Drama at Surf Ski World Cup
2 July 2007
The 2007 ARB Surf Ski World Cup, contested off Durban on Sunday, was a dramatic affair, with a howling south-westerly wind playing havoc with the field and controversy surrounding the race leaders' crossing of Durban harbour mouth, keeping the big crowd on tenterhooks for several hours.
Defending champion Hank McGregor was leading the race as he approached the southern pier of the Durban harbour mouth - at the same time as a colossal container ship was about to enter the port.
Oscar Chalupsky, who had opted to take a deeper line out to sea, arrived seconds later. Both were then under the control of the safety officials, who had the final say over whether it was safe to cross the harbour mouth or not.
Different lines
Chalupsky led the break across the mouth in front of the approaching ship, and took a well-researched oblique line, while McGregor opted to follow Chalupsky, but on a straighter and shorter route
across the harbour mouth.
"I did my homework on the last kilometre," Chalupsky said afterwards. "No one took the line that I found, and look at the difference it made."
The veteran paddler's tactics paid off, and he coasted into the windswept Vetchies Beach at Durban's Point well ahead of McGregor, who immediately made his displeasure known by protesting.
The race jury, under chairman John Parton, considered the evidence of all the officials on duty at the harbour mouth. They decided that there had been no breach of the race rules and thus turned down McGregor's objection.
Results stand
"We considered video evidence, as well as oral evidence from officials on the two boats at the harbour mouth, and the official on duty in the Millennium tower who saw the whole incident, and we have agreed that the race results should stand, and the objection is overruled," Parton said.
Chalupsky's race time was adjusted by seven seconds to
allow for the delay imposed on McGregor by officials at the harbour mouth. Despite the adjustment, Chalupsky, by following his carefully chosen line across the harbour, still managed a victory margin of almost a minute over McGregor.
Seasoned Aussie Dean Gardiner finished third, underscoring how well the experienced veterans were able to fare in the big swell conditions. Durbanite Matt Bouman was just behind him, with pre-race favourite Tim Jacobs in fifth place.
Lombard surprises
The women's title went to plucky Capetonian Alexa Lombard, whose late entry caught a lot of the top paddlers by surprise.
Still nursing a sore shoulder from an accident during January's Dusi Canoe Marathon, Lombard mastered the difficult big swells better than any of the other women to take the top honours.
A delighted Lombard said she had had no idea what position she was in during the race because the big waves and demanding swells meant she couldn't
glimpse where she was relative to the other women.
'Very tricky'
"I might as well have been fifth," she said. "It was huge out there, and very tricky."
The former world canoe marathon championships silver medallist was so concerned about her safety in the strong south-westerly that she tied herself to her ski with a roof-rack strap, which anchored her ski to a knot tied around her waist.
Michelle Eder was second in the women's race, with Tiffany Kruger claiming third.
Zululand teenager Shaun Austin took the junior honours by paddling into the top 50, finishing just behind visiting international Franck Fifils from St Martin in the Caribbean.
Andrew and Simon Blackburn were the first double ski combination home, in thirteenth place overall, while Clive Mundon and Jenny Cullinan secured the mixed doubles title.
Aussie skipper takes a swim
The strong wind and fierce swells were too much
for many in the field to handle, knocking just over 20 percent of the starters out of the race. Of the 250-odd craft that left the race start at Amanzimtoti, only 196 made it to the finish at Vetchies Beach in Durban.
Lifesavers and the National Sea Rescue Institute spent a frantic afternoon rescuing paddlers who had become separated from their skis. While all the contestants were eventually accounted for, scores of abandoned skis were washed up onto beaches south of the city.
Among the casualties was Australian team captain Dave Kissane. He was pitch-poled high into the air after his ski nosedived down a particularly steep swell, when he was right on the tail of Oscar Chalupsky.
Kissane described the incident afterwards, saying: "I heard the boat crack as it went under. The water pressure whacked a huge crack into it. I managed to get back onto the ski but, in less than a minute, I could feel that it was filling up with water, and I realised that it would be a
struggle just to get to the finish."
First to be accredited by ICF
This year, the Durban Surf Ski World Cup became the first surf ski event to be officially accredited by the International Canoe Federation (ICF).
Tim Cornish, who chairs the ICF's ocean racing working group, and is also the president of the Confederation of African Canoeing, described the decision as "fantastic news", adding: "South Africa has been leading the way in establishing world-class surf ski events for a number of years now."
The 2007 event also offered the biggest prize money in the sport, with a total purse of R221 000. Oscar Chalupsky pocketed R80 000 for his victory.
RESULTS
Men
- Oscar Chalupsky 1:39.56
- Hank McGregor 1:40.46
- Dean Gardiner (Australia) 1:40.56
- Matt Bouman 1:41.00
- Tim Jacobs (Australia) 1:41.12
- Dawid Mocke 1:41.14
- Herman Chalupsky 1:41.24
- Barry Lewin 1:41.45
- Daryl
Bartho 1:42.11
- Steve Woods 1:42.39
Women
- Alexa Lombard 2:01.17
- Michelle Eder 2:02.02
- Tiffany Kruger 2:06.17
- Danica Vorster 2:15.55
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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