s bring a caravan to our backyard. Over a few beers with Coffs crew, SuperRad Boogie was settled and sold.

Organizing a boogie is no easy feat! How did you go?

Where do I start with setting this up, it was the most rewarding rollercoaster of a ride. I’ve only been jumping for 2 ½ years and this is my first event.  I had no idea, but I figured what are the most crucial things for a boogie?

Answer! A BIG Fast plane, a heap of coaches and an airport with a big fat landing area we can camp at!!!

As for the plane, I literally just picked up the phone and called the closest DZ with a caravan, Byron Bay, and just asked ‘How do I hire a plane from youse?’  The awesome crew there put me in touch with Mark Whaley from Skydive Australia and it went from there.  Plane – CHECK!

The same went for the coaches. There’s a heap of awesome coaches that have come into the sport through Coffs, so I just called them, and they were all super keen and straight onboard for SuperRad.  They also gave me contacts for other coaches which completed the lineup. Coaches – CHECK!

As for the airport, Kempsey is my home DZ and training centre for Coffs Skydivers. So, I knew there would be no dramas.  Airport – CHECK!

If only it was that easy though. I soon realized there’s sooooo much more to organizing a boogie than simply having a big plane, coaches, and an airport… but there was no turning back now. Which is why I love the skydiving community; everyone was so supportive and backed me 100%.

To be honest I was just learning as I was going and as long as I was checking stuff off my list, I didn’t have to look back and it was all systems go!

I do have to give a big shout out to Kellie Watson from Skydive Taree, who runs a lot of events out of their DZ. She happily provided me with a lot of information she’s learned over time, which made my life a lot easier.

How did the event go, what were the highlights?

With the forecast looking crap a week out from the event, I had a really heavy heart. The weather really could have gone either way. However, I was super stoked that the big low system stayed up north and dragged all the cloud and rain away making sure we could jump on the first day of the boogie! We got 36 loads up over the event with so much progression and good vibes rolling on as we kept that plane turning. Getting together meeting new and old crew and simply just doing what we all love with good vibes all the way to the end…

So much awesome thanks and feedback from everyone thanking me for putting on a such a rad event and who are already looking forward to the next one.  

We even had the Mayor of Kempsey come out to welcome us all to their backyard and mentioned that Kempsey Airport would be getting its own state of the art Swoop Pond!

However, the biggest highlight for me was the A Licence crew smashing out their B-Rel Table and saying how welcome they felt at their first boogie as well as getting so much thanks and good vibes from everyone who came.

There’s no doubt that SuperRad Boogie was a success and I can’t wait to get started in the new year to bring back SuperRad Boogie for 2023! I just want to say CHEERS to everyone who got onboard with my first boogie!

Sounds epic mate, what a legend! Any last words?

Organising the boogie was such a rollercoaster. There were a lot of setbacks and it deadset stabbed me hard when I had to postpone the event, knowing that so many of the crew were coming from afar, from Rockhampton all the way down to Victoria.

I was like faaaarrrkkk how can I put on another SuperRad Boogie when I can’t event get this one off the ground?!  My emotions were always up and down but I had so many people around me providing me with reassurance and guidance, I just learned that it’s all part and parcel of setting up an event.

As Mike Briggs from iFly Gold Coast said “You’ve really gone balls against the wall for your first event, if you can pull this off, you can pull off any event”

Very wise words!

Anyway, in saying all of this, I’m so stoked with this epic journey with all its ups n downs. It would have to be one of the most rewarding ventures I’ve ever undertaken, and I can’t wait to get back to it in the new year to make SuperRad Boogie 2023 even more RAD!!!

Biggest shoutout to my home DZ Coffs Skydivers, Tiwai for the SuperRad Poster, APF, NSWPC, Jump Junkie, Skydive Taree, Skydive Port Macquarie, iFly Downunder, iFly Gold Coast, Kempsey Aero Club, Kempsey Council, Skydive Australia, NZ Aerosports, Downward Trend, Velocity Rigs, LB Altimeters, CAOS suits, Cookie Helmets for sponsoring and supporting the first SuperRad Boogie, youse were all onboard from the start so thank you!!

And of course, all the rad coaches and all those that come on out to our backyard, CHEERS you absolute legends!!!!!

See ya when I’m looking at ya at SuperRad Boogie 2023 😊

Fark Yeah!!