And the V10?

Suffice to say that it lived up to the reports that I’ve read…

When I jumped on it, I did find it slightly twitchier than my Swordfish S, but five minutes were enough to get the feel of it – if you’ve ever wondered about the term “secondary stability”, this ski epitomizes it. It’ll lean over just so far and no further and I quickly forgot about any stability issues. I reckon I’d feel bullet-proof in almost any conditions.

It feels as if it has more rocker than the previous generation V10 – certainly it catches runs very easily. Whether it’s the hull shape or the big elliptical surf rudder, I had no hint of a broach at any time on the runs. At the same time, it answered both to rudder and tilting the hull and is easy to maneuver on the waves.

In a nutshell, I loved it and would really like to spend more time on it. For a mid-packer paddler like me, it’s definitely in the frame – easy to use, fun and it felt pretty quick.

Thanks to Darryl for organizing the trip – and to Epic Kayaks and Charles Brand for the use of the boat. (Too bad it’s booked out to some other lucky sod for the Doctor!)

Take-away

If you come to the Shaw & Partners WA Race week, be prepared to get involved and to take advantage of the opportunities to paddle this coast – the locals love showing off their favorite routes and are more than generous with logistics and eskys! Good on ya, mates!

Thanks DAZ!

Overall

What a great race! 

The locals were muttering that the wind wasn’t strong enough and that it was mild for this time of year, etc, etc, but actually there was more than enough movement in the water to make it fun.

The organization was excellent and the vibe at the Sorrento Surf Lifesaving Club after the race was awesome. 

Great start to the week.

This afternoon the non-serious paddlers are heading south of Fremantle to do something called the Snapper Run…  one of the features of this downwind route is that it ends conveniently near to the Little Creatures Brewery in Fremantle.  See ya later!

Men's Podium (L-R) Michael Booth (5th), Austin Kieffer (4th), Nicholas Notten (3rd), Jackson Collins (2nd), Cory Hill (1st)

Women's Podium (L-R): Hayley Nixon (1st), Bonnie Hancock (2nd), Teneale Hatton (3rd), Rachel Clarke (4th), Aya Okano (5th)

Summary Results

(Click here for the full results)

Men

Women

And… the Shaw and Partners “The Doctor”

This iconic race has been held 17 times since 2002 – missing out 2008 but being held twice in 2014.

The Doctor starts in the crystal clear water at Rottnest Island

Fun facts

• In the men’s race, South Africans have won the race 8 times, Australians 9 times.
• Jasper Mocke (South Africa) and Cory Hill (Australia) both hold 3 titles.

In the women’s race:

• Australian women have the most titles (9), while New Zealanders have won the race 5 times.
• Ruth Highman (Australia) dominated from 2012 to 2014 and has the most titles, 3.
• Four other women, Julie Jenkinson (Aus), Yanda Nossiter (Aus), Katie Pocock (NZ) and Rachel Clarke (NZ) each have two titles.

$35,000 Bonus

For paddlers who enter all the races, there’s a $35,000 bonus pool on offer. Points are scored for positions in each of the five races and count towards a total for the week.

A paddler who wins the Dash for Cash, the Doctor and the overall week’s series could walk away with a total of $20,000.

My Race?

I usually look for a mid-pack result but this inaugural race was stacked with elite level paddlers, so I knew that I’d be near the back of the field.

But I had a ball. Not being surrounded by my usual paddling peers, I could relax and take my time getting out through the surf at Melkbos. The waves weren’t bone-crunching and all it needed was a few punches through foamies and then a sprint through the break zone and we were away.

The surf for the men's start was relatively gentle

As I approached the turn buoy, I was surprised (and amused) to hear a familiar voice: that of surfski race organizing legend Billy Harker. “Well that was a good start!” he said ruefully. Ironically the maestro of the Durban surf had been worked over by the relatively mild Cape waves. Welcome to Cape Town!

Light wind, small waves

I tagged along briefly behind a bunch, but they were going too fast for me and I dropped off, to paddle almost the whole way on my own. I found a rhythm, surging onto some small but workable runs and, for a while, kept pace with the group in front who’d chosen to paddle just behind the backline.

What a day! The sky was cloudless, the sea wasn’t too cold, the breeze was enough to keep us cool. The iconic view of Table Mountain kept taking my breath away. I’d never paddled this route in this direction before – and what a treat it was.

At the half-way point, I saw the bunch heading for the gap inside the rocks at Big Bay. Then the horizon behind turned white as a big set closed it out, and the group abruptly veered out to sea to go around.

The last few km were a bit of a grind as the breeze turned more side-on and the sea worked up a confused chop. Despite my keeping my heart rate up, my speed was dropping.

Surf to the finish

I arrived at the final turn-point and the last barrier to the finish: a fair dinkum little surf break. Before the race I’d spent a few minutes watching the waves and I’d noticed that the surfers were clustered just to the north of the finish line and that there appeared to be a slight flattening out of the waves to the south of them.

The first wave that came in didn’t seem too big and scary and I hopped onto it, intending to pull out if it jacked up. Glancing to my left, it started to curl, but to my right it wasn’t breaking… I was on exactly the right line. A couple of strokes and I continued the ride towards the sand; now it started to jack up but it didn’t seem to be dumping too hard and I waited, waited, and then legs out to slow the boat and the wave dissipated on the sand, I hopped out (and fell over), leapt up, picked the boat up and trotted across the finish.

Yeeeeeeha!  (Thanks Sharon Armstrong for the video!)

That's the way to finish a race - a ride in all the way from backline...  coming in HOT!

For me, that was by far the most satisfying part of the race – to fashion a decent landing through the surf, in front of a crowd of discerning paddlers made me feel awesome... Skill? Luck? I’d like to think it was a little of both!

But what an event! It really couldn’t have gone much better: a world class bunch of competitors, the highest proportion of women to men in any South African race ever, a stunning day in an incredibly beautiful location. I had a ball and I’ll be back next time (hopefully to paddle a gale-force downwind in the opposite direction!).

World Surfski League

The WSSL, sponsored by China Silver Asset Management, comprises six races the West Coast Express being the 3^rd in the series.

The previous two races, the Gorge Downwind Championships (USA) and the Irish Coast Paddling Championships (Ireland) were won by Kenny Rice and Sean Rice respectively.

The West Coast Downwind had a prize pool of US$20,000.

“I can’t extend my thanks enough to the Cape Town paddling and race organizing community for the way they helped out and welcomed the race on the circuit,” said Sadler, who is also Operations Director for the WSSL. “Looking forward to many more and making it bigger and better!”

The remaining races in the 2019 series comprise:

• Steelcase Dragon Run: 9 Nov 2019 – Hong Kong
• Perth Doctor: 23 Nov 2019 – Perth, AUS
• 20 Beaches Classic: 7 Dec 2019 – Sydney AUS

For more information

• http://www.westcoastdownwind.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/westcoastexpress/
• https://www.instagram.com/westcoastexpressza/

Summary Results 

Click here for the full results

Open Men

Open Women

Over 55 Men

Over 35 Men

Over 35 Women

Under 18 Men

Under 18 Women

Juniors and Under-23s

Although South Africa and Australia featured strongly, some notable results from other countries included:

• Katriana Swetish (USA), 1^st in the Junior women
• Two French women in the top 5 Junior women (Claire Dewaste and Dina Bettaver)
• Hector Henot (FRA), 2^nd in U23 men
• Jorge Enriquez Guiterrez (ESP), 2^nd in Junior men, and Pablo St Mary (ESP), 4^th in the Junior men

Other noteworthy results:

• U23 winner Joshua Fenn (RSA) – 10^th overall
• Junior winner Uli Hart (RSA) – 16^th overall

South African Junior Uli Hart dominated his category, winning by over 4min

Summary Results

(Click here for the full official results)

Senior Men

Senior Women

Under 23 Men

Under 23 Women

Junior Men

Junior Women

Summary Results

Men's Surfski

OC

Decisions, decisions

What’s a paddler to do?

“Go west, young man!” was the advice given to pioneers in America – and that might well apply here…

Groix Island might create something of a wave shadow, so it’s logical to predict that the waves might build as the paddlers pass it on their way to the finish.

The best line might be to work right, angling further offshore, before swinging left towards the finish, getting a better angle on the wind and waves.

How many paddlers will gamble on that course? It’ll be fascinating to see the Strava tracks after the race!

Start

The paddlers will line up in knee deep water next to their skis.  (The beach is wide and flat, with plenty of room for the 190-odd competitors.)

I would want to start on the extreme right hand side of the line for this one...

Tracking

 Here's the (genuine) link for the live tracking. 

http://player.georacing.com/?server=Prod&event=101851&race=97451&name=SS1+-+Open

There will be video updates on the event Facebook page so watch the event Facebook page as well.

Let the games commence!

How to Watch

 Here's the (genuine) link for the live tracking. 

http://player.georacing.com/?server=Prod&event=101851&race=97451&name=SS1+-+Open

There will be video updates on the event Facebook page so watch the event Facebook page as well.

Let the games commence!

Day 2

As Sunday dawned, WhatsApp sprang to life "We are moving the race to south Durban - out n back so pls head in that direction. Will confirm exact venue in a few minutes".

That message was followed by a video showing the surf at Salt Rock: the conditions were completely unplayable, unrelenting lines of 3m swell marching in at 14s intervals to smash the beach - and any surfski that might dare to venture out.

Wind and waves

Hank McGregor had a two minute lead in the bank as he started the rejigged second stage from the Durban Undersea Club on a northerly out-and-back course set by the organisers after the North Easterly buster swept into the area overnight, whipping up big surf conditions.

After grinding impressively into the choppy headwind McGregor mastered the downwind leg back to the finish ahead of Barry Lewin in second and Gene Prato in third.

"It was a real challenge today, with the second biggest swell this year running," said McGregor.

"There were six of us together going up to the turn-can above the river mouth, and on the way home it was every man for himself," said the Fenn/Euro Steel star.

"I was able to get one or two runs ahead and win the second stage to get the win overall, which I am stoked about," added McGregor. "Well done to everyone that finished."

Day 2 was moved down the coast and the course changed to a 14km out-and-back course

Collision, race over

In the women's race reigning world champ Hayley Nixon started with a twenty second overnight lead over Michelle Burn and just had to stay with her and the on-form Nikki Birkett to win the title.

Everything changed right at the start as they charged off the beach at DUC. In the choppy sea conditions another boat collided with her, she fell out of her ski, and the strong Easterly wind blew her ski away from her.

"It was my mistake," said Nixon afterwards. "I had my leash on my calf but I hadn't attached it to the boat. We usually do that once we are free of the chaos of the start and I hadn't done that yet as the pace was so competitive and we were about a kilometre into the race.

"It turned into a very long swim as my ski was blown away from me. Thankfully Lance Wyly saw it and intercepted it before he also fell out.

"I finally got back to the boat and then fell out again trying to remount, and my ski blew away again. By the time I managed to get back on I couldn't even see Nikki (Birkett) and Mich (Burn).

"It was a bad mistake and it cost me dearly," she added.

Michelle Burn

Michelle Burn, despite swimming at the turn, won the women's event overall

Nixon's swim left the door open for Michelle Burn, who admitted afterwards that she was lacking motivation going into the final day.

"I really wasn't keen on another out-and-back and my arms were feeling the first stage going into the headwind, it was really strong and wishy-washy and there were waves breaking everywhere.

"After the accident with Hayley (Nixon), Nikki (Russell) was some way ahead. I had a small swim at the turn-can, but luckily I got back into my boat quickly.

"I managed to string some runs together and finally spotted Nikki ahead of me as we came into the finish. I knew I had thirty seconds to play with and I put my head down and caught one or two massive runs," said Burn.

In her haste to get to the finish she paddled over Vetch's Reef and damaged her rudder. "I looked to my left and saw Nikki had a swim, so we both had mishaps right at the finish." said Burn.

"It was great that the women were so close to each other, which made it a great race," she concluded.

One of the casualties...

Doubles

Clint Pretorius and Ryan Butcher won the double ski race from the husband-and-wife duo of Brett and Danica Bartho.

Summary Results 

(Click here for the full results)

Singles - Men

Singles - Women

Doubles

Men’s Race

Fresh from his second place at the Mauritius Ocean Classic where he’d finished less than a boat length behind the winner, Gordan Harbrecht was fired up. As the starting gun went, he sprinted out, dropping everyone except Tom Norton who diced head to head with him to the mark, where they turned downwind some 30m in front of the rest of the field.

“I was expecting Sean Rice to lead the way,” said Norton, “But it was Gordan Harbrecht who took the lead early on.

“So I headed across and sat on his wash until the buoy.”

Shown the way

Defending champion Sean Rice lead the chase pack and on turning, immediately headed left, taking a wider line than the leaders in an ultimately vain effort to find better current and wind.

By the 5km mark, Rice was some 700m further out to sea, but the gamble just didn’t pay off.

“For that poor judgement call,” he said, “I was shown the way to the finish line by the very strong Tom Norton and Flash Gordan.”

At the 10km mark, Rice had moved back inshore, but was still some 400m out and 100m back on the two leaders who were still going flat-out, head to head.

Sean Rice's track (yellow) compared to Norton/Harbrecht (blue)

Dice at the front

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Norton. “I had a little race with Gordan and that probably helped us stay ahead of Sean.

“I decided that I didn’t want to be in a sprint finish with Gordan,” he continued. “He’s a big dude and he looks powerful!

“With about 3km to go, I had a crack and opened up a little bit of a gap,” he said. “And it was just enough to hold on.”

15km in, and Norton had moved ahead of Harbrecht. Rice had found his way back onto the leaders’ line, and had made up some ground. But it wasn’t enough and in the end Norton swept across the finish line some 20 seconds ahead of Harbrecht, with Rice a minute further behind.

“Tom was really strong and earned the win,” said Harbrecht. “I’m very happy to be in the pack of big names again. More will come!”

It was Tom Norton’s first international race back in the surfski, after having spent a season in K1 racing at home in Australia. From Portugal, he heads to Canada and then the Gorge Downwind Championships before returning to Australia to prepare for the ICF Ocean Racing World Championships in France in 3 months’ time.

Post Race Interview

Respect

A massive shout out to Jon White, a British Royal Marines veteran who lost both legs and one arm in an IED explosion while on active duty in Afghanistan.

Using a prosthetic arm and prosthetic legs, he crossed the line in a highly creditable 2:09:56.

His fascinating TED Talk on his journey to recovery and beyond is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTOmU31QW6U

Summary Results

Click here to download the full results.

To review the race tracking click here.

Women

1. Hayley Nixon (RSA) 1:34:49
2. Angie Le Roux (FRA) 1:36:14
3. Judit Verges (ESP) 1:36:42
4. Bonnie Hancock (AUS) 1:38:27
5. Nicole Birkett (RSA) 1:38:31
6. Chloë Bunnett (ESP) 1:39:20
7. Georgia Laird (AUS) 1:40:48
8. Rebecca Newson (GBR) 1:42:08
9. Caurant Lea (FRA) 01:42:37
10. Laury Marie-Sainte (FRA) 01:43:22

Men

1. Tom Norton (AUS) 1:23:01
2. Gordan Harbrecht (GER) 1:23:20
3. Sean Rice (RSA) 1:24:02
4. Andrew Birkett (RSA) 1:25:07
5. Mackenzie Hynard (AUS) 1:25:56
6. Valentin Henot (FRA) 1:26:09
7. Nicolas Lambert (FRA) 1:26:10
8. Walter Bouzan (ESP) 1:26:48
9. Esteban Medina (ESP) 1:27:09
10. Hector Henot (FRA) 1:27:50