• Home
• | Terms & conditions
• | Contact us
• | RSS

All set for Durban Surfski World Cup

14 May 2010

The huge field that has entered the 2010 Dunlop Surfski World Cup has begun to gather in Durban ahead of the ISPA World Series tour event on Sunday, with R120 000 in prize money up for grabs.

The Spanish and French teams jetted into Durban earlier this week, despite worries about the resurgent volcanic ash clouds interfering with their flights, while the top local racers, most of whom feature prominently on the current men's and women's world series top 10 rankings, have also started assembling in Durban, and tripping the likely northerly course.

With the men's winner set to bank a R40 000 purse, there is substantial interest from global pacesetters, including the reigning world series champion Dawid Mocke of Fish Hoek, Cape Town, and the winner of the World series pipe-opener EuroChallenge in Spain earlier this month.

Global benchmark

The Durban event has been a global benchmark for international surfski races for several years. Often held in big downwind conditions, and over a 30-kilometre course that is longer than most international surfski races, the event has a reputation for rewarding fit endurance paddlers well schooled in the art of deep ocean surfski paddling.

Initially run by Surfski.info founder Rob Mousley, the fledgling World Series rapidly expanded and accumulated events with substantial dollar-based prize pools. The International Surfski Paddling Association (ISPA) was founded in 2009 and has regulated the world tour into eight events annually, including the Dunlop Surfski World Cup Durban.

Attracting well over 250 paddlers and being home to a significant number of the global pacesetters in the sport, the South African leg of the ISPA is a significant event sure to deliver highly competitive racing.

Molokai Challenge

This is despite the overlap with the Molokai Challenge crossing in Hawaii, which is held on the same day as the Dunlop Surfski World Cup and has secured entries from a number of elite Australian and New Zealand racers, in part because of the shorter travelling distances to Hawaii.

"The usual July date for the Durban event was not possible in 2010 because of the Fifa Soccer World Cup," said race convener Billy Harker. "It left us with very little option but to hold the race earlier, and if we could have, we would have avoided the overlap with the Molokai."

"The 2011 calendar will see the schedule return to normal, which we are looking forward to," he added.

The Dunlop Surfski World Cup Durban takes place on Sunday, 16 May over a distance on 32 kilometres.

ISPA World Series
[Best 4 results count]

Perth World Cup (Australia), 16 Jan

EuroChallenge (Spain), 1 May

Dunlop World Cup (South Africa), 16 May

Molokai Challenge (Hawaii), 16 May

US Surfski Champs (USA), 21 Aug

Mauritius Ocean Classic (Mauritius), 23 Sep

Dragon Run (Hong Kong), 27 Nov

Dubai Shamaal (UAE), 2 Dec

PRIZE MONEY

MEN

1. R40 000

2. R20 000

3. R10 000

4. R 7 500

5. R 5 000

6. R 3 000

WOMEN

1. R10 000

2. R 5 000

3. R 2 000

U/18

1. R1 500

2. R 750

3. R 500

Veteran

1. R1 500

2. R1 000

3. R 500

Master

1. R1 000

2. R 500

3. R 250

B-Grade

1. R 500

2. R 250

C-Grade

1. R 500

2. R 250

D-Grade

1. R 500

2. R 250

Doubles

1. R2 000

2. R1 500

3. R1 000

Mixed Doubles

1. R1 500

2. R1 000

3. R 500

Veteran Double

1. R1 500

2. R1 000

3. R 500

Master Double

1. R1 000

2. R 500

SAinfo reporter