Barry Lewin traveled up to Richards Bay on the weekend for the Mouth 2 Mouth. The race was run over a 40km downwind course from Richards Bay to Umtenzini in a light NE wind. Barry raced his blue ‘Bullet’ lite to a win in the singles.
Check out Barry’s race report here: http://www.barrylewin.co.za/index.php?sectionID=1&pst=637
He also hit the news in Richards Bay with the front page picture in thr Zululand Observer
The reason that it has taken so long, is that I had to shelve completing the molding midway through, in favor of completing a new lifesaving rescue craft, that was essential to complete important lifesaving orders for the start of this Summer season.
All the R&D work had been done and we already had a prototype on the water for a few months during the Winter. The delay has frustrated the number of paddlers that have tried the prototype and find that it suites their needs perfectly. I did not set about designing a ski to compete against anything out there already, but identified a large category
of paddler that does not have a suitable ski for their ability level at the
moment.
I wanted a ski that 1) novices could move on to once they had spent some time on the beginner ski’s, but not such a small step up that they have to upgrade soon afterwards or a ski that would not enable them to be competitive. 2) For the intermediate up to A grade level of paddler, (excluding elite), that wants a competitive ski that surfs well, but
wants a bit more stability and easier mount or remount in the surf.
There is not a ski in the market that fits that category perfectly at the moment. The one or two slightly shorter 6m long ski’s around at the moment are a very small step up from the beginner ski’s and are found wanting competitively against the full length ski’s in flatter
conditions. The step up is too small. The only other full length “more Stable” ski in the market, in an effort to make it more stable, has made the ski completely oversized, making it very slow through the water.
The features of the new ski are as
follows:
Full length, 6.4m. It will be competitive on flat water. I will be racing this ski in preference to my previous ski the SYNERGY.
Broad open cockpit for full rotation and leg drive, as well as a very long extensive foot well length. The foot bracket rail area and cable exit points have been blended into the shape of the ski better so that at no stage do you come into contact with either.
The gunwale height has been reduced by 4cm compared to the SYNERGY which was difficult to remount.
The foot well area has been narrowed to the same width as the BULLET, holding less water. This has enabled us to create a platform that can be used to accommodate handles on either side of the cockpit for mounting in the shore break and remounting.
The front deck has been raised slightly and sharpened to the same shape as the
BULLET, which displaces water very well in surfing conditions.
The tail shape is the same as the SYNERGY, but has been thinned down completely. This shape still gives you the best mix of stabilizing the ski and giving you a flatter back base at the tail of the ski that enables you to get on and stay on the smallest of runs.
I went to see the final events at the Comonwealth Pool International Lifesaving Championships in Durban over the weekend, and was so proud of my club mates from Marine SLC in Durban that did their country proud representing South Africa, with some great results over the three days of competition. One of the highlights of the competition was the S.A. (A) Team winning the final relay event in which the National captain and club mate, Robin Saggers featured. They won in a tight tussle against a very strong Australian Team. Robin is in the centre of the attached picture at the medal ceremony.
National junior Team member Paul van Achterberger also from Marine Surf, posted incredible times in the pool events throughout the competition and is seen as one of the countries future top stars. Paul is a very competitive Junior Iron man competitor, and surf swimmer. Paul paddles a Custom Kayaks TITAN spec surfski. He is second from the right in the picture of the junior Team at the medal presentation.
Well done to both of them. We are looking forward to having them back on the beach in preparation for the surf lifesaving season.
See you on the water
Mark
The format of a 22 – 25km single ski race on a Saturday and a double ski race over the same distance the next day works for a number of reasons. It is not a killer physically. It gives clubs in some of the lesser known paddling areas of the country a chance to lay on something special for a whole weekend and give visiting paddlers a great paddling experience. It worked last year in East London and again in no uncertain terms this past weekend in Richards Bay. On both occasions the organizers very faced with radical conditions, but were able to give us two great days of racing. In addition to this, an overnight visit to places like Richards Bay is great for paddlers to get together and socialize. Get to know more about that area and the paddlers from that part of the country. The awesome group of paddlers from the Zululand Kayak club were incredible hosts, also laying on a good social evening on Saturday night.
In Richards Bay this past weekend we had it all. Massive surf and strong wind which prompted the organizers to change the order to doubles on Saturday and an out and back course starting inside Richards Bay harbour, with a unique feature of a small playful wave
inside the harbour. Into the wind for 11km, which was tough but achievable in a
double ski, and a very exciting run back in a big down wind swell. Some really
great racing in all the categories. The quality of the field was again amazing,
with Hank McGregor & Grant van der Walt beating Mathew Bouman and Bevan
Manson for the title, and Dawid Mocke and Barry Lewin,
filling third place on the podium.
On Sunday the surf had dropped enough for us to have a 23km
down wind paddle, in very hot sunny weather after the swell had dropped
dramatically over night. The tricky shore break at the launch area prompted an
offshore wet start, giving paddlers time to get out through the surf. For most
of the paddlers this was not a problem, but there were some unfortunate
casualties. The odd wave really did pop up and catch a few people off guard.
You had to bide your time a bit and pick a good break. The racing was great
offshore with Hank McGregor showing his dominance of South African paddling at
the moment, winning ahead of Dawid Mocke and Mathew Bouman.
I was happy with the spread of our craft in the event. There
were a good few more APEX 2 double ski’s in the line up, with most of the
paddlers on the APEX 2 making the podium in their categories. The APEX 2 revels
in the down wind conditions. The BULLET is increasing in stature, with a few in
the top 10 and top 20 overall and young paddler Jabin Lyons, having bad luck in
the shore break at the start, missing the gun and getting away last, still
making it back through the field to claim a bronze medal in the under 23
category on his BULLET single ski. What was also evident was the amount of
paddlers in the age group categories on our SYNERGY single ski making the
podium. I sneaked in with a gold medal in the sub grand masters category on a
SYNERGY. The SYNERGY is a very under rated ski in those down wind conditions. I
really had a lot of fun.
I cannot wait to start production on our new lower volume
intermediate ski, based on the SYNERGY. It is going to be a big hit with
intermediate paddlers that still want to be competitive.
See you on the water
MARK
Lifesaving clubs, wanting to be competitive have had competition racing rescue craft shaped and manufactured for them for a number of years. In recent years these have become 1) very expensive 2) Because they are expensive clubs do not use them very often and the competitors do not get a chance to practice on these lighter more sophisticated craft, and 3) Not many of them meet the International safety specifications required of these craft which is going to become an issue for them as scrutineering becomes more
of a reality on all craft.
For a number of years my lifesaving club, “Marine SLC in Durban”
has had a double seated version which has been very successful in lifesaving
competitions. It has a forward paddling position and a well balanced back
sitting position when paddling back to the beach with a patient on it. It meets
all the international specifications, is longer than the existing molded models
and is virtually double the buoyancy, making it fast, very easy to paddle and a
lot safer to paddle and surf, even with a patient on board.
We have remodeled this craft and taken a mold off it, in confidence that it is a vastly improved craft, for both patrol and competition purposes. Clubs can purchase a standard weight model for patrol purposes and their members can become proficient in using the same craft that they will be racing at competitions. With today’s technology, we can make
lightweight models of the same craft for competition use. Maintenance on these
is a lot easier than custom shaped models.
Last week the first two of these craft were in action in a very successful professional lifeguard carnival in Durban with teams coming from different regions. I lent out two of the new craft to our central borough, who won all the craft rescue events in the competition on the new craft.
Nothing like a title to bring out the top guns. Last weekend saw the local “DaReal downwind series race 3 “, elevated to the status of KwaZulu Natal Single Surfski Championships.
You know the competition is tough when previous National champions have to pull
out all the stops to make the top 5 placing’s.
You also do not often have all the elements in your favour. Race organizer Angus Ferguson made the call to wait until Sunday afternoon to run the 23km race back to Durban from
Umhloti. He called it spot on, with good sunny warn weather, good running downwind conditions and very little surf at the often tricky start at Umhloti.
There was a small but tricky back break at the finish, but nothing too troublesome. I did see a ski break in half at the finish but this was another, “Glass vacuum” ski. Something
I have touched on in previous blogs.
Good quality racing it was. The tame shore break at the start allowed for a fast even break for all the leaders. It really was great out there and you could run from wave to wave
at will the whole 23km. You have a decision 18km out, of whether to stay close
and follow the line across the Bay or take a Tiger line, across the Bay, giving
up the longer runs in the beginning, to have a better line to the finish in the
last 6km. the field splits up quite quickly so you just have to go flat out,
not knowing who is in front or behind you until you start coming together again
in the last 6km.
The big names came filing in. Hank McGregor, Mathew Bouman, Daryl Bartho, Herman Chalupsky, Grant van der Walt. There was some close racing in all the age group categories.
It really got the KZN paddlers amped up for this weekend’s S.A. Championships in Richards Bay. Watch this space.
See you on the start line.
MARK
