The trio claimed gold at South West Rocks in the under-17 taplin relay where they cruised to victory over the more fancied Cudgen Headland at the weekend.

They then finished second in the under-17 board rescue and seventh in the open taplin.

Askew (ski) and Milligan (swim) helped create a five second lead in the under-17 taplin which Osborne (board) extended to more than 10 seconds by the time he dashed to the finish line.

Tacking Point club coach Richard Broomby said the teenagers relayed to perfection.

“The boys just did unbelievably well and ground their way to victory; they exceeded any of our expectations,” Broomby said.

When Osborne entered the water, Tacking Point held a five second lead which he had extended to 11 seconds by the completion of the race.

“Tom was really upset that he had stuffed his board race earlier,” Broomby said.

“He’s a handy paddler and we thought he might have done it tough because he was up against a state paddler from Cudgen, but he extended his lead.”

Broomby said successful performances in the taplin relay had previously been an indication of where a club was heading.

“Hopefully we’ll look back in a few years and say this was where we started to build to better things,” he said.

It has been a lean period of success for the club which saw them fail to field a cadet team for at least five years.

“I’m thinking it’s been about 10 years since we last won a taplin relay back in the days when we had Mitch Dawson and Ryan Rosenbaum,” Broomby said.

“All three clubs are starting to build and that can only be a good thing for surf life saving locally.”

Wauchope-Bonny Hills Surf Life Saving Club won gold in the under-17 ski relay.

“They were cheering us on and we were cheering them on,” Broomby said.

“That’s the thing about surf life saving, because it all goes back to patrols and everyone wants to see each other do well.

“When that happens, it’s good for the sport.”