Michael Zoetmulder, head of the organising committee for the 2006 PE to EL Surf Ski Challenge, has announced the dates and some further details...

The race will be run from 13^th to 16^th December with 17^th December allocated as a reserve day.

As we all know, Surf Ski is growing as a sport.  But that growth is presenting race organisers with a dilemma. More and more paddlers want to enter the "classic" races like the Cape Point Challenge and the PE to EL Challenge.  But these races have reputations for extreme conditions, both in terms of endurance and the sea states that can occur on the course.

Gavin Searle announced last night that more than 300 paddlers have entered the Surf Ski World Cup race to be held in Durban next Sunday, 2 July.

The full list of entries as at 25 June may be seen here. 

Current forecast conditions are for light winds with 1.5m swell.  For the WindGuru forecast for Durban, click here. 

Just over a week until the South African Surf Ski World Cup in Durban...

Representatives of five overseas countries will be taking part in this years race: USA, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia and France.

(For a complete list of entries, see www.surfskiworldcup.com.)

And the teams are: 

Herman Chalupsky has been named captain of the South African team to take on the best surf ski paddlers in the World during the Surf Ski World Cup in Durban on 2 July, and he is confident that South Africa can dominate the competition.

The 41-year-old will lead a powerful squad, selected at the recent national trials, of two senior men's teams, a women's team, an under-21 team, and a Chairman's team.

The national side consists of Chalupsky, Hank McGregor, Darryl Bartho, and the new Molokai champion Clint Pretorius, with Jenna Worlock and Michelle Eder making up the SA women's team.

The organisers of the SA World Cup have issued an appeal to paddlers to complete their registration forms for the SA World Cup to be run in Durban, South Africa on 2 July 2006.

ENTRIES CLOSE ON 15 JUNE 2006...

Although teams have been entered from SA, USA, FRANCE, NZ, AUSTRALIA , HONG KONG , TAHITI, as at 1 June 2006, only fourteen paddlers have completed their registration forms!

Come on guys, pull finger, head on over to the registration website (see below) and book your place.

Race 2 of the Discovery Men's Health Series in Durban, April 30 2006... 

The waves at Dairy Beach were massive - 6ft according to eye witnesses...  Nevertheless, 280 paddlers made it to the backline to do the race, which by all accounts was fantastic fun for the paddlers and spectators alike.

Billy Harker, race organiser, sent us these photos of a couple of intrepid paddlers going out through the break.