Portimão SurfSki Race of Champions
Race three of the new ICF Ocean Racing World Cup Series, the Portimao Race of Champions took place at the beginning of September. There the South Africans dominated the 25km from the start.
The Start
- Zoom
- Le Mans-Style start
The start was delayed until 3 pm in order to catch the 14 knots winds predicted by Windguru and, in “Le Mans” style, the athletes lined up along the Marina de Portimão Beach and 10m behind their surfskis. The volunteers had the job of keeping paddlers behind the line.
The Hotspots
Just 670m from the start, the first hotspot was taken by Sean Rice in a final sprint against Jasper Mocke and the Portuguese David Fernandes. Already on the sea, the athletes turned left to Caneiros Beach rock and rounded back to the river entrance to the second hotspot. Jasper was the first to pass in front of the river (2,700m from the start) but unfortunately he passed behind the buoy and the hotspot was awarded to Sean Rice, again!
Michele Eray (RSA) took both hotspots against Olympian Beatriz Gomes (POR).
The Circuit
The athletes paddled upwind to the second rounding point, 5km ahead and then turned 45º to Ponta da Piedade Cape for 6km more, still upwind, to the next turning point. It was a hard upwind struggle with Sean Rice and Jasper Mocke in the lead followed by Barry Lewin. 200m further back was, Olympic Champion, Erik Veras Larsen and Australian, Luke Morrison.
Meanwhile in the women's race Michele Eray had already built a comfortable lead against Beatriz Gomes.
After turning point three, the athletes were racing downwind for the final run to Marina de Portimão Beach and the finish line. Jasper Mocke took an inshore line followed by Barry Lewin while Sean Rice took a slightly further line out to sea.
The Finish
In the Men's race, South Africa stole the podium. Jasper Mocke was the first to finish the competition with 1:55:54.69, Barry Lewin came second with 1:57:45.38 and third was Sean Rice with 1:58:41.92.
For the women, first place was awarded to Michele Eray, from South Africa, with 2:08:41.30, second place was for Beatriz Gomes, with 2:19:28.24 and in third place was the UK's Chloe Bunnett with 2:24:37.66.
The 25km of Portimão Race of Champions – ICF World Series 2010 were hard, especially upwind, but the 13km downwind produced some very fast and challenging racing for the athletes. It was enjoyed by all.