Rice cruises to victory

FISH Hoek’s Sean Rice kicked off a month of paddling travels in ideal fashion with a hard-fought victory at Monday’s McCarthy Toyota Durban King of the Bay surfski race, race two of the Bay Union Surfski Series, while also setting an early marker ahead of this year’s ICF Surfski World Championships in Tahiti in October.

The 22km unique paddling race affords ocean racers the rare opportunity to paddle from Stella Canoe Club in Durban harbour’s silt canal, across Africa’s largest and busiest port and out the harbour mouth before taking on the open ocean stretch down to the Mngeni River mouth and back to Marine Surf Lifesaving Club.

With the race serving as the trial for the South African team to be chosen to compete at the global spectacle – of which Rice is the defending champion – and many of the sport’s top ocean racers already being in Durban due to their involvement in the 2015 SA Surf Lifesaving Champs that concluded at Suncoast Pirates on Sunday, a stellar field took to this year’s King of the Bay start line.

“I’ve always battled a bit in Durbs for some reason so it is great to come here and put in a decent performance,” said Rice afterwards.

“Having never raced King of the Bay before I’d only heard things from other guys and most had said that it was just a flatwater bunch paddling for the first seven kilometers and then the real racing starts once you get to the harbour mouth.

“That wasn’t really the case today though. The group splintered into a group of six pretty early on and we all soon realized that there were only five positions up for grabs for Worlds so it was pretty tough going,” he added.

The women’s race was a fascinating affair as Durban’s recent surge in female ocean racing talent battled it out for the overall spoils.

Race one winner Michelle Burn joined Nicole Russell, Jenna Ward and Kyeta Purchase, rowing convert Hayley Arthur and the evergreen Donna Tutton in the lead women’s bunch that tackled the harbour stretch together.

Once out the port though it was every woman for herself and Russell and Burn soon got the jump on the others.

“Once I got away from Michelle I just looked to keep going and stay focused on the finish line,” said eventual women’s race winner Russell.

“With about a kilometer to go though I turned and saw the other girls closing in on me and I knew I just had to go for it,” Russel said.

In the end Russell narrowly held off the charging chasers while a sprint finish up the beach just moments later saw Arthur narrowly edge out Ward for second while Burn crossed the line in fourth a few seconds later.

The doubles clash saw former river star turned waveski ace Ant Stott successfully team up with deep-sea fisherman and regular top surfski performer Daryl Bartho as the pair just held off a charging Irvin Dixon and Dewald Hattingh who clinched race one’s doubles spoils.

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