Oscar, as we all know, won last weekend's ARB Surf Ski World Cup.  Dawid, who until then had headed the Surfski.info World Rankings, came sixth - further back than he's been for a long time.

Both men have posted the data from their Garmin Forerunner HR monitor/GPS units.  How do they compare?

What a difference a day makes. 

Sunday morning dawned full of promise.  The front arrived during the night, the West wind was blowing strongly, and the chilly grey dawn sat at odds with the excitement and anticipation I was feeling.  After months of waiting and hoping for thrilling downwind conditions, Durban was poised to deliver... 

Monday morning was like waking from a bad dream - an incomplete race, a missing ski, and the hollow emptiness of my disappointment.  This is my World Cup story.

[Editor: 52kph on a surf ski?  Impossible!  Well, Malcolm "Goblin" Stewart has some compelling evidence - and a hilarious story - to share following the hectic ARB Surf Ski World Cup last Sunday.  Read on...]

For me Sunday's race was one of the wildest, most exhilarating downwind runs I have ever experienced.  In Cape Town we think we have pretty exciting downwind runs, but I finally have to admit that a "proper downwind" in Durban is something different.

Here are some more photos, some of which give a good idea of what the conditions were like on the water.