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The Dragon has roared!
The inaugural Hong Kong Dragon Run was a great success by all accounts -
perfect conditions, tough competition, brilliant organisation...
 Dawid Mocke wins the 2007 Dragon Run (Pic: Graham Uden)
When Billy Harker, race director (and the commentator for our
live race coverage) said that Dawid had taken a deep line after the Fenn
Hotspot buoy, Mocke fans all over the world must have wondered why. The answer was simple: Dawid had done his
homework over the previous few days. "I
knew that was where the fastest water was!" he said afterwards.
Dawid's race went exactly according to plan. "I knew Ken Wallace from Australia was going
to be fastest off the line at the beginning and I just tried to stay with him
on the way out," he said.
The bumpy conditions were to his liking and he passed Ken
well before the Fenn Hotspot, creating a considerable lead by the time he
reached the buoy first to win the $1000 hotspot prize.
Then came the downwind leg and he took the deeper line and
extended his lead. "I wanted a lead on
Lewis Laughlin coming into the flat," he said.
Tahitian Lewis has a formidable reputation for his speed on flat
water. The last time he and Dawid raced
together at the 2007 Molokai Challenge, Lewis overtook Dawid late in the race to
win - on flat water.
By the time he reached "Satellite Bay" some 7km from the
finish Dawid had a lead of some 1:15 on Lewis.
In the smoother water Lewis made up some ground, but Dawid crossed the line
52 seconds ahead of his rival - his tactics playing off to perfection.
In the post-race interview, Dawid dedicated the race to his
wife Nikki and said the US$5000 and the US$1000 Fenn Hotspot bonus would be
going to Nikki's Olympic campaign.
(Nikki has qualified for the Beijing Olympics in K4.)
Lewis
Lewis was full of praise for the other paddlers, singling
out the veterans Oscar Chalupsky and Dean Gardiner.
"I just tried to hang on," he said. "Dawid was strong the
whole way; he deserved his win."
Oscar
Oscar enjoyed the course.
"The wind had died a bit," he said, "but there were bumps the whole
way. I found the last 6km just too
hard. I tried to catch Lewis but left it
too late."
Oscar was on an inside line near the start of the downwind
leg when a passenger ship passed in front of him. Dean Gardiner, who was with him at the time,
turned to go around the back of the ship.
Oscar elected to slow down and wait for it to go past, but he hadn't
counted on the massive wake that it was pushing up.
"The wave was huge," he said, "like a six foot shore
break! It broke right over me."
He had to work hard to catch up to Dean and rode his wake
for a while before dropping him to attack Lewis. He'd left it too late and finished the race
in third position.
"It was a good training session," he said.
Race Photos
The magnificent photos below were taken by the race photographer,
Graham Uden. Enjoy!
Graham's website is at: http://www.grahamuden.com and he can be contacted at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Official Results
|
Place
|
Name
|
Country
|
Race No.
|
SS/OC
|
Time
|
|
1
|
Dawid Mocke
|
Sth Africa
|
0
|
Fenn Mako6
|
1:46:30
|
|
2
|
Lewis Laughlin
|
Tahiti
|
4
|
Fenn Mako6
|
1:47:25
|
|
3
|
Oscar Chalupsky
|
Sth Africa
|
1
|
Epic V10 Elite
|
1:48:25
|
|
4
|
Dean Gardner
|
Aust
|
6
|
Fenn Mako6
|
1:48:59
|
|
5
|
Ken Wallace
|
Aust
|
9
|
Fenn Mako6
|
1:49:45
|
|
6
|
Bevan Manson
|
Sth Africa
|
5
|
Epic V10 Ultra
|
1:51:24
|
|
7
|
Michael Baker
|
Aust
|
64
|
Honcho Oceans Pro
|
1:51:30
|
|
8
|
David Provan
|
Aust
|
62
|
Fenn Mako6
|
1:57:43
|
|
9
|
Ken Collins
|
Sth Africa
|
7
|
Epic V10L Ultra
|
2:01:50
|
|
10
|
Rene Appel
|
Hong Kong
|
3
|
Epic V10 Ultra
|
2:04:28
|
|
11
|
Paul Etherington
|
Hong Kong
|
10
|
Epic V10 Ultra
|
2:06:25
|
|
12
|
Jon Dingley
|
Hong Kong
|
2
|
Epic V10 Ultra
|
2:07:08
|
|
13
|
Andrew Orr
|
Hong Kong
|
42
|
Epic V10L Ultra
|
2:08:20
|
|
14
|
Rob Wall
|
Hong Kong
|
59
|
Epic V10 Ultra
|
2:10:15
|
|
15
|
Scott Callender
|
Singapore
|
33
|
Epic V10L Ultra
|
2:11:40
|
|
16
|
George Christofis
|
Hong Kong
|
37
|
Epic V10L Ultra
|
2:16:10
|
|
17
|
Dan Fedoruk
|
Hong Kong
|
44
|
Hurricane OC1
|
2:17:44
|
|
18
|
Byron Ho
|
Hawaii
|
15
|
Outrigger Connection Zephyr
|
2:18:25
|
|
19
|
Andrew Cummings
|
Hong Kong
|
13
|
Hurricane OC1
|
2:20:00
|
|
20
|
Mark Pollard
|
Hong Kong
|
14
|
Kai Wa’a Pegasus
|
2:22:40
|
|
21
|
Simon Parker
|
Hong Kong
|
49
|
Epic V10 Sport Performance
|
2:23:40
|
|
22
|
Brian Boatman
|
USA
|
20
|
Outrigger Connection Fuze
|
2:24:30
|
|
23
|
John Bennett
|
Hong Kong
|
22
|
Epic V10 Sport Performance
|
2:25:00
|
|
24
|
Lee Mussi
|
Hong Kong
|
8
|
Outrigger Connection Fuze
|
2:26:25
|
|
25
|
Jason Henchman
|
Hong Kong
|
52
|
Fenn Mako6
|
2:27:20
|
|
26
|
Syun Sirahata
|
Japan
|
24
|
V10L Performance
|
2:27:30
|
|
27
|
Nick Barnes
|
Hong Kong
|
63
|
Hurricane OC1
|
2:28:15
|
|
28
|
Mitsunobu Gohda
|
Japan
|
47
|
Fenn MakoXT
|
2:34:10
|
|
29
|
Leon Rossbotham
|
International Man of Mystery
|
58
|
Hurricane OC1
|
2:34:30
|
|
30
|
Daryl Remmler
|
Canada
|
55
|
Think EVO
|
2:34:35
|
|
31
|
Luke Beadle
|
Singapore
|
45
|
Epic V10L Ultra
|
2:35:25
|
|
32
|
Wan Sing Yu
|
Hong Kong
|
57
|
Think EVO
|
2:35;49
|
|
33
|
Peter Grout
|
Hong Kong
|
12
|
Custom Kayaks Mark 1
|
2:36:00
|
|
34
|
Fumito Kan
|
Japan
|
46
|
Fenn MakoXT
|
2:36:55
|
|
35
|
Cameron Jenks
|
Hong Kong
|
61
|
Epic V10L Performance
|
2:37:45
|
|
36
|
Steve Dyer
|
Hong Kong
|
36
|
Epic V10 Performance
|
2:39:15
|
|
37
|
Guy Horne
|
Hong Kong
|
56
|
Fenn MakoXT
|
2:41:00
|
|
38
|
Anna Mathisen
|
Hong Kong
|
66
|
Hurricane OC1
|
2:41:20
|
|
39
|
John Pache
|
Hong Kong
|
65
|
Outrigger Connection Fusion
|
2:41:30
|
|
40
|
Peter Austin
|
Hong Kong
|
67
|
Kai Wa’a Pegasus
|
2:46:38
|
|
41
|
C.P. Yu
|
Hong Kong
|
11
|
Think EVO
|
2:52:30
|
|
42
|
Andrew Au
|
Hong Kong
|
68
|
Hurricane OC1
|
2:53:15
|
|
43
|
Mark Kelly
|
Canada
|
54
|
Think EVO
|
2:53:23
|
|
44
|
Jo Orgill
|
Hong Kong
|
60
|
Hurricane OC1
|
2:53:43
|
|
45
|
Emily Mabbott
|
Hong Kong
|
43
|
Hurricane OC1
|
2:55:20
|
|
46
|
Susan MacDonal/ Martha Levin/ Wietske
Rodenhuis
|
Hong Kong
|
18
|
Hurricane OC1 (Relay)
|
3:06:00
|
|
47
|
Masaru Tamura
|
Japan
|
48
|
Fenn MakoXT
|
3:08:30
|
|
48
|
Mark Dahl
|
Hong Kong
|
51
|
Fenn MakoXT
|
3:09:10
|
|
48
|
Nick Wilson
|
Sth Africa
|
50
|
Fenn MakoXT
|
3:09:10
|
 |
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