Ocean Series, Race 1 - Dee Why

Dee Why Race Report

Written by Jamie Stewart

What should you expect from a season-opener race? Well, you start with a large field of quality paddlers fit from their off-season training. Throw in conditions that are tough (but not too long), allowing the punters to dust off the cobwebs. Add a sunny day that reminds everyone what it’s like to be in the middle of summer and you pretty much have the 2009 Dee Why Rocks to Reef Challenge – race 1 of the Bing Lee LG Ocean Series (in association with Epic Kayaks). The 15km, two-lap race was the perfect way to kick off the 2009 season of ocean racing.

For the third year in a row, Tim Jacobs took out the first race of Sydney’s surfski calendar, an achievement that should neither be groaned at (not again!!!), nor overlooked. For the last two years, Tim has won every Ocean Series race except for the 20 Beaches, and it looks as though he plans to do it all again in 2009. That is, without wearing the bridesmaid’s dress in the last race. Not that there weren’t people trying to stop him. Dane Sloss flew down from Queensland, and Kurt Tutt down from Byron Bay, to give it a go. Murray Stewart was in the mix, as were ex-Olympic Kayakers Sasa Vujanic and Tony Schumacher. Despite their best efforts, Tim controlled the race just about from start to finish, racing smart and hard to ensure that he was a wave ahead at the finish. Interestingly, Tim has chosen to stick with his old- faithful Epic V10, and was still faster than Dane Sloss on the V12. Dane, looking a new man with his afro-like locks trimmed back for the occasion, chose to let his paddling do the talking for him today and took the race to Tim. “Slossy paddled really strongly” said Jacobs, “he caught me on the second lap but I wasn’t going to let him get away”. Tim sat on the wash for a while, choosing to play a tactical game, before once again putting a gap between himself and the Queenslander, a gap which he retained until the finish.

With eight months having passed since the last Ocean Series race, there was some apprehension regarding the form of the field. “Today was a great opportunity to see how everyone is paddling” said Tim after the race. “Previously the field has been more spread out, but everyone seems to be really close together this year” he added. Particularly impressive was Sasa Vujanic, who went from second to fourth when he slewed on a wave at the finish. Sasa raced in the Yugoslav K4 at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and has previously not been known for his abilities on a surfski. With the top 10 seeded paddlers (based on last year’s results) racing in orange shirts, Sasa was the first yellow-shirt to finish, coming in on the same wave as Dane Sloss. The seeding system was not really used in today’s race, with all paddlers starting together on the same line, but the orange shirts made a great target for the rest of us to aim for!

Conditions on the day were relatively flat, with a few decent bumps here and there to help out. The start of the race was fair, and predictably fast in the flat conditions. The new exclusion zone before the actual start line worked really well, helping to calm nerves and ensure that everyone was in a fair line well before the start. Unfortunately there were a few teething problems with Blast Paddling’s new timing system, but these have now been sorted out and the results are on the Ocean Series website. The good thing about the Dee Why course is that there are two sections that run along the rocks, both of which provide interesting technical paddling. These are linked by a long stretch that goes directly with the prevailing wind, meaning that the field spreads out as it’s faster to chase the runs that to jump on a wash. Today’s race provided an interesting option for the gutsier paddler. Just off Long Reef headland there is a break called Butterbox that sucks up on the rocks. If you know what you’re doing, and you time it right, you can get a great run off the shoulder and surf it for a few hundred metres. If you time it wrong, your ski can end up on the rocks. Most of the top guys went for it, chasing the waves if they were there at the right time. Tim Jacobs, having missed the wave on the first lap, made sure he caught it on the second.

Lauren Smith, sister of Beijing Olympian David Smith, and a promising kayak paddler herself, took out the ladies race. Lauren showed some good results in 2008 and has stepped up in 2009 to win the opening event. As the sport grows, it’s great to see that there are more girls and more juniors turning up to the events. Hayden White won the junior mens, with 17 year- old Freshwater junior Tim Kirkby not far behind. Hayden, an ironman from Warilla Barrack Point, was sitting in the top 10 overall until about 4km to go, when the grand piano dropped and he had to wash-jump to the finish (ending up 18th overall – a respectable effort for a junioron a spec ski!). Watch for both Hayden and Lauren in the future – no doubt these are two young paddlers you’ll be hearing a lot more from.

The other great thing about the Dee Why race is the paddling expo on show after the event. All the leading manufacturers were represented with paddlers and spectators able to check out new stock and pick up some useful gear for the rest of the season. All heads are now turned to Race 2 of the Bing Lee LG Ocean Series – the Lion Island Challenge on October 3.

Race Results

Click here for the race results