Another powerful display by Mother Nature during Friday evening’s third race of the 2015 Illovo Suncoast Pirates Wall and Back Surfski Series was met with an equally impressive outing by Michelle Burn as she overcame the challenging conditions to clinch her second race victory of this year’s series respectively.
With a strong North Easterly wind having blown all day and very high tides combining to form a large shore and mid-break, paddlers were forced to tackle some testing conditions at both the start and finish of the clash.
The women’s contest saw Burn claim an unchallenged race win over Fenn Kayaks teammates Kyeta Purchase and Jenna Ward, however it wasn’t without drama for the Amanzimtoti resident.
“I got out at the start really cleanly and then had a nice paddle with there being bumps going in both directions, so it was really fun,” said Michelle.
“I misjudged the flags at the finish though and so I tried to turn right and keep going a little further before coming and that’s when I looked back and realised I was right in the impact zone and had to jump out of my ski at the top of quite a big wave.
I tried to turn my ski around and head back out to sea again, but by then it was a little too late. I lost hold of my ski and so it was a long swim to shore.
I’m just so grateful both myself and my ski are all in one piece though.”
Michelle feels she is now nearing full strength again, having taken some time to return to peak condition after the birth of her daughter recently.
“I tried to spend as much time in the boat as I could ahead of the Fish (River Canoe Marathon) and then I did Dolphin Coast, so I think I’ve got quite a good base again and I’m starting to get a lot stronger again.
I’m trying to keep things ticking over as best I can at the moment because as a family we leave in a few weeks’ time for a two week trip to Australia where Oliver and I will be doing the Perth Doctor.”
The fourth race of the 2015 Illovo Suncoast Pirates Wall and Back Surfski Series takes place at 5.30pm on Friday, 5 November at Suncoast Pirates, Battery Beach. More information can be found at www.wallandback.co.za.
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