jasper mocke

Durban - Fish Hoek's renowned Mocké clan capped off a sublime family weekend's effort in KwaZulu-Natal by winning three of the four SA S2 Surfski Championship titles up for grabs at Sunday's second day of the inaugural FNB Mazars Durban Downwind surfski race.

Durban - The conditions may have been tame for much of the 26km opening day of the FNB Mazars Durban Downwind surfski race but the racing was action-packed and laden with drama as Jasper Mocké and Nicole Russell clinched their maiden men’s and women's South African Single (S1) Surfski Championship titles.

Durban – A star studded field has assembled in Durban ahead of this weekend's inaugural FNB Mazars Durban Downwind surfski race, which doubles as the 2014 South African Surfski Championships, and all are anxiously looking to Mother Nature to see what weather and ocean conditions she will serve them.

Want an indication of a popular race?  Three months before the 2014 Mauritius Ocean Classic, there were already 100 paddlers entered.  Right now, three weeks to go, there are over 150 and entries have closed (apart from anything else there are no more rental skis on the island!)  But why is it so popular?

After two weeks of howling trade winds and mountainous seas in the Kaiwi Channel, the 2014 Molokai Challenge is faced with baking temperatures, glassy seas and “winds light and variable”.  And that means 52km of an intense challenge of a different kind…

 Michael Booth is a small man with big muscles, an infectious smile, and a mop of blond hair piled in a floppy top knot:  part Popeye, part Eveready Bunny, part stylish Samurai. Just one kilometer into the 23-kilometer Steelcase Dragon Run, the 22-year-old Ironman from Surfers Paradise  glanced right -- all clear.  To his left, nothing but brackish chop.

"Holy shit," he thought, pre-race nerves supplanted by an adrenaline rush. "I'm leading!"

Dawid Mocke showed once more why he’s the reigning Surfski World Series Champion, by winning the Mauritius Ocean Classic for the third time running in a time of 1:19:05.  Hank McGregor finished just over a minute later (1:20:14) having outsprinted Jasper Mocke (1:20:20) for second place.  Nikki Mocke took control of the women's race, winning in 1:31:59.

The 2013 MOC will run tomorrow, Saturday, 28 June.  The race is scheduled to start at 11am but may be pushed out to 12 if the wind is strenthening from the forecast 7-8kt.  (It’s ironic of course that the ESE trade winds have been blowing a steady 18-22kt for the last month, and it’s only now during the three day race window that it’s decided to take a break.  C’est la vie!)

When some of the best surfski paddlers in the world gathered in Cape Town, South Africa for the inaugural Cape Town Downwind Race, Greg Kitto of White Hot Media was on hand to record the action.

"I didn’t have a specific race plan or line," wrote Jasper Mocke in his post-race report, "but being in front and staying there seemed like a good idea!"