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 Dawid Mocke, Hank McGregor, Clint Pretorius and Ken Collins will be joining compatriots Darryl Bartho, Oscar Chalupsky and Barry Lewin in Dubai this week to participate in the inaugural Dubai Shamal surf ski race. The race is being held in Dubai, UAE on Friday 1 December 2006.
They'll be up against Ash Nesbit from Australia (and rumour has it that Tahiti-based paddler Lewis Laughlin will be there too). Contrary to previous report Dean Gardiner has confirmed that he won't be there.
Apart from the USD10,000 purse, the paddlers have plenty of motivation...
Team South Africa
Dawid Mocke came second in the 2006 South African World Cup held in Durban in July. As the only Cape-based paddler in the team, Dawid will be looking to prove himself against the Durban boys who tend to look down on the Cape. Oscar for example is on record as saying "all the best paddlers are based in Durban. There's no competition in the Cape!"
Oscar Chalupsky just confounded the pundits by winning both Australian World Cup races last weekend, doing so in less than ideal conditions - he prefers big downwind runs. He'd just love to put one over his younger rivals.
Darryl Bartho came second to Oscar in Perth by a matter of fifteen seconds on Day 1 and ten seconds on Day 2... Darryl usually beats Oscar in Durban and must be hurting after his consecutive defeats last weekend.
Clint Pretorius who with Hank McGregor won the SA double surfski championship at Knysna this last weekend beat Oscar Chalupsky to win the 2006 Molokai Crossing in Hawaii earlier this year. He came third in the SA world cup race behind Hank and Dawid. Clearly on form, he must be a contender.
The modest (and youngest SA contender) Barry Lewin came fifth in Perth. Dawid has consistently beaten Barry in their last few encounters but the young Durbanite would love to turn the tables.
Hank McGregor has to be favourite to win. His astounding 2006 season just culminated in his winning the SA Surfski doubles championship in Knysna on the same weekend as the Perth World Cup. That makes Hank the first South African to win all four national titles in the same year in K1, K2 and single and double ski. Hank beat his rivals convincingly in flat conditions at the South African surf ski world cup in Durban in July.
And that's just among the South Africans...
The Australian Contingent
Ash Nesbit came third overall in Perth last weekend, beating Herman Chalupsky by a mere second in the second race. A resident of Perth, he's been part of the Australian Marathon Kayaking team and has competed several times in the Avon Descent. According to Dean Gardiner, he "wears shirts with no sleeves and ¾ pants"... clearly a competitor of note...
Flat Water Specialists from Tahiti?
If Lewis Laughlin is there (I don't have confirmation) he could be in with a chance since conditions in Tahiti are often hot and flat - as they are almost certain to be in Dubai.
Another paddler to watch out for is US-based ex-Hungarian sprinter, Zsolt Szadovszki...
Conditions
There's not much information about the race on host Dubai Surfski and Kayak Club's website, but windguru is currently forecasting very little wind for Friday. So the conditions are likely to be hot and flat and suited to sprinters.
Who'll win?
Surfski.info's forecast is:
1. Hank McGregor
2. Dawid Mocke
3. Clint Pretorius
4. Darryl Bartho
5. Ash Nesbit
6. Barry Lewin
7. Oscar Chalupsky
Last weekend saw South Africa triumph on the Rugby field; the cricket pitch and in the Pacific Ocean... All eyes on Dubai this Friday!
Where the heck is Dubai?
Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates and is located to the south east of the Arabian Peninsula, east of Saudi Arabia and north of Oman...
For more info see: http://wikitravel.org/en/Dubai
For more info on the race, see: http://www.dskc.net/
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1 - Dawid
2 - Hank
3 - Laughlin/Bartho
Oscar will melt.