SA wins Durban Surf Ski World Cup
3 July 2006
Hank McGregor bagged the biggest purse in global surf ski racing after a thrilling duel with Dawid Mocke in the ARB Electrical Surf Ski World Cup that ended at Durban's Bay of Plenty on Sunday.
Mocke started the 32-kilometre race from Westbrook Beach to Durban at a furious pace, and 20 minutes into the race he had opened up a 300-metre lead.
However, it was clear that he was not going to able to maintain that blinding pace for more than two hours, particularly as Mother Nature contrived to produce a hot day with absolutely no assistance in the form of downwind runs, and largely flat ocean conditions.
Dominated by young speed merchants
That meant that the wily paddlers that profit from big downwind runs were always going to be at a disadvantage, and Oscar Chalupsky and his decades-old Australian adversary Dean Gardiner were not factors in the race, which was dominated by younger speed merchants in the flat
conditions.
Herman Chalupsky opted for a brave gamble by heading far offshore in search of some help from the ocean swell, to no avail, particularly as he had to come in to round the buoy off the Umhlanga lighthouse.
McGregor set off in hot pursuit of Mocke early on, before opting to wait and form a chasing bunch that included Matt Bouman, Clint Pretorius and Barry Lewin, and they worked together cleverly to gradually shrink Mocke's lead.
Chasing group
Lewin was the first to drop off the chasing group, followed by Bouman. Eventually McGregor and Pretorius, after working together for a vital section of the race, agreed that it was time to catch Mocke in an all-out effort.
That saw McGregor charge after Mocke alone, and he caught him off La Lucia, after which the pair played cat-and-mouse with one another, searching for any sign of weakness in their opponent, as it was clear that the winner would be decided from these two
adversaries.
They tested each other, like well matched heavyweights sizing each other up, until McGregor made his break 20 minutes from the end.
Victory salute
He was first to round the Bay of Plenty Pier, where a massive and expectant crowd was awaiting the single ski champion's arrival, and had enough of a lead to afford himself the luxury of a victory salute as he slipped inside the backline, and paddled to the finish line on the beach.
Mocke eventually finished just less than a minute behind, with Clint "Lightie" Pretorius in third and the top under-21 finisher. A strong finish put Barry Lewin in fourth, ahead of Darryl Bartho in fifth, which wrapped up the team title for South Africa.
"It was a very tough race," admitted McGregor afterwards. "With the flat conditions it was always going to come down to who was fitter and stronger on the day, and I was fortunate to be able to get away in the end."
Raised the bar
He also stressed that the event had raised the bar for surf ski paddling globally, as it strives for formal recognition and its own official world championships. "This is effectively a world championship, which makes the win really sweet", said McGregor afterwards.
Matt Bouman was the first of many paddlers to misjudge the surf on the final paddle into the beach and capsized in the backline. Fortunately, his awesome lifesaving skills enabled him to swim after his ski, and salvage his sixth place from Brett Bartho by just seven seconds.
Women's title
Capetonian Nikki Mocke produced a magnificent performance to take the women's title, as she made steady ground away from the other women to win by seven minutes from Peninsula clubmate Donia Kamstra, with another Cape paddler, Michelle Eray, a further three minutes back in third.
"I was getting a stiff neck from looking around to try and see
where the other girls were," joked Mocke afterwards. She settled into a rhythm with a male competitor which helped her maintain her determined stroke-rate all the way to the finish.
Tahitian ski paddling legend Lewis Laughlan was the first international home, winning a dice to the line with Oscar Chalupsky to finish in ninth place overall. Tommy Woodriff finished strongly for Australia in thirteenth.
RESULTS
Men
- Hank McGregor (RSA) 2:11.57
- Dawid Mocke 2:12.52
- Clint Pretorius (RSA) 2:15.01
- Barry Lewin (RSA) 2:16.25
- Darryl Bartho (RSA) 2:16.55
- Matthew Bouman 2:17.51
- Brett Bartho (RSA Res) 2:17.58
- Lewin Laughlin (Tahiti) 2:18.09
- Oscar Chalupsky (RSA) 2:18.16
- Herman Chalupsky (RSA) 2:18.59
Women
- Nikki Mocke 2:25.04
- Donia Kamstra 2:32.44
- Michelle Eray 2:36.00
- Jenna Worlock (RSA) 2:37.25
- Tiffany Kruger 2:39.50
- DeAnne Hemmens (USA)
2:40.30
- Michelle Eder (RSA) 2:41.33
- Nathalie Veckranges 2:53.35
Double Skis
- Murray Smith/Andre Pohl 2:12.01
- Warren Jacobs/Piers Cruikshanks 2:13.58
- Gary Waud/Glenn Hilliar 2:19.56
Source: Surf Ski World Cup
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