“I knew a few of the paddlers had done the course earlier in the week and… my goal was to sort of sit with them and see where their line was,” said newly crowned World Champion Danielle McKenzie. “I had no idea where I was going. As far as race plans go, I had absolutely nothing… Just go pretty hard from the start. Yeah, bloody awesome!”
The race organizers have just issued the provisional program and race course for the next few days in Quiberon, France where the 2019 ICF Ocean Racing World Championships are about to take place. Here's what you need to know.
The event is being held near Quiberon, which is located on the southern part of the Quiberon peninsula in Brittany, France.
(The area is packed with maritime history, including the Battle of Quiberon Bay, 20 Nov 1795, between the French and British navies and an abortive invasion by French Royalists, assisted by the British Navy during the French Revolution.)
Winters are notoriously long and cold and Atlantic gales regularly smash the coastline… This isn’t an area noted for winter paddling! But in summer it’s warmer and the exposure to the open ocean means that there’s almost always movement in the water, making for challenging, technical conditions. Given the location of the islands and the Quiberon peninsula, race organizers have a number of course options to choose from in order to create as much downwind conditions as possible.
The organizers announced this morning (Monday) that the World Championship race will most likely take place on Wednesday, with the start some time after 2pm, when the maximum wind is forecast. The wind drops off on Thursday and Friday, the alternate days in the event waiting period.
The Masters race will take place on Thursday.
Both races will use the same course from the Gâvres Beach to Pentièvre Beach, just to the north of Quiberon itself.
NB: If the forecast changes over the next day or two, the course and program could change too!
The Who’s Who of the surfski world will be lining up on Wednesday and an international crowd of masters paddlers on Thursday.
The 27 countries represented include: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mauritius, The Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sweden, The Netherlands Antilles, Tahiti and the United States.
You can download the full list of entries here:
Cory Hill (Aus), the defending World Champion, Gordan Harbrecht (Ger) and Hank McGregor (RSA) at the Mauritius Ocean Classic in July this year
I think the conditions are going to be technically challenging, with small runs coming in over the paddlers’ right shoulders.
With moderate wind, and small waves, the paddlers are going to have to work the runs, accelerating left and then working right in order to stay on course. There probably won’t be much paddles-down surfing.
The paddlers with the most open ocean experience will have an advantage in the conditions and that inevitably means the Australians, South Africans and New Zealanders (especially in the women’s race).
Both the previous men’s and women’s champions are present to defend their titles: Cory Hill (Aus) and Hayley Nixon (RSA), but they have plenty of competition…
Defending Champion Hayley Nixon (centre) in Quiberon
The women’s race should be a huge tussle up front:
When the race isn't the World Champs, it's know as the Breizh Ocean Race - and Angie Le Roux has won it 4 out of the last 5 years - and won the inaugural event back in 2010 in massive conditions. She knows this area like the back of her hand...
Running down the water’s edge, Hayley Nixon leapt onto her surfski. As she took her first stroke, the paddler next to her, floundering, clipped her ski and she half fell out. Frantically she recovered her balance, only to be hit and almost knocked out again. “Just. Move. Please!” she yelled…
In a desperate all-out, red-lining sprint, the two paddlers put everything they had into the last 300m to the finish. 50m to go and Noé Pelizza surged forward, …but the nose of his black surfski ramped up the back of the next wave and he slowed – just as Esteban Medina, nose down, accelerated onto the run behind him…
…and most of the world’s best surfski paddlers, both men and women, are in Ireland to take part. Here’s what you need to know about the world’s richest surfski race.
"The Europeans have caught on," laughed Jasper Mocke. "We used to be much quicker than them at the start, but we had six or seven boats dicing in a sprint to the first turn buoy!"