Brad Morgan
3 December 2007
Dubai is the land of shopping and big cheques and it provided the background for South Africa’s Dawid Mocke to collect the biggest cheque ever for a surfski race when he outduelled compatriot Hank McGregor to win R135 000 for victory in the Dubai Shamaal race on Friday afternoon.
The two fought a race-long battle for superiority, with the result of the 20 kilometre event only being finalised within a few hundred metres of the finish.
From the gun, the top paddlers formed a lead group, with the only surprise coming from US Champion and current World Championship Rankings' leader Lewis Laughlin from Tahiti, who was not among the leaders.
The Tahitian was one of the favourites and was expected to push the leaders hard, but strangely he was never anywhere near the front during the race.
Hotspot winner
McGregor was the strong man into the powerful 18-knot wind and picked up all three hotspots on the
eight kilometre upwind grind, to have $3 000 (about R20 000) in his pocket before the turn for the 12 kilometre downwind leg to the finish.
The former world marathon canoeing champion was able to pick up the pace when he needed to get ahead of the pack as they approached the hotspots, but the effort he used in collecting the sprint bonuses may have proved his undoing after they turned and the pace increased further.
With a tailwind, the tempo intensified after the turn, and soon after rounding the buoy Mocke opened up a narrow lead over McGregor, followed by Oscar Chalupsky in third on a different line, and then Australian Tim Jacobs, and South Africans Herman Chalupsky and Darryl Bartho.
Duel
Running with the wind, the race soon developed into a two-horse duel with McGregor and Mocke fighting it out in a head-to-head battle, while Chalupsky attempted to pull them back by finding a extra wind or current on a different line into the
finish.
It seemed to work for a while as the experienced 44-year-old halved the leaders' advantage, but he could not make the transition and over the final few kilometres dropped back to fifth behind Jacobs and Herman Chalupsky, who won a sprint to the line between the two brothers.
Up front, Mocke edged into the lead soon after the turn, and while McGregor continued to push him hard, Mocke was always in command.
The lead yoyoed as the pair struggled for superiority, but despite slightly differing lines which had the paddlers about 50 metres apart at times, Mocke was never in trouble.
However, it was not until the final 100 metres that it became clear he would pick up the biggest cheque in surfski racing.
Victory in Hong Kong
It was Mocke's second big win in succession, coming on the back of his victory in the inaugural Dragon Run surfski race in Hong Kong on 24 November.
It was dominating performance from Mocke, who dedicated the win to his wife Nikki and her Olympic dreams; after picking up $5 000 for the victory and a further $1 000 for winning the hotspot prize, he gave her the prize money to help her make it to the Beijing Olympics.
Following the Cape Town native over the line was Lewis Laughlin, with two hardy old sea dogs, SA's Oscar Chalupsky and his longtime Australian rival Dean Gardiner, ending third and fourth respectively.
Dubai Shamaal results
Dragon Run results
SAinfo reporter
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