ORGANISERS of the much anticipated second leg of the Varsity College FNB Marine Surfski Series had their hands tied on Friday evening and were forced to make the rare decision to cancel the race as Mother Nature showed her power and fury at the eleventh hour.
A strong south-westerly wind had been predicted; however, its time of arrival was unknown and race organiser Barry Lewin had multiple courses planned in order to keep the participants’ safety a top priority during the race.
However, the arrival of large onshore swell, which created four to a six-foot surf, and Spring low tide, accompanied with a 35 knot wind just fifteen minutes prior to the start of the race, left Lewin with no option but to cancel the clash.
“As race organiser, the safety of my competitors is always my first priority, and with the severity of the conditions – both wind speed and the lack of visibility – that we experienced, we unfortunately had no other option but to call off the race,” explained Lewin.
“The fact that this is the first race in six years as race organiser that I’ve had to cancel, goes to show that this really doesn’t happen often. However, I’m comfortable with the call that we made after consulting with water rescue crew from Marine Surf Lifesaving Club. Importantly, not only would it have been really tough conditions for paddlers to cope with but the rescue team were unable to see the turn buoys and so would have been unable to spot and assist any paddlers who may have gotten into difficulty,” he added.
Race three of the surfski series takes place at 5.30pm on Friday, 23 January at Addington Beach.
Series results
Race 1: Hank and Jenna back to winning ways
