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One day to go to the richest paddling event on the planet: the $53,000 Dubai Shamaal Surf Ski race. The skis, decorated with the sponsors' stickers, are moved to the Paddlers' Village in front of the Meridien Hotel. The paddlers all had an early night...
 Dubai Dragons... the internationals to the left, DSKC crew on right. (Pic: Alain Jaques)
Not much paddling today
The Formula 1 power boats were out in force today warming up before their racing tomorrow. The speed, power and noise of these things is incredible. But it meant that the paddlers weren't allowed out - and any paddling that was done, took place in the marina itself.
So most of the paddlers took time out to go shopping, prepare their skis or just relax at the beach.
The race organisation has been superb. Many of the paddlers took time out today to relax at the Paddlers Village, resting on loungers set up next to the beach. Fresh fruit & drinks were laid out in a pavilion nearby.
During the day, the skis were dressed up with the sponsors' stickers. (Note to self: transparent stickers don't show up well on black Epic V10 Elites. The white background of the surfski.info stickers makes them stand out beautifully though!)
The Surfski.info team were comfortably ensconced in the Dubai International Marine Club offices, about 500m away, connected to the Internet via their wireless network.
Course Plan B
Race directors Ali Maynard and Anton Erasmus were in deep discussion when we found them at the Paddlers' Village in front of the Meridien Hotel today. It emerged that there's a possibility that the Formula 1 power boat racing may not finish tomorrow until 16h30. As we talked, some of the monster boats roared past offshore, the sound from their engines drowning out all conversation.
It seems that the Shamaal organisers had been assured that power boat racing was to have finished by 16h00 sharp - but this is no longer the case and the racing may go on until 16h30.
It seems probable that the race start may be delayed by 30 minutes so that the fastest paddlers will only be crossing the power boat course at around 16h30... and if the power boats are still busy, apparently a highly unlikely possibility, the surf skis will finish some 5km short of the planned line, opposite the race start.
"You must realise," said Ali, "that nothing can go wrong. The authorities here are cooperative but intolerant. If we make one mistake, it could cost us the future of the race. With the way surf ski paddling is right now - on the cusp of expansion - this race could affect the future of the entire sport."
Warm up: Dragon Boat Racing
This afternoon, a team of international paddlers took on a local DSKC team in 260kg dragon boats... Each boat held 18 paddlers with a drummer and steersman (steersperson? The DSKC captain was a girl!)
The Internationals were given a five minute course in the delicate art of Dragon Boat paddling and were issued with fancy skin hugging team tops & caps.
For those who don't know, Dragon Boat paddling relies on precise teamwork - paddle in unison and the vessel flies; lose your precision and the boat stops! Much hilarity ensued on the Internationals' boat as we wobbled out to the start.
Clearly the DSKC team had put their homework in and they easily overtook the internationals in the first of two 500m sprints.
The amount of chirping going on in the international boat was unbelievable, Tim Jacobs and Michael "Gollum" Baker being particularly noisy up front.
Clearly chagrined by the defeat in the first round, the crew plotted sedition and mayhem on the way back up to the start of the second heat... Seconds before the start, the internationals surged away, in the hope that the highly illegal rushing of the start would buy enough of a gap to defeat the locals.
However... the DSKC crew showed their class by relentlessly catching up and then passing the internationals... who had yet another trick up their sleeves... Shortly before the finish, knowing that the spectators on shore would be unsure of who was in the lead because of the angle of their viewpoint, the internationals let out a great yell and held their paddles up high in apparent victory...
The truth is that even cheating didn't help - the DSKC crew soundly thrashed the highly rated professionals... perhaps it was the handicap of having one Mousley in their crew - and of course having recently retired England rugby player Mike Catt in the boat wouldn't have helped either!
(On the other hand, count how many paddlers were in each boat...!)
The order of events.
Here's what's happening tomorrow. All times GMT-4 hours.
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Local Time
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GMT
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South Africa
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Event
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12h00
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08h00
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10h00
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Race Briefing
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13h30
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09h30
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11h30
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Assemble in holding area
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14h30
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10h30
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12h30
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Boats on the water, paddle to start
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15h00
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11h00
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13h00
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Race Start (but may be delayed to 15h30)
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16h30
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12h30
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14h30
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(Approx) winner crosses the line
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Live Coverage
Here's what we intend to do:
- - Live text coverage from a tower on the pier that has a view of the paddlers returning to the finish
- - Near-real-time photos taken using cell phones on the escort boats
- - Hi-res photos ASAP after the race
- - Interviews with the winner ASAP after the race.
- - Video clips of the race ASAP after the race
So - stay tuned, it's going to be an absolute blast...
Greg Barton's Picks for tomorrow.
I asked Greg Barton who he thought would be in the top 5 in tomorrow's race. "Well, Oscar, Dawid and Lewis would be my guess," he said then he paused to think. "I guess Tim Jacobs would be in there. I'd like to be but if there are waves tomorrow it would be a push. Hank McGregor of course."
For more info on the race, see: www.dubaishamaal.com
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