Sunday, 18 July 2010 10:09
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High drama: Great White sharks and damage galore at Scottburgh to Brighton
Siblings Dawid and Jasper Mocke snatched victory in the 2010 Discovery Scottburgh to Brighton surfski ultramarathon after twice having to grind back into contention after suffering major mishaps.
The win was a maiden victory for younger brother jasper, and a sixth victory in the gruelling 46,5km classic for Dawid Mocke, the reigning world surfski series champion.
However they started on the backfoot when they were battered trying to get out through the big surf at the start at Scottburgh. The crunching backline halted the progress of most of the field of elite double ski crews, with the exception of the classy combination of Ant Stott and Barry Lewin, who made a clean break and took a significant early lead.
Once they had negotiated the Scottburgh surf the Mocke siblings, together with Darryl Bartho and Grant Woollaston and another all-brother crew of marathon world champions Grant and Brandon van der Walt, they managed to reel in the race leaders after six kilometres of racing in balmy, windless and largely flat ocean conditions.
The Van der Walt brothers followed Bartho and Woollaston on a tactical gamble to look for a faster line further out to sea, and after apparently making some initial gains, it became clear that the inshore line followed by Stott and Lewin and the Mockes was a wiser choice, as they approached the compulsory beach stop at Amanzimtoti in the lead together.
The two skis entered the big surfbreak at Amanzimtoti together and were caught by a following wave that saw Lewin and Stott's ski broadside, and ram into the Mocke's ski, punching a tennis-ball sized hole through the hull underneath the front cockpit. "The surf was big, but it was a dumb mistake," admitted a humble Lewin afterwards.
While the Mockes swam to shore and started effecting emergency repairs on the beach Lewin and Stott managed to regain the lead, after being initially held up trying to get through the big backline at Toti.
The Mocke brothers located duct tape to patch up the hole in their ski, but needed to completely dry the hull before starting with the taping. They were saved by race boss Billy Harker, who quickly stripped his one-year-old son Henry of his baby grow, allowing the brothers to quickly dry the boat and effect repairs.
While this was happening, the chasing bunch was also hammered by the Toti surf. The third-placed crew of Grant and Brandon van der Walt collided with Bartho and Woollaston coming in through the surf, shearing the nose clean off their ski, and ending their race in dramatic fashion.
