Victory for uMhlanga paddler

KWAZULU-Natal’s paddlers got the FNB Durban Downwind Surfski Series underway on Sunday with the Halfway Toyota Scottburgh Classic which saw uMhlanaga’s Matt Bouman, and Michelle Burn clinch the men’s and women’s titles respectively while the rest of the field soaked up the day’s spectacular conditions.

Postcard-perfect turquoise water, bright sunshine and warm temperatures created the idyllic setting in which the South Coast contest unfolded as paddlers tackled the four lap, 20km course at Scottburgh’s Main Beach.

Former international surf lifesaving Ironman sensation Wade Krieger went to the front early on before Bouman took control of proceedings at the start of the penultimate lap and charged away to claim a comprehensive victory.

“That was probably the most exquisitely beautiful day planet Earth has seen in the past millennium,” Bouman described colourfully.

“The conditions were probably the highlight of the day because unfortunately the racing wasn’t very exciting. It was long, hard and arduously boring but – in a strange, twisted way, I guess it was also quite nice,” he said.

With regular top performer Hank McGregor attending the weekend’s national Canoe Sprint trials, Bouman was left to race against the clock once he broke free of his nearest challengers.

“I’m training pretty hard at the moment as I work towards my year’s bigger picture plan but these races still fit into that plan really nicely and it’s great to finish the week off with a good, tough session like this.Hopefully we get some wind for the rest of this downwind series though.”

Amanzimtoti flyer Michelle Burn cruised to an unrivalled victory in the women’s race as she looked to use the downwind surfski series opener to build towards her longer assignments that loom on the horizon.

“The race was a bit further than I’d anticipated so it was quite tough but it was good preparation for the longer races like next weekend’s Seabreeze Build it 5 Beaches and the Mauritius Classic that is coming up soon,” said Burn.

“It was a bit disappointing more girls weren’t able to make it to the race and their absence meant I had to look to race against the guys. I got into a decent bunch from the start and we all worked together quite nicely but while there runs in both directions, you had to work really hard to get onto them so it was still quite a tough paddle,” she said.

The final race date and venue will be announced on the series’ Facebook page on Thursday while more information can be found at www.durbandownwind.co.za