Sean Rice wins the New Balance Miller's Run of the CT Series under superb conditions

The seventh race of the Cape Town Vodacom surfski series, New Balance prize, was again ruled by the current world champion Sean Rice, over the course of the classic Miller's Run. It was the delight of all participants, as the South East wind appeared in all its strength on False Bay and the 12 kilometer run turned into a manual of what should always be a race surfski : big swells, wind, sun and fun.

In the absence of Jasper Mocke (which was competing in Durban the 50 Miler with McGregor) and Dawid Mocke, who paddled doubles with Lewis Pugh, Sean Rice made ​​valid his favorite role, not missing the lead until the finish line at the beach in Fish Hoek. After him. Tom Schilperoort and Kenny Rice completed the podium. Kenny was also first junior and arrived fourth overall after the SS2 of Mocke and Pugh. It's not low level synptom to see a junior in the top three. Behind him were very good paddlers like Flanagan, van der Walt or Notten. A couple of months ago someone who knows a lot about this told me to "watch out Kenny if it's windy, he's as good as his brother in downwind conditions".

In women, new victory for Nikki Mocke, this time over Kim van Gysen and Bianca Beavitt, who pushed this time out of the podium Kirsten Flanagan, first junior and fourth overall.

You can see all the results at this link and the spectacular new video:

Vodacom Cape Town Surfski Series: Big names on the podium

As summer season comes slowly to Cape Town, the canoeing scene turns its gaze to the ocean. The Lifesavers Club of Fish Hoek is responsible for organizing the Cape Town surfski series, sponsored by Vodacom, with races almost every two weeks in different spots around the area in both the Atlantic and Indic side. These races are a good prelude to the big event coming at the end of December, the Cape Point Challenge. Gradually, the best surfski paddlers will test themselves and the opponents getting ready for the big event .

In this occasion, the fourth race of the series (Seaforth Restaurant prix) was a nice fight between world champion Sean Rice, Dawid Mocke and Tom Schilperoort, but after the turn, in the downwind section (perfect conditions for it, in the video you can clearly see the great scenario with winds of about 25 knots), Rice showed his quality and claimed the win. Mocke and Schilperoort followed him in that order. 4th and 5th ​​were two young values as Kenny Rice and Craig Flanagan..

In women, very young participation, with victory for Kim van Gysen followed by Bianca Haw and Kirsten Flanagan, three names to keep in mind in the future of this discipline.

Sean Rice and Michelle Eder Burn, new South African Surfski Champions

It was held last weekend the South African Surfski Championships, this time in the town of East London, where the warm waters of the Indic Ocean didn't show the downwind all the competitors usually love to paddle. Sean Rice, just two weeks after winning the K1 1,000 of the South African sprint trials, was the winner of the event and then he becomes South African surfski champion, something that, in his words, had been dreaming for a long time.

Good weather with weak wind made the race hard and very tactical, disputed parallel to the coast along 19 km. The virtual absence of large swells made a matter of vital importance seeking the more favorable currents. The fact of the recent floods in the area made the race even more difficult, since in the search for the good current, many of them were caused by big water rivers and dragged branches and lots of stuff that could become a serious obstacle.

After the start, marked by the absence of the Mocke brothers, who were disputing the Defis Kayak Race in the French Caribbean ($7,000 prize for the winner had something to do with it), the leading group was formed by several strong men of the scene South Africa, including Hank McGregor, Grant van der Walt, his brother Brandon, Matt Bouman, Tom Schilperoort and Sean Rice.