|
Sat 10th November
marked the season premier for the Southern California race series. Warm, sunny
weather made for great conditions at La Jolla Shores, San Diego where the event
was staged. With more than 250 competitors attending, it was sure to be a fast
paced race from the start.
 Southern California Surf Ski Race Series takes off
Strong Field
The day's racing began with a
short course event of approximately 6 km. Boats of all different classes took
part in this event including outriggers, surfskis, paddleboards and kneeboards.
Junior surfski paddler Ryan Stock of San Diego Canoe & Kayak Club took
first place in this event.
The long course event saw a strong field of surfski paddlers in the line-up. With
the Olympic sprint kayak training centre situated just down the road from the
race, many of the National sprint team came through to further raise the
competitive bar at the event. Some of the race favorites included: Pat Dolan
(08th at US Champs), Brandon Woods (09th at US Surfski
Champs) and Rami Zur (Kayak Olympian) - placed 10th at US surfski
champs.
 Course map
The race course began with a deep
water start, following a 16km circuit up and down the coast from a marker 1.5km
offshore. The gentle Southerly swell would offer some assistance to the wave
technicians against the current flowing down the coast. Otherwise gentle winds
would favor the flat water specialists.
Uncertain Start
As
with most deep water starts, you can never be certain that the start of the
race has been signaled. Rule of thumb though: when the rest of the field
take-off - you follow. The start was electric, with the sprinters clearly
flexing their prowess in the water. After 500m, a temporary diamond formation
was formed up front with National sprinter Jeff Smoke in the lead and Olympians
Rami Zur and Steyn alongside. Ian Gray found a place in the diamond making most
use of the wash. Pat Dolan took off on a slightly shallower line - making use
of the small swells running up the coast. Within 2km Pat had advanced 100m on
the following pack. Small patches of floating kelp made for nasty little
obstacles as even the slightest bit of drag on the boat could have huge
consequences in the fast paced race. On the approach to the turn can 8km into
the race, the field had split up somewhat, with Pat still leading, Ian in 2nd
and Rami & Jeff not far behind. At the turn, it was Pat, Jeff and Ian all
together.
 Pat Dolan leads Jeff Smoke and Ian Grey at the half-way point
Second half dice
Jeff accelerated out of the turn
with Ian and Pat holding his wash. Taking a slightly deeper line, the pace
increased as the boats now travelled with the current. I took a glance at the
Garmin - 15km/h. Within no time, the underlying kelp had found its victim. I
watched my speed drop to 13km/h and knew that I had been nabbed. A quick stop and back paddle can cost 50m in
no time. Pat was the next to fall victim as he decelerated quickly. I took the
opportunity to advance passed him with Rami not far behind me now. Jeff held a consistent
lead for most of the back stretch, powering along with his paddle shaft and
blade size at sprint setup. Rami took a shallower line on the back run, slowly
advancing up to Jeff and Ian. With 1km to go, there wasn't much in it. I knew
that I had to make a move sooner or later, or else I would be up against some
of the fastest short distance paddlers in the world to the finish. Unable to
make the advance that I would have liked, it was down to a duel between Rami
and Jeff over the last 500m stretch. Rami powered away on the small beach ward
swells and held the lead through to the finish. Jeff followed close behind and
I held my place to finish 3rd.
With
3 weeks to go to the Dubai race, this was a great event to prepare for the much
awaited International surfski event that is the Dubai Shamaal.
 US National sprinters Jeff Smoke, Rami Zur and Tim Hornsby at the race prize-giving
Results Summary
|
Place
|
Canoe
#
|
name
|
division
|
time
|
points
|
div
place
|
|
1
|
35
|
rami zur
|
ssm-o
|
1.07.09
|
12
|
1
|
|
2
|
282
|
jeff smoke
|
ssm-o
|
1.07.14
|
11
|
2
|
|
3
|
612
|
ian gray
|
ssm-o
|
1.07.35
|
10
|
3
|
|
4
|
284
|
tim hornsby
|
ssm-o
|
1.07.38
|
9
|
4
|
|
5
|
213
|
patrick dolan
|
stock//ssm-o
|
1.09.45
|
8
|
|
|
6
|
242
|
mark nicholson
|
ssm-o
|
1.11.05
|
7
|
|
|
7
|
147
|
morgan house
|
ssm-o
|
1.11.12
|
6
|
|
|
8
|
507
|
eric abbott
|
ul//ssm-o
|
1.11.107
|
5
|
|
|
9
|
276
|
anders gufstafsson
|
ssm-o
|
1.11.25
|
4
|
|
|
10
|
133
|
barlow chris
|
ssm-mstr
|
1.11.41
|
3
|
1
|
|
11
|
167
|
noah hawk
|
ssm-o
|
1.11.43
|
2
|
|
|
12
|
3
|
patrick hemmens
|
ssm-mstr
|
1.12.57
|
1
|
2
|
 |
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