Later today some of the top surfski paddlers in the world will line up for the 10km Nelo Summer Challenge downwind race, among them world ranked #1 Dawid Mocke, his brother Jasper (currently ranked #3), and fellow South African Sean Rice (ranked #9). Last year's winner Australian Kenny Wallace is there, his compatriots Jacob Clear and David Smith, along with a host of top sprint paddlers including 1000m K1 Olympic gold medalist Eirik Larsen (Norway).

Soon after landing in O'Hare the evening before the Chicago Shoreline Marathon, I heard the news: 35 knot NW winds + 8-to-12 foot seas + five fisherman swept off a pier = No race!

26 July was show-down day. I knew all along Jasper was the main man to mark. I’ve trained and raced against him more than enough times to know he is a fantastic paddler and I should come more than prepared and be ready to hurt when lining up next to him at any race.

Two more races down - the Norweigen ASKR race and the US Surfski Champs...  Jasper Mocke beat Sean Rice to take the ASKR event, while Dawid Mocke dominated in San Francisco.

As they raced under the Golden Gate Bridge, Dawid Mocke and Simon van Gysen were neck and neck, charging towards the Fenn Hotspot and its $1,000 reward.  The last time they’d raced, in Spain, van Gysen had pulled away and won.

San Francisco: 96 athletes from 11 countries will line up later today to race the new US Surfski Championships course, among them a fair selection of the best surfski paddlers in the world today.

Guido Cali, organizer of the Ohana Mana Cup (Italy), has confirmed that this the event will be (weather permitting) a downwind race…  37km’s worth!  

The 2009 Doctor -- a 27-km downwind run from Rottnest Island to Scarborough Beach in Perth -- featured a Who's Who of aquatic beasts. Second-place finisher Jeremy Cotter was nine seconds ahead of Dawid Mocke, who held off Murray Stewart, who sprinted to the line with Reece Baker, who was less than a minute ahead of downwind maestro Dean Gardiner. 

Perth, Australia: The famed Fremantle sea breeze delivered on the second day of the Doctor Festival of Paddle Sports in Perth today and it was the South African flag that flew high.

Perth, Australia: Freshwater's Tim Jacobs today became the first man to win back-to-back Doctor ocean ski events in hot, flat, unforgiving conditions in Perth [Editor: actually the second: Oscar Chalupsky won in 2005 and 2006!].