Heart of the Nation: Toodyay, WA

FOR a father and son team, the Avon Descent in WA is the ultimate bonding experience.

Avon Descent. Picture of power boats going through Extracts at Avon River. 166 Todd Williamson and Ian Williamson .Picture T...

THERE’S no race quite like the Avon Descent in Western Australia.

Power dinghies and paddle craft mix it up on the 124km whitewater river run from Northam to Perth, held every year as a time-trial over two days. The river is full of gnarly stuff — rocks, rapids, weirs and timber — which the flat-bottomed dinghies weave around (or shoot right over) at speeds up to 65km/h.

That’s Ian Williamson, 65, in the front of the boat, with his son Todd, 34, manning the outboard motor. They’ve won four of the past six Avon Descents. How? “By being right on the edge the whole time, and having everything go your way,” says Ian. By drawing on an almost telepathic teamwork, too: while Todd picks the racing line, Ian must anticipate where his son is aiming for and lean into turns, often hanging right over the side; if he gets it wrong the lightweight (60kg) craft can “dig in” and flip, he says.

Ian, who experienced the tail end of the Vietnam War — he was conscripted into 4RAR in ’71, and served as a forward scout — has done the Avon Descent every year since 1980, and for the past 17 years with Todd. They also work together, pouring concrete floors for upmarket housing developments in Perth.

This year’s event starts today, and they’ll be there. Ian admits he worries about his son when they’re racing, and he knows Todd worries about him too (“I just hope he tells me when it’s time for me to give it up,” the old boy says), but when they’re in their flow, carving turns down the river at speed, missing trees and rocks by centimetres, there’s no feeling like it. “We don’t usually talk when we’re racing,” Ian says, “but when we shoot though a hole between rocks going flat out, we’ll hoot and holler. Like, ‘We got that one perfectly.’ It’s a buzz. I’ll lean back and tap his knee and shout, ‘Nice!’ And then we’re straight back into it.”