Surf Ski . Info - Défis Kayak (Guadeloupe) – Benoit Leroux wins again (great pics)

Défis Kayak (Guadeloupe) – Benoit Leroux wins again (great pics)

Written by Franck Fifils

Saturday, 11 October 2008

The Caribbean island of Guadeloupe had had a week of superb paddling conditions - great wind, great waves. The day of the Defis Kayak race dawned however to... zero wind and zero waves. "It was like paddling in an oven," said Franck Fifils.

Idyllic Desirade Island... Defis Kayak 2008

Shortened race

The scheduled long course was supposed to be 33km from La Désirade to La Guadeloupe - but given the conditions, the route was shortened to 26km. The short course, directly across the channel, was 20km.

"Desirade is a small paradise," said Franck and the race participants were welcomed with a hearty breakfast.

Defis Kayak 2008 - Start

The race started at 10h00 with a 1.5km lap around the lagoon before the paddlers took to the open sea. First past the exit buoy was Franck Fifils, closely followed by French Champion Benoit Leroux. A second group formed with Stéphane Roudault, Edwin Lucas, Marc Le Mentec, Jean Rillard and David Szlachta.

Channel Crossing

The paddlers were able to catch some small runs at the beginning of the crossing, but soon it became a flat grind. Franck Fifils headed directly for the Pointe de Chateaux, while Benoit Leroux lead the French team on a more northerly line.

Benoit Leroux - Defis Kayak 2008

As the paddlers headed for the Pointe des Chateaux, Leroux dropped the rest of the bunch and arrived 2min ahead of a suffering Fifils, who at that stage was still 1:30 ahead of the following pack.

"A great oven"

The final leg of the race, a 12km stretch to the finish was "terrible for the participants," said Fifils. "It was like paddling in a great oven."

Hit by dehydration, Fifils started vomiting, and it was only the thought of the $500 Downwind 2 Dubai Local Hero award that kept him going. He ended up in 7th place overall.

Benoit Leroux cruised to win his second race in as many weeks; Stéphane Roudault took second place for the second time and Edwin Lucas came in third.

Local paddler Florian Dahomé easily won the juniors' race from second place Gregory Gobardhan.

Finish at St. Francois, Guadelope

Media

The media was out in force, two TV channels, radio and newspaper covering the race. A DVD of the 2008 Caribbean Tour will be presented by the Guadeloupe team at the New York Mayor's Cup on 19thOctober.

Breaking news: Following the success of 2008, the Caribbean Tour in 2009 will comprise three races.