Surfski series kicks off with 8km course

THE first race of the lengthened 2015 Illovo Suncoast Pirates Wall and Back Surfski Series gets this year’s edition underway this Friday, 16 October at 5.30pm at Suncoast Pirates SLC with the new eight leg format set to catapult the east coast’s paddling fraternity into the much anticipated festive season.

The series sees paddlers tackle an 8km course from Suncoast Pirates SLC to the harbour wall and back every Friday evening until 4 December with Illovo Sugar once again playing a major role in the re-emergence and popularity of this age-old series.

Six time marathon world champion Hank McGregor has endured a frenetic period recently and is looking forward to this year’s series providing him with the chance to keep ticking over without too much pressure.

“The past couple of months have been really busy for me so I’m looking forward to getting back into my ski again during the Wall and Back series and just unwinding a bit,” said McGregor, who missed out on the opportunity to challenge for the overall men’s title in 2014 due to his international racing commitments.

“I guess you could say the next couple of weeks are a bit of an off-season for me where I can turn away from the bigger, more serious stuff like Berg, Marathon Worlds, Surfski Worlds and Fish look to capitalize on the great beaches and warm water that we have here in KZN,” he added.

While the Jeep Team/Epic Kayaks competitor is eager to lighten his workload during the next few weeks, McGregor also confirmed he has a busy final period of 2015 still to get through that he will start to build towards shortly.

“My next focus is the Dragon Run in Hong Kong at the end of November before I then come back and for the 50 Miler, SA Surfski Champs and the Cape Point Challenge in December. There is also the Drak Challenge in January and then Dusi in February so there also isn’t too much time to take a break. The Wall and Back fits perfectly into my plans though and I’m looking forward to another good series,” said McGregor.

With McGregor unavailable for at least two of the eight legs and paddlers’ best six results to count towards the final series standings, the likes of the evergreen Matt Bouman (Epic Kayaks/SMG), 2014 series winner Jean-Luc Mauvis, Jeep Team/Varsity College’s Barry Lewin, Wade Krieger and Suncoast Pirates standouts Luke and Adam Nisbet will all be eager to put in solid performances throughout.

A rapidly growing depth of women’s surfski talent in the region will again see another tightly contested women’s title in 2015.

Fenn Kayaks’ quartet of 2014 series winner Jenna Ward, U18 sensation Kyeta Purchase, Nikki Russell and Michelle Burn will go toe to toe while Hayley Arthur, Danica Bartho and Donna Tutton are also likely to feature prominently throughout the series.

Race registration opens at 4pm with entry fee R60 per paddler. Visit: www.wallandback.co.za