Bouman wraps up ski series with victory in treacherous conditions
By on March 8th, 2010
Matt Bouman clinched the 2010 Varsity College Marine Surfski series title on Friday night, with a victory in the seventh race of the series, in very difficult conditions in a howling easterly onshore wind that whipped Durban Bay into a choppy maelstrom.
Racing against one of the strongest fields assembled for the popular Friday night series, Bouman mastered the tricky choppy sidewinds and unpredictable swell to canter to his sixth win in seven starts, and with it he secured an unassailable lead in the series.
Darryl Bartho was second, with his younger brother Brett Bartho edging out series stalwart Ollie Burn in the dice for the last place on the podium.
Toti ace Michelle Eder bagged another series win, entrenching her place at the top of the women’s standings. The Varsity College student was the only women brave enough to take on the tough conditions in a single, and proved to be one of the race’s most dramatic casualties. She was well placed in the field after the first lap heading for the turning buoy off uShaka beach, when she was caught by surprise by a breaking rogue wave, and was heavily dumped several hundred metres offshore.
After being swept most of the way back to the beach, the plucky star remounted her ski and raced back into the race field to complete another series win, her fourth victory in five starts in the series.
The doubles race honours fell to the dominant crew of Herman Chalupsky and Andre Pohl, posting a three minute victory over Warwick MacNicol and Dwayne Powell, with visiting British wild water international Ben Oakley teaming up with local ace Marc Mulder to take third place.
“It really was all over the place,” said Chalupsky afterwards. “We were being banged about quite a bit and there were breaking waves far out to sea.” The duo have a slim lead in the overall series doubles standings, having won five of their six starts in the series. “We can wrap it up next week if we win that race,” said Chalupsky. “We would have been able to wrap it up on Friday night if we hadn’t had those rudder problems that messed us around in race six. Apart from that it has been a steady series for us,” he added.
His older brother Oscar Chalupsky, arguably the most experienced surfski paddler in the field was another of the race’s casualties. The burly veteran was charging down a run when the nose of his ski slid under the shark net rope off the backline, and causing a lengthy delay as he disentangled himself, prompting a spate of jokes from other competitors about whales trapped in the nets.
One of the unsung heroes of the race, which saw a number of novices opting to sit this race out due to the demanding conditions, was 16 year old Kloof schoolgirl Kylie Winterburn. By far the youngest paddler in the field, she completed the 4km short course race without incident, coping with the difficult wins, swell and chop impressively.
The race was staged over a triangular course, from uShaka beach to New Pier, then onto the strong easterly headwind to a turning buoy some way out to sea, and then a downwind leg back to uShaka beach.
“Safety in the varsity College Marine series is not negotiable,” said series organiser Barry Lewin. “There are always a number of rubber ducks out on the water to be on hand to deal with any problems. Most importantly it gives every single paddler a feeling of security out in the Bay.”
The eighth race of the series, the Varsity College Marine Surfski School Challenge takes place next Friday evening 12 March at 5:30pm from uShaka Beach.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
LEG 7 OF THE VARSITY COLLEGE MARINE SURF SKI SERIES
Long Course Singles – Men
1.Matt Bouman 32:34
2.Daryl Bartho 34:39
3.Brett Bartho 34:59
4.Oliver Burn 35:02
5.Quinton Rutherford 35:37
6.Mark Lewin 36:32
7.Jeffrey Smith 36:37
8.Shadrack Mkhize 37:41
9.Anton Fouche 38:18
10.Steve Cohen 39:39
Long Course Singles – Women
1.Michelle Eder 44:01
Long Course Doubles – Men
1.Herman Chalupsky/Andre Pohl 33:16
2.Warwick MacNicol/Dwayne Powell 35:02
3.Ben Oakley/Marc Mulder 35:15
4.Wayne Ashford/Steve Atkinson 36:16
5.Sean Wisedale/Trevor Vernes 36:29
6.Joe Boy/Stephen Evans 38:18
7.Dirk van den Bergh/Mark Essery 38:59
8.Pete Rowan/Angus Stewart 41:43
9.Andrew Atkinson/Rex McGregor 48:17
Short Course Singles
1.Bruce Brauteseth 27:37
2.Malcolm Pitt 29:04
3.Kylie Winterburn 29:57
4.Jade Wilson 30:07
5.Kelly Wood 33:01
IMAGE: An unidentified paddler gets unceremoniously dumped in the shorebreak during Race Seven of the Varsity College Marine Surfski Series. Anthony Grote/ Gameplan Media
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