Michele Burn

Cape Town – The women’s race for the 2019 edition of the Freedom Paddle surfski race around Robben Island on 27 April has been shaken up by the confirmation that the defending champions have split up, and current world champ Hayley Nixon has done a deal to reform her partnership with Michelle Burn that took them to the top five in the world in 2017.

After a week of monsoon winds and rough seas, race day arrived with the worst possible conditions for the 3^rd ICF Ocean Racing World Championships – windless, flat and muggy… Capricious Mother Nature!  But in racing, you work with what you get, and at least the flat seas offered some reassurance to the less experienced among the competitors.