In another all-out heart-bursting sprint finish, Simon van Gysen managed to boost his ski's nose a few cm past Sean Rice to take the second EuroChallenge race along with the overall title.

“Van Gysen is pulling ahead of McGregor… it’s his race to lose.  No!  He’s heading for the harbor instead of the buoy…  He’s realized; he’s turned.  McGregor’s right up with him!  He’s around, they’re sprinting for the finish…”

Villajoyosa, Alicante, Spain: It’s confirmed: the fourth edition of the EuroChallenge is part of the Ocean Paddler World Series.  The event takes place from 4-6 May, 2012.

"It's nerves I reckon," twanged Aussie Jeremy Cotter - arguably the world's best and most in-form surfski paddler.

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Clear skis; golden beaches; rocky cliffs; flat water criss-crossed by boat wakes; no wind.  That was EuroChallenge 2009!

After Jeremy Cotter fell out, sick, Matt Bouman and Dawid diced most of the way around the 25km course.  But Matt managed to surge ahead some 4km from the finish - game over.

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The wind is blowing from the NW at around 40km/h right now - conditions are PERFECT.  But... the race is tomorrow! 

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Michele Eray is odds-on favourite to win EuroChallenge 2009 - and she's on a mission to boost participation by women in surf ski.  "I'll put your stickers on my boat," she said, "but only if you give the women more coverage!"

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Ten days before heading to Dubai last December, I took my laptop to bed around midnight to "watch" surfski.info's coverage of the Dragon Run in Hong Kong. By my estimation, four paddlers had a shot at the title: Jeremy Cotter, Oscar Chalupsky, Clint Pretorius and defending champ Dawid Mocke, the man I figured most likely to come through.

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Most of Europe is emerging from a long, cold, dark winter - when I left Geneva it was 8 degrees C and raining...  But I stepped out of the plane in Alicante, Spain into bright sunshine and clear blue skies.

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There is little doubt that when the race starts the front pack will include Jeremy Cotter (Aus), Dawid Mocke (SA) and Matt Bouman (SA).  (Hank McGregor is focussing on Molokai and Grant vd Walt couldn't get a visa in time for the race.)  And in the women's race, South African Michele Eray is likely to set the pace. 

But the standard of European surfski paddling has improved radically in the last year - and the southern hemisphere paddlers would be well advised to keep an eye on some of the names listed in this article...

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