THE final race of the 2015 FNB Durban Downwind Series (World Series event) saw some fantastic downwind conditions as paddlers made their way from La Mercy on the North Coast to the Marine Surf Lifesaving Club on Saturday.
With a strong field of downwind paddlers, Toti Canoe Club again had good representation with the likes of Olli Burn, Gene Prato and Quinton Rutherford all hoping to claim a top 10 finish, Gavin Smith proving to the younger guys that skill is as much of importance as speed, Michelle Burn targeting and claiming a second World Series win in as many weeks and the double paring of Ross Fountain / Brett Hadiaris in a head-to-head battle with newly paired river masters of Matt Collins and top 10 Dusi winner Carl Folcher.
Australian Michael Booth narrowly claimed a beach sprint over Matt Bouman with Toti’s Michelle Burn showing her class to claim victory in the women’s race, while Toti’s Brett Hadiaris and Ross Fountain revelled in the conditions to take first place in the doubles category on Saturday.
With some sizable swell at La Mercy, the race organisers decided to have a deep water start and allow all the paddlers to get out to backline in their own time. This unfortunately ended Olli’s race when the shore ‘broke’ his craft, ending his race before it began. Unfortunate to say the least as Olli is in great form and took 11th spot in the Mauritius World Series the same time last week.
With some World Surfski Series points on the line, Fenn Kayak’s Michelle Burn once again proved she is in the form of her life as she pulled off her second masterclass race in two weeks to back up her win in Mauritius last weekend. However she was quick to say that the conditions were in her favour. “The conditions in the past two weeks have definitely given me a bit of an advantage considering that I enjoy a bit of a bump and I am sure if it had been flatter, we could have seen different results.
“I haven’t had as much time in the boat as a lot of the other girls so being able to use my wave riding skills was something I could rely on and not just pure fitness so that was good for me,” she explained.
Although she was well clear of Nikki Russell, who finished second, Burn did not see the race as that straight-forward and spent a bit of the race having to battle to pick up some runs as well as getting in a good enough position for the run in to Marine.
“It was not as simple as it could have been,” she chuckled. “It was some hard work out there but it seemed like it was hard for a lot of paddlers. “I had a little swim at the beginning but it wasn’t a problem and I’m just really happy with the win.”
FNB Durban Downwind Surfski Race
Race five of the FNB Durban downwind surfski series results:
Men: First Michael Booth (AUS) 1.28.47, second Matthew Bouman 1.28.50, third Dawid Mocké 1.29.38, fourth Jasper Mocké 1.30.36, fifth Tom Schilperoot 1.30.49, sixth Mark Anderson (AUS) 1.31.24, seventh Herman Chalupsky 1.34.05, eighth Wade Krieger 1.34.31, ninth Gene Prato (Toti) 1.36.17, 10th Mark Keeling 1.38.57.
Women: First Michelle Burn (Toti) 1.46.26, second Nikki Russell 1.49.50, third Danica Bartho 1.54.12, fourth Sharon Armstrong 1.58.00.
Doubles: First Ross Fountain and Brett Hadiaris (Toti) 1.34.38, second Bryce Hatton and Marc Stanton 1.35.34, third Matthew Collins and Carl Folscher (Toti) 1.38.51.
