Glenn Murray sent us some great photos of the Plett Easter Surfski Race...  Here they are, with the full results and the GPS tracks.

Dawid Mocke catching a monster (Pic: www.gmurrayphoto.co.za)

Dawid Mocke

As Dawid and Hank McGregor approached the river mouth towards the end of the second lap, Hank broke away and opened a gap of about 50m.  "He just put the hammer down," said Dawid.

Then drama as Hank was flipped off his ski by a massive wave...  he managed to hold onto it however, and was back on and paddling as Dawid caught up to him.  The two paddlers caught the next wave together and then... it was Dawid's turn to swim.  Dawid lost his grip on the ski though and it was washed away from him.  In the time that it took him to catch and remount the ski, Hank created an unassailable lead and won by just over a minute.

"We had a ding dong paddle the whole way," said Dawid afterwards.  "I'd pull, then he'd pull."  Dawid felt at one point that he was "sniffing out the runs better."  And when he pipped Hank for the R1000 Fenn Hotspot, Dawid thought he had the race in the bag.

"But you can never write a guy like Hank off," he said.  "I tried three or four times to drop him but he's a tough customer!"  And at the river entrance, "he just pulled away." 

The result makes for an intriguing tussle at Molokai where the two paddlers will meet again.  Last year, the struggle across the Kiawi Channel was held in exceptional - exceptionally calm - conditions and Dawid was leading until he took a bad line into the middle of an oncoming current as they approached Oahu Island.  Hank took an inshore line, following the experienced Tahitian Lewis Laughlin and avoided the current, and beat the exhausted Dawid into third place.

In Dubai in November 2007, Dawid came back from a disastrous start which saw him having to make up more than 200m on the leaders (Dawid was 50m behind the line, facing the wrong way and trying to help Australian Kenny Wallace who'd forgotten his bung!).  Dawid and Hank turned downwind together, but by the time they reached the beach, it was Dawid who was 50m in front, winning the US$20,000 first prize.

Hank McGregor

Although Hank hasn't done many of the World Series races this season (last year he was focussing on K1), with the advent of much higher prize money in the sport, he's spending a lot more time in his ski.  He'll be in Hawaii and will no doubt be looking to take his revenge on Oscar Chalupsky in Durban in June.

Plett Photos

Photos courtesy of Glenn Murray Photography (http://www.gmurrayphoto.co.za/)

Beacon isle, Plettenberg Bay Beacon isle, Plettenberg Bay

Pete Cole and Alexa Pete Cole and Alexa

Pennypinchers Easter Surfski Challenge Pennypinchers Easter Surfski Challenge

Stef le Roux - first local Stef le Roux - first local

Stef and Pete Stef and Pete

Barry Lewin with Robberg behind Barry Lewin with Robberg behind

Richard von Wildeman and Jasper Mocke Richard von Wildeman and Jasper Mocke

Greg , Stef , Jasper , Pete , Barry , Steve Woods: the chasing pack Greg , Stef , Jasper , Pete , Barry , Steve Woods: the chasing pack

Chasing pack head towards the river mouth Chasing pack head towards the river mouth

Leading double bails out on a monster Leading double bails out on a monster

Dawid pips Hank for the R1000 Fenn Hotspot Dawid pips Hank for the R1000 Fenn Hotspot

Barry Lewin Barry Lewin

The break into the river mouth The break into the river mouth

Dawid leads Hank round buoy on lap 2 Dawid leads Hank round buoy on lap 2

Dawid heads into the mouth Dawid heads into the mouth

...don't look back! ...don't look back!

Hank crosses the line Hank crosses the line

Dawid crosses the line Dawid crosses the line

1 and 2 1 and 2

The medals The medals

Ian Black Ian Black

Hank and Sean Gannon - Pennypinchers Plett Hank and Sean Gannon - Pennypinchers Plett

Alexa Lombard Alexa Lombard

Google Earth kmz file

The tracks recorded by the SportsTrack GPS tracking units are contained in this .kmz file.  You can select one or more of the paddlers and then "play" the race.  You can see clearly Dawid and Hank trading the lead around the course.

Results

Long Course

Short Course

Comments (2)

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Beaut Shots
written by richard von wildemann, March 28, 2008

That wave was insane to surf!

Thanks to Plett Paddling Club, PennyPinchers and the other businesses for a great event!

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Nice work Glenn
written by Alain Jaques, March 28, 2008

Glenn thanks for the fantastic picture of Dawid on the wave. That picture really captures the moment. I once joined the Plett time trial while I was in Plett for a holiday and those Keurbooms waves looked really nasty to this Cape Town paddler. I took the easy option and waited off the backline for the fearless life savers to hit the beach and come back out. Hats off to all the paddlers who braved those waves. (spot the pun).

For those who don't know Plettenberg Bay it is in my opinion the best piece of coastline in South Africa, if you visit SA you must visit Plett.

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