Maiden series titles for champions van der Walt and Ward
The Bay Union Reef Challenge ended in spectacular fashion on Sunday with two new local faces gracing the podium.
THE second edition of the Bay Union Surfski Series culminated in a frenzy of action at Durban beachfront’s Point Watersports Club (PWC) on Sunday 25 May as Hank McGregor and Nicole Russell romped home to clinch victory in the day’s feature race. However, the toast of the day went to Durban North’s Grant van der Walt and Mt Edgecombe’s Jenna Ward who were crowned 2014 series champions.
The Bay Union Reef Challenge presented by PWC, the fourth and final leg of the series, produced ideal conditions of clear blue skies, hot temperatures and near flat seas for the 12km and 6km feature races before a sizeable crowd gathered on the shoreline to soak up the action and cheer on the participants of the Bay Union Shootout, a 1km sprint knockout competition around the iconic Vetchie’s Reef.
“I pushed hard in this series and managed to have a few really consistent races which has meant I’ve come out on top and I’m really stoked to have won this year’s Bay Union Surfski Series” said a satisfied van der Walt.
“Taking on the likes of Hank (McGregor) and Matt (Bouman) week in and week out is tough so when you race a series you maybe look to try and get a race win here or there under the belt but a series title is really tough to win so to have gotten this one is great,” he added.
In the women’s series finale, Jenna Ward despite coming second clinched her maiden series title in the process. Durban North resident Nicole Russell has been hot on Ward’s heels throughout the four-leg series and Sunday’s feature race finally saw Russell’s hard work and determination rewarded as she claimed her first race win of the series.
“It was nice to get my first race win in the first race of this series and now to have won the series title as well is just fantastic” said Ward. “I’m really happy, especially having beaten someone who is as strong in surfski as Nicole Russell is!”
“Hopefully now I can start looking to win some of the bigger, national races and competing against some of the other top girls from all of the provinces,” she added.
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McGregor and Ward win series opener (Race 1)
Paddlers shine at Mother’s Day surfski race (Race 2)
Van der Walt paddles to victory (Race 3)
