Mocke wins 46km Scottburgh to Brighton (South Africa) ** great pics **
The paddlers set out through the surf at Scottburgh at dawn
Credits: Anthony Grote/Gameplan Media
Durban: The 54th running of the Discovery Scottburgh to Brighton surfski race was completely dominated by the “Cape storm” of former world champ Dawid Mocke and younger brother Jasper, Sean Rice (Cape Town) and Richard von Wildemann (Port Elizabeth) who completely obliterated the local contingent in challenging downwind conditions to claim places one to four overall.
Dawid Mocke took full advantage of Rice’s consistent misfortune to power past his fellow Fishhoek club mate and on to yet another victory in his eighth attempt at the 46.5km race.
“I’m overjoyed with today’s result!” beamed Mocke. “Really stoked to have pulled this one out the bag...
“This is one of South Africa’s premier ocean paddling races and is definitely a blue ribbon event on the surfski calendar so it was certainly one I wanted to do well in,” he added.
Scottburgh Surf
Having negotiated the tricky surf at Scottburgh superbly Rice set off at a blistering pace early on and soon opened up a handy lead over the rest of the field.
However, a broken foot piece very early on in the race heavily impacted his ability to steer his ski and this, together with a lost water bottle and popped paddle clip at the compulsory check in at Amanzimtoti, gave the vastly experienced Mocke the opportunity to put in some hard strokes and bridge the gap in the latter stages of the race.
Scottburgh at dawn
Duuuuuuuck!
Cutting Monster
“After 23km I realized Sean (Rice) was a bit too far ahead of me and I was quite worried that maybe I’d let him go for too long and that I wasn’t going to catch him but the infamous Cutting monster got hold of him a bit and I managed to claw my way back,” said Mocke. [Editor: the infamous Cutting Monster lives about 10km from the finish of the 46km race near a distinctive landmark - the cutting -and is reputed to swim out to tie a bucket to the rudders of exhausted paddlers' skis - at least that's what it feels like...]
Dawid Mocke - beaming...
Sean Rice - not beaming. Challenged by gear failure.
Jasper Mocke had a long swim at the half-way check point in Amanzimtoti and came in second
For Rice it certainly won’t be a race he remembers fondly. “So much went wrong for me right from the outset. I was just an absolute mess today!” said a disappointed and frustrated Rice.
“After my foot piece came out at the start I somehow still managed to settle into a really good rhythm and I went at a pace that I was feeling really comfortable with. When no one came with me I decided I’d set off on my own and just keep going.
“Unfortunately the effects of fighting with my steering all day meant that when I got to the Cutting I didn’t have too much left though and that’s when Dawid (Mocke) caught me. He worked hard in the last few kilometres and I just couldn’t come back at him,” he added.
Jasper Mocke - swimmer
Younger brother Jasper Mocke had been in the mix throughout the first half of the race however a long swim back to the shore after falling out in the surf at Toti meant he lost valuable time and so had to settle the bottom step of the podium ahead of von Wildemann and Grant van der Walt from Durban North.
Is it a bird? is it a plane? Look ma, no paddlers!
Doubles
In the doubles race the Dias duo, brothers Paul and Sean, combined brilliantly and had a string race despite having flown under the radar recently however even their best efforts weren’t enough to hold off the in-form Brett Hadiaris and Ross Fountain who claimed yet another victory this winter.
“It was quite tough out there today, especially towards the end. We got going well early on but it got quite mushy in the last few kilometres so it was a bit tricky in a double,” said older brother Paul.
“It’s a long slog. We’re definitely going to sleep well tonight!” he chuckled.
Juniors
Junior hotshots Gene Prato and Lyall Whitehead continued the great form they showed throughout the Discovery Sunglass Hut Surfski Series as they brought their double ski through the testing surf at Brighton beach with relative ease and earned an impressive first finish in the race.
Oldest Long Distance Surfski Race
Having begun in 1958 the event proudly holds the title of the oldest long distance surfski race in the world and this year participants welcomed the presence of true downwind conditions which have eluded paddlers on KZN’s coast for some time now as well as regular sightings of marine life such fish, dolphins and even whales.
Gallery
...by Anthony Grote (www.anthonygrote.com)
{gallery}2011/07/sb/gallery{/gallery}
More information can be found at www.surfski.co.za
RESULTS - DISCOVERY SCOTTBURGH TO BRIGHTON
| Pos | Paddler 1 | Time | Score | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DAWID MOCKE | 03:16:53:00 | 100% | Senior |
| 2 | SEAN RICE | 03:19:22:00 | 98.74% | Senior |
| 3 | JASPER MOCKE | 03:20:48:00 | 98.01% | Senior |
| 4 | RICHARD VON WILDERMANN | 03:29:30:00 | 93.59% | Senior |
| 5 | GRANT VAN DER WALT | 03:36:57:00 | 89.81% | Senior |
| 6 | SHADRACK MKHIZE | 03:38:54:00 | 88.82% | Vet |
| 7 | ADAM NISBET | 03:39:25:00 | 88.55% | Senior |
| 8 | MARK MULDER | 03:41:12:00 | 87.65% | Senior |
| 9 | QUINTON RUTHERFORD | 03:45:38:00 | 85.40% | Vet |
| 10 | MARK LEWIN | 03:48:11:00 | 84.10% | Master |
| 11 | STEVE COHEN | 03:50:43:00 | 82.82% | Vet |
| 12 | BRYAN TAYLOR | 03:52:01:00 | 82.16% | Senior |
| 13 | MIKE STEVENS | 03:59:27:00 | 78.38% | Vet |
| 14 | GAVIN TARR | 04:04:58:00 | 75.58% | Vet |
| 15 | MIKE FORD | 04:14:48:00 | 70.58% | Senior |
| 16 | TRENTON LAMBLE | 04:15:54:00 | 70.02% | Senior |
| 17 | MARK GARDEN | 04:21:46:00 | 67.04% | Senior |
| 18 | MIKE HALLIDAY | 04:32:40:00 | 61.51% | Master |
| 19 | JOE BOY | 04:39:11:00 | 58.20% | Master |
| 20 | DEVON THOMSON | 04:43:27:00 | 56.03% | Senior |
| 21 | BRUCE JACKSON | 04:49:57:00 | 52.73% | Master |
| 22 | MIKE AIKINS | 05:03:50:00 | 45.68% | Senior |
| 23 | ANDRIES DU PLESSIS | 05:07:04:00 | 44.04% | Vet |
| 24 | THANDO THUSI | 05:07:31:00 | 43.81% | Senior |
| 25 | JAMES THOMPSON | 05:15:31:00 | 39.74% | Vet |
| 26 | THEA VAN DER WESTHUIZEN | 05:15:46:00 | 39.62% | Woman |
| 27 | GAVIN SMITH | 05:29:59:00 | 32.40% | Master |
| 28 | XOLANI MKHIZE | 05:34:06:00 | 30.31% | Senior |
Doubles
| Pos | Paddler 1 | Paddler 2 | Time | Score | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BRETT HADIARIS | ROSS FOUNTAIN | 03:36:51:00 | 100% | Senior |
| 2 | SHAUN DIAS | PAUL DIAS | 03:38:09:00 | 99.40% | Senior |
| 3 | NICHOLAS BURDEN | MARC SNYMAN | 03:39:14:00 | 98.90% | Senior |
| 4 | MARK USSHER | DAVID CHAPLIN | 03:39:32:00 | 98.76% | Senior |
| 5 | ANTON FOUCHE | DEREK HAUPTFLEISCH | 03:42:17:00 | 97.49% | Vet |
| 6 | MARK ESSERY | DIRK VAN DEN BERG | 03:43:14:00 | 97.06% | Senior |
| 7 | BRUCE PENDER-SMITH | EMILIO CHICCARO | 03:58:00:00 | 90.25% | Vet |
| 8 | TERRY MC DOUGALL | JABIN LYONS | 03:59:14:00 | 89.68% | Senior |
| 9 | CARLO NATALI | KEITH FLEMMER | 03:59:44:00 | 89.45% | Senior |
| 10 | JONATHAN MAEHLER | DARREN SWALES | 04:01:54:00 | 88.45% | Vet |
| 11 | CRAIG WEBSTER | NICK DOMLEO | 04:02:19:00 | 88.26% | Senior |
| 12 | SIMON GROUT | MIKE COLEMAN | 04:04:33:00 | 87.23% | Senior |
| 13 | GARY CLARKE | ROSS POACHER | 04:05:48:00 | 86.65% | Vet |
| 14 | GARY O\'CONNOR | MARCEL GERHARD | 04:06:19:00 | 86.41% | Vet |
| 15 | LYALL WHITEHEAD | GENE PRATO | 04:08:21:00 | 85.47% | Junior |
| 16 | DAVID GILLMER | PETER OCONNOR | 04:08:58:00 | 85.19% | Master |
| 17 | ANDREW MARCH | WAYNE LAWRIE | 04:13:54:00 | 82.91% | Vet |
| 18 | EDWARD SMITH | DENZIL SMITH | 04:15:26:00 | 82.21% | Senior |
| 19 | GARY BEHN | BRETT FROST | 04:16:30:00 | 81.72% | Senior |
| 20 | PETER ROWAN | ANTHONY ROWAN | 04:16:31:00 | 81.71% | Senior |
| 21 | STEPHEN BAVERSTOCK | KEEGAN SCOTT | 04:17:27:00 | 81.28% | Senior |
| 22 | REX MCGREGOR | MALCOLM PITT | 04:18:46:00 | 80.67% | Senior |
| 23 | GARY RALPH | GRAHAM HOLM | 04:23:30:00 | 78.49% | Master |
| 24 | MICHAEL ELION | GARETH DIAS | 04:25:30:00 | 77.57% | Senior |
| 25 | WAYNE SYMINGTON | MARK EVERED-HALL | 04:27:54:00 | 76.46% | Vet |
| 26 | CRAIG COOK | PETER ALLEN | 04:28:02:00 | 76.40% | Senior |
| 27 | RALPH WHITING | STANLEY WHITING | 04:29:43:00 | 75.62% | Vet |
| 28 | DILLON JOUBERT | HANNES DE KOCK | 04:49:18:00 | 66.59% | Senior |
| 29 | NICO SMIT | REBECCA MEHEW | 05:33:45:00 | 46.09% | Senior |
| 30 | BRUCE GLENDAY | CRAIG MCINTOSH | 05:44:07:00 | 41.31% | Vet |