Top duo reels in big Marlin catch
Jasper Mocke and Hayley Nixon were the toast of the annual Pete Marlin Surfski race when they claimed the singles titles at Nahoon Beach on Saturday morning.
With South African champs honours up for grabs it was a stacked entry field in both the men’s and women’s divisions, with most of the top surfski talent from across the country taking part.
In the men’s race Mocke was made to work extremely hard for the win as he was chased all the way to the finish line by 2016 Pete Marlin champ Hank McGregor.
In the end despite coming in on the same wave it was Mocke who had the better line and ended near the finish where he was able to cruise home.
“It was extremely close, we saw some very tight racing with under a minute in it and coming in Jasper had a better line into the beach, so although he and Hank took the same wave in, Jasper was right near the finish line, while Hank had to run a bit up the beach to the finish,” explained event organiser Charl van Wyk.
“It was a really good race, with some quick times set and fantastic conditions for the paddlers on the day.”
Kenneth Rice then rounded out the podium in third place, Nicholas Notten took fourth, the first local paddler home was Bevan Manson in fifth and EL’s young up-and-coming talent Joshua Fenn proved his mettle against a very tough field to finish seventh.
For Nixon she finally managed to claim a Pete Marlin title, with the world surfski champion coming in to the event in fantastic form.
She duly dominated the race, putting in a strong performance to outlast a fast start from Bridgitte Hartley and good chase from Jenna Ward to take the win, with Ward coming in as runner-up, while multiple former winner and East London’s own Nikki Birkett finished third.
“It was one of the best Pete Marlin race that we have ever hosted in terms of the level of competitiveness,” admitted Van Wyk.
“We had Bridgitte Hartley an Olympic medallist, we had Hayley Nixon, Hank McGregor and Andy Birkett who are all world champions, the pedigree was extremely high and it was encouraging to see some of the juniors coming through, the U23 paddlers who were breaking the top 10 which is the future of the sport.”
On Sunday the doubles race was then battled out and saw McGregor alongside Andy Birkett take the men’s title ahead of Rice and Stuart Maclaren in second, while singles champ Mocke and Notten had to settle for third.
On the women’s side Nixon claimed the double, teaming up with Cloe Bunnett to take the win ahead of Birkett and Ward in second and Hartley and Sharon Armstrong in third.
“We had very early starts, 7am each morning from Glen Eden beach to Nahoon Beach and 25knot north-easterly wins, so the conditions were near perfect and we had an absolute festival of downwind paddling,” added Van Wyk.
“Everyone was very happy and want to come back, we had a record entry field of 230 paddlers, up from the average of 180, so it really bodes well for the growth of the event and shows that interest in the sport continues to grow.”
It was one of the best Pete Marlin race that we have ever hosted