Epic Kayaks 20 Beaches Classic - Murray Stewart Wins the Day, Tim Takes the SeriesWritten by Jamie StewartMonday, 22 December 2008 With 20 Beaches down, and having just smashed myself for close to 2 hours into a slight headwind, it was with great relief that I caught a small wave into the finish line of the Epic Kayaks 20 Beaches Classic. A huge crowd had assembled on a perfect summer's day at Shelley Beach, with the pile of skis starting to grow as more and more paddlers crossed the finish line. Hardly able to walk, I looked up to see my girlfriend greet me with a massive smile. "He's done it! Murray's won!" she yelled at me. It took a minute to register; my ‘little' brother had just won the biggest ski race on the east coast of Australia, ahead of one of the hottest fields ever assembled in the country. Pretty impressive for a 22 year old who less than 12 months ago was in hospital recovering from life-threatening surgery.
Murray Stewart and Tim Jacobs (Pic: Alex Braid) Tough Race We all knew it would be a tough race. The strong southerly wind from the preceding days had all but blown itself out, and the southerly swell was dropping. Anticipating a change of wind during the day, the race organisers chose to run the race from Palm Beach back to Manly. Unfortunately, the forecast north-easter didn't come through and the race was run in pretty much due easterly wind. This had the effect of keeping the left hand side of one's face cool, but didn't provide all that much in the way of assistance. Basically, it was just choppy the whole way, making it difficult to find a rhythm, and almost impossible to ride wash. The one benefit was that everyone had to race their own race, and in the end, only the toughest competitor on the day would win. Having already passed 12 surf clubs (i.e.: 12 beaches of 20), and with 7km of very familiar coastline left to go, Murray was lying neck and neck with pre-race favourite, Tim Jacobs. The two had been hurting each other the whole way from Palm Beach, swapping the lead surge-for-surge, knowing that the 2007 winner, Jeremy Cotter, was hot on their heels. As they rounded Long Reef headland, Murray linked up a series of three small runs and managed to pull 200m ahead. Thinking that his younger training mate should be tired from flying back from his win in the Southern Shamaal teams event just a week before, Tim kept pushing the whole way, waiting for Murray to hit the wall. It never happened, and the lanky builder from Freshwater Beach would, for the first time this season, have to be content with second place, almost ninety seconds behind. Stroke Rate An interesting observation from the race photographer - Murray's stroke rate was well below that of Tim's the whole race. This suggests that Murray's kayak paddling has paid off in terms of greater efficiency, and could be the reason why he was the only one on the beach who didn't look puffed after the race!
Tim and Muzz trading leads (Pic: Alex Braid)
The lead pack (Pic: Alex Braid)
Unfortunately Clint Robinson couldn't make it to the event (his wife went into labour the day before the race - a valid excuse), but fellow 2008 Olympian David Smith came in 6th, one place ahead of veteran Dave Kissane. Only three minutes separated 4th place and 10th, showing the incredible depth in the field. Kirk Jarrott, who was 7th in the Dubai Shamaal finished 12th overall. If you want to analyse even further; the top 16 paddlers were separated by just over 7 minutes, which is the same margin that separated the top 16 in Dubai. According to the series organiser, Marcial Nunura, the race grew 45% from last year, demonstrating the tremendous growth of the sport in Australia.
Tough conditions - Stevie Coulter being helped up the beach (Pic: Alex Braid)
Murray Stewart and Jeremy Cotter (Pic: Alex Braid)
The Epic Kayaks 20 Beaches Classic was also the deciding race for the 2008 Ocean Series, and of course the final chance for paddlers to win the flights to Molokai 2009 being sponsored by Lifestyle Financial Services. Tim Jacobs' previous wins were enough to get him the series title, with Murray Stewart in 2nd. The third ticket was a close call, with Dave Kissane scraping in, just ahead of Brett Tyack (don't fear though, Brett has already booked his flights and will still be racing in Hawaii). This is where it gets interesting - since Dave won the over 40s category, he was entitled to 2 tickets, but because the open ticket counts first, Ian Timbrell, who was second in the over 40s, won the flight.
Murray, Tim and Dave Kissane (Pic: Alex Braid)
It has been said that Ocean Ski racing is one of the fastest growing international sports in the world. The surge in entries in this year's ocean series bears this out. As usual, our series photographer, Alex Braid, was on hand to snap the shots. Alex has done a great job this series, so make sure you check out his photos at www.flickr.com/braidosan. If you would like to get any of the images from him, email alex.braid@au.ey.com.
Murray drops the the mob (Pic: Alex Braid)
Summary results:
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