Four apiece for Bouman and McGregor

THE race for the men’s Varsity College Marine Surfski Series title has come alive once more after uMhlanga dynamo Matt Bouman clinched his third successive race victory and fourth of the series on Friday evening. In the women’s race the in-form Nikki Russell claimed her first race win of the series in the women’s category.

With a playful two foot surf and a light north easterly wind blowing, paddlers were going to be in for a paddling treat. Not many would quite have expected to have had as much fun as they did though as they were greeted by near perfect conditions.

“When you paddle in Durban you’re paddling against some of the world’s best paddlers so its always tough,” said Bouman. “The organisers changed this up with the course so that was something a little different, there was a good turn out and it was just another fun evening on the water.”

Bouman, having gone head to head with regular rival Hank McGregor for the past few years, clinched his first race victory of the series as far back as race two before a charge by McGregor saw the scoreboard shift well in the triple Canoe Marathon World Champ’s favour.

The Epic Kayak’s star however capitalized perfectly on McGregor’s absence from the previous two races and, with McGregor again absent from the start line due to his and Sbonelo Zondi’s victorious efforts in the 2014 Non-Stop Dusi Canoe Marathon earlier in the week, made it three wins in a row and sent the score to four race wins apiece for himself and McGregor.

With paddlers’ six best results of the ten-leg series counting towards the final series standings, there is plenty to play for in the final two standoffs with neither able to afford another ‘no-show’ nor a poor performance over the next two weeks.

Durban North’s Grant van der Walt took another step towards finding his full form again as he claimed another second place.

With Michelle Burn opting to take part in race eight with her husband Oliver in the mixed doubles category after wrapping up the women’s series title last week already, the women’s clash was a tightly fought affair as Nikki Russell was pushed for much of the clash by rising young star and Mt Edgecombe resident Jenna Ward, with Sharon Armstrong claiming the bottom step of the podium.

The HiQ Surfski Challenge, race nine of the 2014 Varsity College Marine Surfski Series, takes place on Friday 7 March at 5.30pm at Marine SLC at Addington Beach. For more info visit www.marineseries.co.za