Bouman, Eder win race 9 of Varsity College Marine Surfski Series

Sunday, 20 March 2011 10:32

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Bouman fights back into contention

Defending Champ Matt Bouman did his 2011 title hopes no harm when he claimed the Billy the Bums Surfski Challenge, Race Nine of the Varsity College Marine Surfski Series, on Friday night and reminded all that the series final outcome is not quite yet done and dusted.

With a steady South-Wester bringing lake-like conditions, paddlers had to grind their way around the four and eight kilometre courses and Bouman’s raw power and vast surfski knowledge enabled him to find runs where many saw flat water and to avoid the full might of the wind.

“It was a pity Hank (McGregor) wasn’t here but Mark (Mulder) is always a tough competitor and he pushed me for a bit early on. It’s always nice to get another win under the belt and obviously it helps my cause quite a lot as far as the series goes,” said Bouman.

“With just one race left now it will be difficult to take the series away from Hank from here but you never know with racing. I’ll be down here next week and will look to race my own race and we’ll just have to see how things go. It's not all over just yet,” he added.

Bouman may have been all on his own at the front of the pack for the bulk of the race but if it was competition he was looking for then he certainly found it in the later stages in the shape of the winning doubles pairing, former Westville Boys’ High pupils Luke and Adam Nisbet.

“We’d gotten away well and had been pretty much on our own the whole way until Matt caught us on the final return leg and it was a good fun to have a bit of a dice with him over the last few hundred metres,” grinned Luke.

“We paddle well together so hopefully we can use this win to get things going and start paddling together far more often. It’s the first win of the series for us which is great and we’ll just have to see where things go from here for us,” added younger brother Adam.

The ever consistent Michelle Eder of Amanzimtoti notched up her sixth win of the series when she claimed the ladies race and with paddlers' top six results to count towards the overall honours it appears to be a done deal as to who will walk away with this year’s ladies title, something Eder has held for three years running now.

“It was a long hard slog out there tonight but it was awesome not having to deal with the blue bottles for once!” smiled Eder. “Fortunately I managed to tuck in behind one of the doubles on the way back because the wind was howling!”

“We’ll just wait and see next week, I’m not sure if anyone can catch me now but I don’t only come down here to win. If I have defended my title then obviously that’s really awesome and it’s something I’m really proud of but regardless of all that I’ll be down here next week to do what I love doing!” she added.

Varsity College Sport Life captains Jenna Ward and Shaun Austin had solid performances respectively. Ward claimed second place in the ladies race and was the first Junior Girl home, whilst Austin secured a solid fifth in the men's section.

Friday night's race also saw history being made as for the first time in the Marine series' history the number of short course paddlers was greater than the number of long course entrants, which just goes to show how surfski in Durban is a sport on the up and continues to grow.

With the men's series still hanging somewhat in the balance, next week’s tenth and final race promises to deliver a whole heap of action.

Added to this, the final edition of the series will also include the annual Varsity College SA Schools Surfski Champs which will see all the top surfski talent from around the country battling it out for the coveted title of SA Champion as well as a R40,000 bursary to study at Varsity College.

The tenth and final leg, the Varsity College SA Schools Surfski Champs, takes place on 25 March at 17h30.

More information can be found at www.marineseries.co.za

SUMMARY OF RESULTS – BILLY THE BUMS SURFSKI CHALLENGE
NINTH LEG OF THE VARSITY COLLEGE MARINE SURFSKI SERIES

Long Course Singles – Men
1.Matt Bouman 34.24
2.Mark Mulder 36.32
3.Oliver Burn 37.25
4.Len Jenkins 38.25
5.Shaun Austin 38.45
6.Nic Burden 38.48
7.Matt Carlisle 39.25
8.Ross Fountain 39.51
9.Dwayne Powell 39.58
10.Greg Worthington 40.01

Long Course Singles – Women
1.Michelle Eder 41.51
2.Jenna Ward 49.56
3.Rentia Denisson 50.15

Long Course – Doubles
1.Luke Nisbet/Adam Nisbet 35.58
2.Sean Wisedale/Trevor Vernes 37.15
3.Byron McKie/Calvin McKie 37.58

Short Course – Singles
1.Terry McDougall 20.45
2.Sthembiso Mbhatha 22.07
3.luke Steenkamp 22.34

Short Course – Doubles
1.Warren Beuster/Jenna Halse 20.52
2.Wayne Symington/Elijah 21.12
3.Max Matlali/Mark Lewin 21.41

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