San Francisco, Sunday 30 Sep 2007: In a tightly contested doubles race on the second day of the 2007 US Surfski Championships, Barry Lewin and Lewis Laughlin beat locals Zsolt Szadovszki and Robert Clegg by nine seconds...

Barry Lewin & Lewis Laughlin win the doubles race - 2007 US Surf Ski Champs (Photo: Craig Tanner)

Calm Conditions 

In similar conditions to the singles race (sunny, calm) the field of 14 doubles fought another tactical battle as they tried to find the best line through the currents.

2007 US Surf Ski Champs - Doubles Race Start (Photo: Craig Tanner)

"Zsolt and Robert went out really fast," said Barry Lewin afterwards, "but we managed to pip them to the finish." 

South Africans Daryl Bartho and Bevan Manson were also going well but tried to find a line out of the current on the last 2km stretch back to the beach.  They did get out of the current, but their line was out of the runs as well and they ended up losing out to the crews that headed straight back.

"It was great to get a bit of my own back," said Barry who was disappointed with his race the day before when he battled with the currents.   

Tight finish - Lewin/Laughlin come in ahead of Zsolt Szadovszki/Robert Clegg (Photo: Craig Tanner)

Doubles Results

1. Barry Lewin and Lewis Laughlin 58:19
   
2. Zsolt Szadovszki and Robert Clegg 58:28
   
3. Daryl Bartho and Bevan Manson 59:19
   
4. Greg Barton and Oscar Chalupsky 1:01:07
5. Carter Johnson and Ian MacKenzie 1:01:14
6. Brent Reitz and Chris Stout 1:02:38
   
7. Dave Jensen and Don Kiesling 1:02:58
   
8. DeAnne and Patrick Hemmens 1:03:43
   
9. Nicholas Hanoian and Christopher Zimmer 1:05:17
   
10. Noah Hawk and Eva Mauck 1:05:45
11. Erik Borgnes and Andy Howell 1:05:46
    
12. Katja Rademacher and Jeff Raymond 1:09:05
    
13. Dave and Michelle Woodman 1:14:42
    
14. Mike Staninec and Dan Murn 1:14:48   

Relay

Following the doubles race, the paddlers teamed up for a fun relay race - each member of the team of four paddled a 2km lap.

Results:

1. Team Ocean Paddlesports (Daryl Bartho, Lewis Laughlin, Barry Lewin, Rami Zur) 40:57
   
2. Team Epic (Greg Barton, Oscar Chalupsky, Robert Clegg, Bevan Manson) 41:01
   
3. Team "Continental Drift" (Erik Borgnes, Ian Gray, Carter Johnson, Zsolt Szadovszki) 43:14
   
4. Team Puerto Rico (Hector Cartegena, Federico Muskus, Joel Padro, Jaime Ponce) 44:46
   
5. Team Tahiti (3) (Pierre Ferrand, Giles Guedikian, Julien Torregrossa) 45:00
   
6. "Men in Tights" (Chris Heath, Dave Jensen, Brent Reitz, Craig Tanner) 46:15
7. "Dose Guys" (Ken Kortkamp, Bob Lambrose, Peter Rudnick, Jude Turczynski) 50:57
   
8. "Hammer Time" (Dan Coupland, Scott Kelly, John Kinn, Roger Dunn) 51:58
9. "2 bad Mikes & Co." (Rachel Lindvall, Mish Riszkiewicz, Mike Singleton, Susan Starbird) 58:20

Fenn Hotspots

Commenting on the innovative Fenn Hotspot in the singles race, Barry said, "The hotspot really changes things - the guys started like it was a sprint race, it was incredible!"

For more info see: www.ussurfski.com 

Next Race: Dubai Shamaal

The next race in the Surfski.info World Rankings, the Dubai Shamaal, takes place on 30 November 2007 in Dubai, UAE.  In this race there will be three Fenn Hotspots, each presenting the paddlers with a tactical decision - do they sprint for the hotspot or do they conserve energy and go for the big win?   

(The Shamaal Anchorman competition which sees one lucky winner being flown all expenses paid to Dubai and being given an Epic V10 Elite to race and keep - a prize worth some $12,000 - closes on 15 October.  Enter the competition on www.surfski.info.)

Comments (2)

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Looking from a distance - Yep, from the Philippines
written by Mark Bata, October 02, 2007

Great paddlers teaming up together... wow! It looked like you guys had fun. Can we see a video clip of Oscar and Greg? 2 champs in one ski, thats a sight to see.

Husband and wife tandem Hemmens, now that's a real partnership. Wish my wife can paddle as well.... hmmm.... Not sure now if that's a good idea.

Brent Reitz, Zsolt Z, Carter Johnson, Rami Zur, Lewis L, guys from SA... all big names in the paddling scene. Interesting to see what happened during the relay games. We want to see who had fun and who was just dead serious in winning. hahahaha Who's going to upload the video?

All the Best,

Mark

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The Odd Couple
written by Gib Bintliff, October 05, 2007

Greg Barton and the "Big O" on the same ski - Neil Simon must be elated that two talents of their stature are reviving his play, The Odd Couple.

And yes, Oscar is Oscar.

(What I would give for an uncensored transcript of the their conversations during the race!)

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