Chalupskys blitz Kauai relay
Brad Morgan
10 May 2004
Team Chalupsky, Oscar and Herman, made a big splash at the second annual Steinlager Kauai World Challenge, a 55-kilometre relay race off the scenic island of Kauai, just a week before the famous Molokai Challenge on 16 May.
After a close-fought first half of the race they pulled away to win the title by 13 minutes over the Team Australia combination of Dean Gardiner and Dave Kissane.
The race offers US$20 000 in prize money, the largest purse for a paddling event in Hawaii. This year for the first time it featured a handful of top international surf ski paddlers in the field of 109 teams.
The format calls for each member of the two-man squad to alternate during the four stages along the coast.
Gardiner and Kissane of Team Australia, and the South African stars, Oscar and Herman Chalupsky, the pre-race favourites, were virtually dead even at the end of the second leg, with younger brother Herman holding a two-boat lead over Dave
Kissane, the winner of the popular Men's Health Racing Series. Herman then handed over to Oscar, the 10-time Molokai Champion.
Dead heating
Halfway through the race, the hot, windless conditions that racers endured early on turned worse when the wind picked up strength and uncharacteristically blew into the paddlers' faces.
Earlier, the elder Chalupsky had struggled to find his rhythm during his first eight-kilometre leg, and handed off to Herman in a virtual dead heat with his long-time rival Gardiner, who has won nine World Surf Ski Titles, second all-time to Oscar Chalupsky.
Ten minutes into his 20-kilometre pull, Herman opened up a gap on Kissane, and never looked back. At the changeover, brother Oscar was unaware that Herman had handed him a nearly insurmountable nine-minute lead.
Gardiner, fresh off a big win at the World Cup surf ski race in Cape Town last month, came home 13 minutes behind Team Chalupsky. The winning
duo from Durban finished in four hours, 10 minutes, nearly 40 minutes ahead of the third-place team from Hawaii.
'I went as hard as I could'
"The relay format is unique, since you have no chance to talk to your fellow paddler", Oscar Chalupsky said afterwards. "Since I had no idea how much of a lead I had over Gardiner, I went as hard as I could."
He battled to sight the finish in the three-metre swells, and was able to relax only when he saw the cheering mob at the finish.
Said Herman Chalupsky: "It was a great event. I enjoyed the relay format and, while I was expecting a tough battle with Kissane, it was a great morale boost heading into Molokai."
The 55-kilometre race from the island of Molokai to the island of Oahu across the legendary Molokai Channel is considered the unofficial world championship of open ocean paddling. Last year, victory went to
Oscar after a tough duel against Dean Gardiner.
Canoeing South Africa
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