Michelle Burn

The South Africans cleaned up today at the most prestigious surfski race in Australia – arguably the most prestigious race in the world - taking five out of the top six places and the entire podium at the Shaw and Partners “The Doctor” in Perth. Defending women’s champion, Kiwi Danielle McKenzie won the women’s trophy.

The start whistle for the women’s race coincided with the arrival of a set, a breaking wave smashing into the surfskis, sending their noses rocketing skyward before they plunged down the other side… One, two, four skis flying backwards without their paddlers as the surf played havoc with the field...

The two-day Gara Dolphin Coast Challenge is always demanding - but this weekend's event had exceptionally testing conditions, with massive surf on the first day and near gale-force winds and huge waves on the second.  

As the three men rounded the point at Le Morne, “Flash” Gordan Harbrecht shouted, “Is it 16 or 18km for the race?” “Mate, you see that red object up ahead? That’s the finish!” Instead of the 3 or 4km that Harbrecht had expected, the line was only about 800m away – and the big German exploded into a sprint…

“Woah! They’re in trouble…!” I looked up to see a mountain of a wave racing in towards the northwest tip of Robben Island. A lone double surfski turned to meet it, the crew paddling frantically. Up, up, punch through the feathering crest… Phew, they were safe, but what about us?  

Durban - Series pacesetters Matt Bouman and Michelle Burn took home the spoils at the Vaaka Paddle Cadence Surfski Challenge on Friday night, the eighth leg of the popular FNB Surfski Series, best mastering the demands of the onshore Easterly weather conditions.

Durban - A northerly wind on Friday night brought with it contrasting conditions to the FNB Surfski Series' previous three races, however it was a welcome change for many as Michelle Burn took advantage of the bigger conditions to open up her account at the Thule Surfski Challenge.

Durban, South Africa - Having played runners-up in the opening two encounters of the series, Matt Bouman and Hayley Nixon shrugged off the bridesmaids tag to take their first wins respectively at the Daikin Surfski Challenge, Race Three of the 2017 FNB Surfski Series at Marine Surf Lifesaving Club on Friday evening.

Le Morne Pass, Mauritius - “I saw how wide his eyes were, and thought to myself, ‘this is serious’,” said Jasper Mocke.  His brother Dawid had been hit by a “bommie”, a massive breaking wave just outside La Prairie pass at Le Morne; his leash had broken and his surfski had blown away.

Durban – Defending champion Michelle Burn is excited to see how the 2016 FNB Durban Downwind women’s race unfolds this weekend as KwaZulu-Natal’s renowned quintet of female paddling talent go head to head for the World Surfski Series title race’s women’s title.