World Surfski Series Rankings Updated

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.