FRIDAY evening’s Thule Surfski Challenge saw uMhlanga’s Matthew Bouman and Mt Edgecombe’s Jenna Ward clinch their second victories of this year’s Varsity College FNB Marine Surfski series. The wins means the duo have consolidated their positions at the top of the overall series’ log

“Conditions were just ideal. There were no issues, except for a few unlucky people getting stung by a blue bottle or two, and it was just fun all the way round. Last week it was a bit of an angry ocean but this week it was friendly and playful throughout,” he said.

Despite the absence of a couple of bigger names, Bouman still believes the series’ weekly clashes enjoy a depth of field like no other globally and that the Friday evening clashes create the perfect environment to hone one’s preparations for the upcoming bigger assignments.

“Others around the world get to make mistakes at their weekly races and they can get away with it. Not us though, and that’s great. The quality of the field week in and week out in Durban is just unbelievable and even just one mistake can cost you a Friday evening race,” Bouman said.

Junior girls star Kyeta Purchase led the women’s encounter for much of the clash but a last minute error as she made her way in through the surf towards the finish line saw her thrown from her boat, opening the doorway for Jenna Ward to sneak through to her second win of the series.

“It wasn’t an easy race at all and I only just managed to pip Kyeta (Purchase) to the line right at the very end,” said Ward. “I swam right at the start and so Kyeta and Michelle (Burn) got away from me from the get go and I only finally caught them on the second lap.

“I was so tired by that stage though so I sat on Kyeta’s wave but then she got away from me again on the downwind leg until she got it sideways in the surf on her way in. It’s obviously really unfortunate for her but I guess that is all part of surfski racing,” she added.

The Bay Union Surfski Challenge, race five of the marine surfski series, takes place at 5.30pm on Friday 6 February at Addington Beach. More information can be found at www.marineseries.co.za

Series results

Hank and Jenna back to winning ways (Race 1)

Dangerous surf condition force cancellation (Race 2)