Pinta and Mozzicafredo face as leaders the last stage of Río Negro Regatta

After holding stages 3 to 6 of the Río NegroRegatta, the favorites, Néstor Pinta and Martín Mozzicafredo, face as the last stage in the leadership, to celebrate in the city of Viedma. This time there's a new course, replacing the usual arrival to Viedma by circuit between the bridges of the city, with eight portages along the 30 km.

Photo by Carolyn J. Cooper

 
The leadership of Kiko Vega and Santiago Scalesi after the first two stages was frustrated during the third, the longest of the competition with 68 km. At one point during the race, Vega took the wrong path through a longer route, something seized by Pinta and Mozzicafredo using their very good knowledge of the river to launch their attack and get away. After their mistake, Vega and Scalesi were relegated to third place, behind the U23 Balboa and Guerrero, and finished the stage with a minute and a half disadvantage, which also relegated them to third place overall.

And after the stage, before facing the well-deserved day off, there was the great controversy of this year, when a complaint was officially set against Vega-Scalesi by skipping a mandatory flag when they were trying to recover the time lost. After an entire day of investigation, they were penalized with five minutes, practically ruining all their options for overall victory.

The 4th stage (the shortest, only 22 km.), 5th and 6th were established following the same script from the first day, with the K2s main triplet in the lead and tight sprint finishes. 

Kiko Vega and Santiago Scalesi lead the Rio Negro Regatta (ARG) after two stages

Vega and Scalesi after winning 1st stage. Photo: Claudio Espinoza

It began last Saturday the 36th Río Negro Regatta, in Argentina: 7 stages adding 277 km. Entries record, with 128 canoes, including the great champions of this race, the Argentinians Néstor Pinta and Martin Mozzicafredo, 11-time winners. However, this year, a new duo formed by Argentinian Santiago Scalesi and Spanish Federico "Kiko" Vega are trying to cut off the reign of the Patagonians, along with the promising young pair formed by U23 Franco Balboa and José Guerrero.

Saturday was the opening stage between Senillosa and Neuquén. Under hot sunny weather, the first kilometers of the stage were as usual at Río Negro, with a large number of K2s in the front bunch, as the race is long, with not much rest options from one day to the next one, so nobody wants to expend unnecesary fuel from the start.

However, at half stage it got clear that this year, unless major surprises, the podium will be decided among the three favorites, the thrill is just knowing what the order will be. Ahead were Pinta-Mozzicafredo, Vega-Scalesi and Balboa-Guerrero, leaving behind, in no man's land, the locals Vázquez & Reyes, who seem to e the only one able to seize any mistake from the leaders.

McGregor and Eray claim again a hard Cape Point Challenge

On December 22nd finished the Cape Town Surfski Festival with the celebration of the classic Cape Point Challenge, one of the toughest races on the international scene, where paddlers go around the Cape from the Atlantic side to finish in False Bay, on the Indic Ocean, at the beach at Fish Hoek.And victory went to two of the favorites, Hank McGregor in men (for the third time individually, fifth overall) and Michele Eray in women, who got her fourth title in this exigent race.

McGregor enters the finish line with Rice (left) and van vdWalt (right) behind. Photo: Owen Middleton / Gameplan Media

The main character was the wind, which, contrary to what happened during the World Series the week before, turned this time to blow from Northwest, which made the whole second half of the race a hard headwind. If the test is long and this made for some factor should become almost endless. Not surprisingly, the winner was a time of 4h02'27 ".At the start, paddlers already knew the upwind conditions they were going to find after turning around Cape point, something that didn't encourage too many adventures during the first half of the race.

McGregor, Nikki Mocke, the Mocke brothers and Eray/Mocke, RSA champions of surfski

Photo: Owen Middleton

Last weekend was held at Fish Hoek (RSA), the last race of the Surfski World Series, the Cape Town Downwind, which was also the Sout African National Championships. With no Australian in the field, other competitors arrived from Portugal, Great Britain, Germany or Belgium were not going to dispute the clear favoritism of the locals, mainly the Jasper and Dawid Mocke, who were playing at home. And they got victory in the doubles race of Monday 17th, but were dissapointed in the singles with a 5th and 6th place far away from their aim. Hank McGregor and Matt Bouman showed the Durban way of surfskiing by leading last half of the race, with McGregor retaining the SA title got already in 2011 and Bouman in silver. Bronze was for an impressive Simon van Gysen, who made a terrific final kilometres.

McGregor sets an appointment with Dusi after a great victory at the 50 Miler

Water level was perfect this year. Photo Darren Goddard (Cycho Media)

After seven years Hank McGregor was coming back to race the 50 Miler, which takes place over stages 2 and 3 of the Dusi Unlimited, the big race of the South African summer. McGregor, who lives and trains in Durban, place of arrival of both races, has always found more difficult to win at home than anywhere else in the world. The long portages are often a handicap difficult to compensate in the river. But maybe the fact that the water level was perfect this last weekend and that the organizers decided to open for paddling some sections that are of compulsory portage in the Dusi, have been factors that have played a chance for McGregor this time.

On Saturday, McGregor wanted from the very start to make clear that he was going for victory, setting a very strong pace that only could be followed by Len Jenkins, Andrew Birkett and the young Don Wewege, but it didn't take very long before Jenkins and McGregor, that in absence of Grant van der Walt were then the clear favorites, decided it was time to push a little more to let Wewege and Birkett fall back.