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It’s amazing how sometimes the shortest races can hurt the most. The
Manly Wharf Hotel King of the Harbour, held on Sunday, was one of those
races.
Due
to the harbour start, the pace was on from the word go, and the unforgiving
small chop around North Head meant that in order to keep up and get the benefit
of the runs, you had to be grinding 100% the whole way. As we have seen so many times in the last few
Sydney races,
if anyone can push themselves to the limit of their body's capability for 16km,
it's Tim Jacobs. With another win under
his belt, Tim should be feeling confident going into the Dubai Shamaal, and
should have his competitors in Dubai
feeling wary.
The
King of the Harbour is always an interesting race, mainly because of the
cross-chop and swell running along the cliffs between North Head and
Manly. To the uninitiated, this course
can be very daunting, and has in the past seen experienced international
paddlers struggle in the confused water.
Unlike paddling in straight runs between two points, or along a beach
coastline, this stretch of water has all sorts of movement coming from all
directions. The cliffs drop off straight
down into 20m of ocean, meaning that there can be some serious swells
rebounding off the faces.
To
those of us who train there all the time, the various currents and choppy water
can be used to a serious advantage.
Unfortunately for the majority of the field, Sunday's swell was too
small to make much use of the runs, except for a few tidbits here and there
that you had to sprint for and didn't get much rest on, but too choppy to get
into a really good rhythm. The main
consequence of this was that the field became very spread out very quickly - with
the top 15 skis getting a good lead on the rest of the pack.
It
was an interesting start with 100 paddlers vying to squeeze into a 10m gap
between a yacht and a jetty! There were
a few casualties, including the double skis, as well as Nick Holt and Dave
Kissane, who ended up having to catch back up to the front pack after getting
boxed in at the start. Tim Jacobs, Dane
Sloss, Jono Chalmers, Mark Minchin and Mark Anderson got off to a flying start,
only to be caught by Dave, Nick and Tom Woodruff who came screaming through the
field to catch up by North Head.
However, this extra effort would come at a price.
Along
the cliffs, Tim and Dane opened a gap on the rest of the pack through the chop
and by the turning point at Manly beach, Tim was ahead, which is where he
stayed. Jono dropped off the pace early
due to a technical fault on his borrowed ski, while Tom suffered from his
paddle blade falling off the shaft around North head on the way back. He was in 4th place behind Dave
Kissane at the time and had to paddle the last 3km one-sided. Nick Holt was also hindered by live bait
(attached to a fishing line) entangling itself around his rudder, however he
still managed to hang onto 4th place.
In
the ladies, Katrina Wilkinson continued to dominate the series, taking her
third win from the last three races.
For
all the rest in the middle and back of the field there were lots of rivalries
going on, but in the end most were just happy to finish the course without too
many swims. The free beer at the Manly Wharf
hotel after the race was also a definite incentive to finish as quickly as
possible!
One
problem with any competitor dominating a series in the way that Tim has in Sydney this year, is that
it threatens to take away from the performances of the other competitors. Don't be fooled though, the rest of the lead
pack are not far off the pace! For
example, Dane Sloss raced a fantastic race on Sunday, leading Tim for the first
quarter of the race, and not losing any ground on the back half, finishing less
than a minute behind. The rest of the
top 5 were close on Dane's tail, and pushed Tim the entire way.
With
Jeremy Cotter having to stay home in Queensland
for work, the series has now taken a very interesting turn as he was not able
to consolidate his second position on the series ladder. Tim Jacobs is virtually guaranteed to take
the series, but the second and third places (and the last two trips to Durban) will be decided
in a three-way battle between Dane Sloss, Jeremy Cotter and Dave Kissane at the
20 Beaches. In the meantime, however,
all eyes are turned to Dubai, where Australia's
representatives of Timmy Jacobs, Ken Wallace and Dean Gardiner are sure to put
in a good showing. Good luck boys!! For
the rest of us, the next race is Perth
for the world cup, then the 20 Beaches on 15 December, followed by a
well-earned holiday.
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