WITH a major bout of Dusi Canoe Marathon fever doing the rounds, the sixth race of the 2014 Varsity College Marine Surfski Series unfolded in a sea of pink as Durban’s paddlers showed their support for the popular Lettie Paddle campaign on Tuesday 11 February.
uMhlanga’s paddling powerhouse Matt Bouman and series female standout Michelle Burn claimed comfortable victories in the men’s and women’s clashes respectively.
With regular men’s star Hank McGregor absent from the line-up Bouman claimed a comfortable victory despite the tricky conditions. “That was fun but definitely quite tough!” said Bouman. “There weren’t really any runs out there that were of much assistance,” he said.
Bouman cruised home ahead of Durban North’s Grant van der Walt while Wade Krieger, having recently returned home after many years on the Australian lifesaving Iron Man circuit, finishing third, overcoming the potent combination of huge surf, testing swells and the never-ending threat of bluebottles brought in by the North Easterly.
Michelle Burn claimed her fifth victory of the series and is now just a single positive result away from yet another series title with as many as four opportunities to achieve her desired result. Nikki Russell fought hard against the elements to clinch second place with Danica Bartho claiming a brave third.
The next race is on Friday 21 February (the DionWired Surfski Challenge) which starts at 5.30pm at Addington Beach.
