australia

You’d think that in a field studded with Olympians, Aussie SLS Champions and Iron Men, competition would be intense… but you wouldn’t expect one athlete to dominate no fewer than four races in row. But that’s what happened.

I don't usually list non-surfski videos, but this one is exceptional.  The location is Bundeena: a village on the outskirts of southern Sydney (29 km south of the Sydney central business district), in the state of New South Wales, Australia. 

The poster, Mark Sundin, is a well known explorer, kayak instructor and paddler in Aus.  He's part of Expedition Kayaks, based in Sydney.

The comment on the Expedition Kayaks Facebook page says it all: "Nick, Rob & Andrew having a great time out on the residual groundswell from Sydney's 'Big Tuesday'. It's a reminder of the virtue of shorter, manoeuvrable playboats with volume for absolutely rocking it in the surf, rather than just hanging on & surviving it."

For me, as a surfski paddler, some of the interesting points are:

• It looks as though they have the rudders up most of the time.  Is this a Sea Kayak "thing" for playing in surf?
• Watch how they're not just using their paddles to brace but actually to steer on the waves.  I'm not sure this would be possible on surfskis!
• One of the guys capsizes - but of course, being an expert sea kayaker, he simply rolls upright again.
• Not all sea kayakers are "sunday drivers"!  Respect!

But this looks like an absolutely awesome location to take a surfski - in the right conditions!

Two videos this week - one from Sean Smith, the (in)famous Fat Paddler in Manly and the other from Adam Fahey in Mandurah, WA...  Both showing the paddlers having fun in waves.  

Trees blown down on powerlines, roofs ripped off buildings, yachts blown ashore...  Downwind time in Sydney, Australia!

Imagine taking ten days out of your life to paddle with (and be coached by) two of the best surfski exponents ever…  In 2012, you have three opportunities to take a spectacular trip to some of the most remote and beautiful parts of the Western Australian coast with Dean Gardiner and Oscar Chalupsky.

On March 6, 2011, the 22m catamaran K20 will set sail from Fremantle, Australia bound for Exmouth on the remote north-west of Australia.  On board will be Oscar Chalupsky, Dean Gardiner and ten surfski paddlers bound for a trip of a lifetime.

The big news in ocean racing in Australia is the official endorsement of by Australian Canoeing (AC) of ocean racing as a sport discipline under the AC banner.

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To quote the distinguished and celebrated sage Jerry Seinfeld:  "The sea, that day was angry my friends, like an old man returning soup."

What happens when you lose your ski on the beach!

[Editor: Barry Lewin just returned from Australia where he won the K1 section in the Avon Descent in record time. He stayed on in Sydney and paddled with the Manly Saturday morning paddlers.  Here's what he found...]

Paradise - an empty sea and surfskis!

The sport of surf ski paddling has taken some giant leaps forward over the last few years. We now have events in nearly every corner of the globe with competitors coming from countries that don't even have oceans.

Nick Holt