World Surfski Series Rankings Updated

Sunday, 03 December 2017 17:04 | Written by 
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Hank McGregor Hank McGregor Credits: Rob Mousley

The World Surfski Series rankings have (finally) been updated.  With just one (title) race to go, it seems certain that Hank McGregor will have successfully defended his title, while Rachel Clarke, if she competes in the Palm to Pines will win her first Women’s title.

Men’s Rankings

(Click here for the full rankings)

      Points
Pos First Name Last Name Title Non-Title Total
1 Hank Mcgregor 2996 499 3495
2 Jasper Mocke 2992 499 3491
3 Dawid Mocke 2986 496 3482
4 Mackenzie Hynard 2982 495 3477
5 Oscar Chalupsky 2964 497 3461
6 Mark Anderson 2928 498 3426
7 Nicolas Lambert 2918 495 3413
8 Lee Furby 2768 488 3256
9 Maurizio Tognacci 2614 469 3083
10 Michael Mckeogh 2588 466 3054
11 Patrick Langley 2408 472 2880
12 Shaun Rice 2850 0 2850
13 Colin Simpkins 2714 0 2714
14 Sean Rice 1998 500 2498
15 Kenneth Rice 1994 500 2494
16 Austin Kieffer 1990 497 2487
17 Kyle Friedenstein 1982 498 2480
18 Joshua Fenn 1952 498 2450
19 Ian Black 1954 494 2448
20 Bevan Manson 1954 491 2445

Women’s Rankings

(Click here for the full rankings)

      Points
Pos First Name Last Name Title Non-Title Total
1 Kyeta Purchase 2984 498 3482
2 Hayley Nixon 2994 0 2994
3 Rachel Clarke 2000 500 2500
4 Michelle Burn 2000 500 2500
5 Teneale Hatton 1996 500 2496
6 Nikki Russell 1990 499 2489
7 Angie Le Roux 1988 500 2488
8 Tricia Gilbert 1974 499 2473
9 Wendy Reyntjes 1990 0 1990
10 Jenna Ward 1984 0 1984
11 Tegan Fraser 990 500 1490
12 Chloe Bunnett 990 499 1489
13 Amaia Osaba Olaberri 992 495 1487
14 Sara Rafael 988 499 1487
15 Sally Wallick 992 495 1487
16 Tamlyn Bohm 988 498 1486
17 Kirsten Flanagan 988 497 1485
18 Ana Swetish 990 494 1484
19 Sharon Armstrong 988 493 1481
20 Heather Nelson 984 497 1481

 

Race Statistics

Race Men Women Total
King of the Harbour 104 9 113
EuroChallenge 73 12 85
Molokai Challenge 44 4 48
Durban Downwind 60 7 67
Mauritius Ocean Classic 75 15 90
Nelo Summer Challenge 170 23 193
Canadian Surfski Champs 91 15 106
Gorge Downwind Champs 157 23 180
Maraamu Surfski Race 44 2 46
Dutch Coast Race 86 9 95
Breizh Ocean Race 91 7 98
Pete Marlin 117 11 128
Perth Doctor 260 20 280
Palm to Pines      

Growth of International Excellence

The sport is still dominated by Australians and South Africans:

  • 7 out of the top 10 men’s positions in current World Series rankings
  • 7 of the 9 men’s podium positions at the ICF Ocean Racing World Champs
  • 7 out of the top 10 women’s positions in current World Series rankings.  (NZ takes two of the remainder leaving just one European, Angie Le Roux in the top 10.
  • 6 out of 9 women’s positions at the ICF Ocean Racing World Champs. 

But this dominance may well be challenged in the near future.  Up and coming US paddler Austin Keiffer achieved the first podium placing by a non-southern hemisphere paddler in a major southern hemisphere race when he came third in Perth behind Cory Hill and Hank McGregor in the 2017 Perth Doctor and the following week went on to win the Sunset Surfski Series in Perth against some of Australia’s top paddlers.

In Europe too, competition has become fiercer with the likes of Walter Sanchez (SPA), Gordan Harbrecht (GER), Nicolas Lamber (FRA), Noé Pelizza (FRA), Valentin Hernot (FRA) and Esteban Medina (SPA), all appearing on the podium in various races.

Exciting times ahead!

Where to from here?

The World Surfski Series is an independent organisation that was started back 2007.  It has been run by a set of volunteers including Rob Mousley (who started it), Dean Gardiner and Dawid Mocke. 

Currently the rankings have been kept going by me, but the updates and associated media coverage have been almost non-existent aside from some posts on the Facebook page.  Part of the problem has been the lack of a team to take on the effort, which includes correlating and correcting the seemingly infinite variations of spellings of paddlers’ names in results that are provided in every format from excel (few and far between) to HTML to pdf.  Mundane – but hugely time-consuming. 

Add to that the challenge of finding meaningful sponsorship and the occasional (but probably well-deserved) savage complaints and it’s not surprising that the turnover of world series convenors has been high.

But there may be some light on the horizon with a major change for the World Surfski Series; stay tuned.

For more info on the World Surfski Series, click here

ICF in 2018

According to Mario Santos, in 2018 the ICF World Cup series will comprise the same races as in 2017: the Mauritius Ocean Classic; the Nelo Summer Challenge in Porugal; a race in Tahiti (which was cancelled in 2017) and the Breizh Ocean Race in France.

There will not be an ICF Ocean Racing World Championships in 2018.