Dean’s Report from WA Race Week
We told you it would blow.
Sometimes in the event game our expectations on what the race will be like are not met. Sometimes it comes close, sometimes it is nowhere near the conditions spruiked by the organizer and the reason an event is held at a time in a certain place.
Every now and again the ducks line up and everything that is promised and expected falls into place.
Shaw and Partners WA Race week was everything it could and should have been. Exceptional downwind, big numbers and the very best paddlers on the planet in what to us is the best location in the World for this style of event.
One week, five races. A big ask for the competitors and organizers alike but all worth it when it comes together like it did.
From us at Oceanpaddler we have to thank all the event organizers and helpers that got involved. Starting with The Fenn West Coast Downwind, to Rob, Deano, Craig and all the IOP crew thanks for kick starting the week with another great race.
To Trish, Muz and all the team at City of Perth Surf Club and in particular Ben Hewitt for giving us two fantastic races mid week with the Triple S series.
And finally to the management team involved with The Dash for Cash and The Doctor a huge thank you. They included
- Yanda Morison
- Sherene Lagasse
- Julian Shelbourne
- Andrea Smith
- Mark “Wally” Williams
- Steven Lawrence
- Chris Porteous our safety officer and his daughter
- Muz Hughes
- Greg Mickle
- Frank Pisani
- Peter Gardiner
- Travis England
- Ash Nesbit
- Brittany Hughes
- Dean Papineau
- Kathleen Lowy
The week involved a lot of moving things around and setting different things up at various times throughout the seven days. I was stoked to have some of the competitors help out through the week. Tommy Norton, Jimmy Walker, Jemma Smith, Noah Harvard and there were many more were very helpful and we appreciate your help.
And of course the support from all of our sponsors who by now would understand we are not an events company but a group of people that just love ocean paddling and dont always fill in the blanks but just try and do the best we can.
Now that the big ones are over it is time to catch up on some of the admin that makes this series work.
One of those and a really important one is the partnering with Investec who have become a major sponsor of our series and presenting sponsor of The Manly Wharf Bridge to Beach.
We welcome Investec to the oceanpaddling family. The really good thing about this sponsorship is that not only is Investec a major international company, they are a company from outside the paddling industry which indicates to us the exceptional growth we have seen in the sport.
We will be introducing some new initiatives with the Investec sponsorship and we will shares these in the next newsletter in more detail.
