[Editor: South Australia?  Did you read that right?  Yep, you sure did - Ocean Racing has arrived in Adelaide where they just had their first surf ski race ever...]

South Australia Ocean Series Inaugural Race (Photo: Carolyn Cooper)

South Australian Ocean Series - Marc Brehin reports:

Saturday October 13^th saw the inaugural event of a three-race series hosted by Encounter Paddling in conjunction with the Glenelg Surf club and the Surf Life Saving Association.

The race was the first of its type in South Australia and was preceded by a seminar hosted by Dean Gardiner which included footage of major events and an on water session.

Dean Gardiner (Photo: Carolyn Cooper)

The race was a great success with all paddlers keen to spread the word and looking forward to the next race in the series, the Four Island Classic. There was also much talk about future courses which would optimise downwind conditions.

Charging for the finish (Photo: Carolyn Cooper)

Results

[Editor: Dean Gardiner won the race in a time of 1:09:27 but came second to Stephen Perry (1:12:33) after the handicap rules had been applied...  (Handicaps were applied based on the ski type - see the website for details.)  Note that Dean was paddling a Robberg Express not a "Rossberg" as quoted in the results!]

Current and Future Paddling Greats

The South Australian Ocean series is a three race series aimed at introducing ocean racing to the paddling community. South Australia hosts many current and future paddling greats. Many of last weekend's paddlers have made Australian sprint and marathon kayaking teams. The field also included many developing juniors who also have made Australian teams.

Dean Gardiner (2nd) and Steve Perry (1st) (Photo: Carolyn Cooper)

Visit by Oscar Chalupsky in December?

The next race in our series is a much anticipated event and will be held in January next year. We are hopeful that Oscar may pay us a visit in December prior to the Perth event. I had the pleasure of meeting Oscar at last year's World Marathon champs and he was then keen to assist in the promotion of the sport. Associated series organiser (Steve Dalton) has been in indirect contact with him and looks forward to his visit.

Dubai Shamaal & Molokai

Regarding major events, there was much talk of the Dubai-Shamaal and of Molokai. I don't expect any of our paddlers will be making the trip to Dubai this November but you are certain to meet some of our ranks in the very near future, as paddlers are lured by the overwhelming fun, excitement (and prize money) of this developing paddle sport.

For more info, see: http://www.encounter.canoe.org.au/default.asp?Page=13415

2007 HAYDEN VIC SKI SERIES 2007 returns with new format.

The Hayden Vic Ski Series is returning in 2007 at a new location, Albert Park. This will be the events second year running and is expected to attract the best ski and kayak paddlers from around Victoria. The more centralized and visible location will be an attractive location to showcase the sport and will enable spectators a closer view of the action. Points will be allocated for sprint stages as well as finishing position over the two events. Effectively enabling the best overall sprinter, middle distance and tactical paddler an opportunity to showcase their efforts. The event will be exciting and is open to all paddlers.

• Race 1: 10.30am, 4^th November 2007
• Race 2: 10.30am, 2^nd December 2007

For more information including categories and age groups please refer to:

www.teammarketing.com.au

or contact:

Comments (3)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story!
written by Peter Smith, October 21, 2007

".... first surf ski race ever" ?????

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

First ski race?
written by Rob Mousley, October 21, 2007

or not. Who cares? The point is that this is a new series and it sounds as though there hasn't been much in the way of ocean racing in Adelaide up to now. Isn't it great that there IS this new series?

We'd like to encourage it! Let's hear from you - if there have been ocean races before, or if you have constructive criticism on how we report, by all means, give us a shout.

Cheers, Rob

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Not the first ski race
written by Rob Mousley, October 26, 2007

As Peter says, we weren't accurate with our comment that this was the first surf ski race ever in Adelaide - Surf Lifesaving, including ski racing has been alive and well for many years in South Oz...

I'll take the hit for that - the event organisers didn't claim the "first surf ski race", I inferred it.

So - apologies for the inaccurate claim. But it is a new series at least, and that's great for the sport & great for Adelaide!

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

Add Comment