SCOTTBURGH TO BRIGTHON MARATHON 2010
Picture – 1,2 & 3 – Mark and Mark – Partner Mark Mulder and I finishing at Brighton Beach.
Picture 4 – Mark & Bambi – Bambi is very seldom in the pictures, usually running around seconding either myself or son Barry at the races. Bambi is our real unsung hero.
Picture 5 – The Marine SLSC surf boat crew finishing.
The focus on this years race fell on the front pack which settled into a 4 boat race, of which I think it became clear very quickly was going to end up in a 2 boat race between the very classy Mocke brothers and Barry Lewin and Ant Stott. The only thing that was going to change this was the tricky surf conditions. The surf was big at all the breaks, but once out the conditions were flat. I did feel that we were working against some current the whole way because despite watching all the boats paddling at a very high cadence with a very high work rate, the times were slow and I was not getting close to my expected average speed at any point.
It was high tide throughout most of the race so despite the surf being big and menacing, the banks were deep and you could attack the shoulders of the big waves. At all three breaks I waited in the right places and had no trouble getting out. Looking at the pictures on surfski.info on the race report, some of the paddlers got themselves into some very awkward situations.
While the front 4 boats seemed to be playing stock car racing in the surf, the battle for places 5-10 was on. With the demise of the Van der Walt brothers in the surf at Amanzimtoti, 4th place was now also up for grabs. I focused on working the very small bumps along the backline close inshore and not pacing myself with the other two contenders, Quinton Rutherford & Brian Taylor and Warren Valentine & Mark Germique. We were within striking distance of one another for a long way and it was hard to resist the temptation of getting into a bunch and riding one another’s slip wave.
I kept them guessing a bit by sticking close to the backline in the bays to use the offshore wind and bump and worked a little wider at the point breaks, riding the swell back into the bays to save energy. We lead them into Amanzimtoti and I could see that we had hurt them a bit. Coming out of Amanzimtoti I managed to avoid all the very big stuff, by working along the mid break for a long way and once out we knew we had a break on the rest of the field. We put our heads down for a solid half and hour to pull us away completely, and then eased into a hard 90% paddle for the last hour through to the finish to claim a respectable 4th place overall. I received a lot of praise at the end of the race, for being the “old man “ in the field, but my partner and work colleague was an absolute Trojan out there, not missing a beat. He is unlikely to get the praise he deserves, but I thank him sincerely for making this years race such a great experience.
As for the APEX 2. Well everything we have done has really changed the dynamics of the ski completely. Unfortunately we were not able to fix our carbon ski in time for the race and had to use the first factory demo model which is a way less competitive weight. It did not seem to affect us at all.
The sitting position made us both totally comfortable throughout the race. It was a pleasure after 3 hours to be able to put your head down and really pull hard with a full turn and not feel either cramped, tight or unstable. The confidence to punch straight into the cavitation of the big broken waves was also a huge advantage and we could place ourselves perfectly to accelerate through gaps in the break when we saw them. The forward sitting position of both seats makes acceleration spontaneous, both from a standing position in the surf and onto the little bumps along the coast. In bigger down wind conditions like we experienced last week, it really is amazing. With all vacant spaces around the paddler now closed in the capacity to hold water is now minimal and the ski drains very quickly.
Once again I tip my cap to my club mates from the Marine Surf Lifesaving surf boat crew, that rowed the full 46km again this year. Well done guys, “you rock”.
To Billy and Tracy Harker, and the awesome people of Southern KZN, who work so hard to make this traditional race such a spectacle, you guy’s are special.
See you on the water
MARK
