Australian Ocean Racing Series Wrap Up

Written by Dean Gardiner

The dust has settled and the titles claimed in this our first official Australian Ocean Racing national championships.

Ten events around the country culminated with the biggest event on the calendar the Bridge to Beach earlier this month.

Over 800 participants took part in the series this year with events predominantly in NSW. While QLD, VIC each hosted events with WA providing 3 including the lucrative ‘Doctor’ and Finn Kayaks Coastal Challenge.

If you scroll through the results you will see it’s a virtual who’s who of paddle and ocean sports both here in Australia and globally.

https://oceanpaddler.com/Events/AORS/Results-and-Standings.aspx

The points score worked as follows.

• 6 Events out of the 10 were used to obtain points. Obviously competitor’s highest scoring events were taken
• ‘The Doctor’ and Finn Kayaks Coastal Challenge were the only double point events
• In the case of a tie the competitor with the highest placing in “The Doctor” was deemed the winner
• If neither participated in that event the competitor with highest individual placing out of any of the events gained the higher position
• The overall placing from last season will be used as competitors 2010/2011 rankings and identity number.

Season 2009-2010 Wrap up

Fenn Cup Race 1 & 2, NSW

The season opened with the first of 3 Fenn Cups. Horrendous conditions were the order of the day with a blustery 25-30 knot direct offshore wind creating a nightmare for event organizers. The decision was made to run triangular course to enable paddlers to utilize as much downwind as possible while keeping the event closer to shore.

Paddler battle the off shore winds. Hayley Bateup wins Fenn Cup 1
Photo: Beachhead.com

Jeremy Cotter and Hayley Bateup started the season well with wins in their respective categories. Looming ominously behind Cotter was Tim Jacobs and newcomer Shannon Eckstein. These three went head to head in all the events they raced making for some pretty thrilling up front racing.
This event was a welcome return to competition for former ironman golden boy Guy Leech. Although well up with the leaders early Leechy found the going a little tough, after being out of the competitive arena for nearly a decade.

Ky Hurst was another of the top ironman to make his ocean racing debut and finished well within range of the leaders in his first major outing.

Tim Jacobs (2nd), Jeremy Cotter (1st) and Shannon Eckstein (3rd). Guy Leech before the big race!
Photos: Judy Lucas

You can view the video of the race here thanks to Rambo https://oceanpaddler.com/Videos.aspx

Fenn Cup 2 saw the same in the men’s with Jasmin Kelly taking out the ladies. This time round the paddlers enjoyed a moderate north east making for a fun ride down the coast. Eckstein led the three into the final 2 kilometres with local knowledge allowing Cotter then Jacobs to pass the Queenslander relegating him to third once more.

Shannon Eckstein leads most of the race only to be beaten by Jeremy and Tim.
Photo: Beachhead.com

King of the Cape, WA

Over to WA for race 3 on the calendar. The King of the Cape is one of my favourites. Big wind, big swell, big cliffs in fact big everything (including the things that eat people). In saying that this year was flat.

A small North West wind prompted race organizers to reverse the course so a gentle downwind run from Bunkers to Smiths was enjoyed by all who took part. Brendan Sarson proved that he is one to watch by taking out the event from a few seasoned campaigners. Naomi Flood took out the ladies from a quality local contingent.

Fenn Cup Race 3, NSW

Back to the East Coast and Fenn Cup 3. This was a double up weekend with teams and doubles due to run the next day. As the weather didn’t play ball the days were reversed and Day 2 was now Day 1 and “The Twist” became the 4th event on the AORS calendar.

Now I’m not going to spend paragraphs explaining “the Twist” here, in simple language it’s exactly what the name suggests and gives some competitors the ability to move themselves through the rankings. For more info on this particular event go to ocean.tikcha.com Fenn Cup Series.

Fenn Cup 3 and we are now halfway through the season. Solid South East with rain and sleet to go with it. Cotter continued his form and was now unbeaten in Australia. The dais was rounded out by veterans in me and Marty Kenny.
Hayley bateup returned to the top of the dais with a win over Kirsty Holmes and WA’s Ruth Highman.

There was plenty of action in the doubles race. Hayley Bateup wins the Fenn Cup Series.
Photo: Judy Lucas

Graham Long Memorial Cup, Outlaw #5, VIC

The South Coast of Victoria played host to the first of the back half of the season. Perfect conditions greeted competitors at the start at Urquhart’s Bluff. Strong South West winds producing steep rideable chop over the relatively shallow water made for a fast fun race.

Fortunately for me conditions played into my hands with a win over Tony Schumacher and Mark Anderson. Ruth Highman continued her good form taking out the ladies.

Tony Schumacher 2nd, Dean Gardiner 1st and Mark Anderson 3rd
Photo: Doug Lucas

The Doctor World Cup & Finn Kayaks Coastal Challenge, WA

Back over to WA and a full weekend of racing with “The Doctor” and The Finn Kayaks event. As reported Dawid Mocke upset the locals and denied Jeremy Cotter of a clean sweep in Australia. The field in Perth was the best assembled in Australia last season making for some serious racing at the pointy end. Around 3 minutes separated 1st to 15th showing just how competitive this race was.

The course was reversed due to strong offshore winds which meant a slightly shorter race with super steep short chop. One of the highlights of the event was Olympic Gold Medallist Kenny Wallace’s convincing win in the ASN Hotspot against a quality sprint field.

Patriotism was forgotten in the Finn Kayaks Coastal Challenge when Cotter and South Africa’s Hank Macgregor paired up to take out the relay event and race 8 on the AORS calendar.

Winner of the Doctor, Dawid Mocke. Bruce Taylor (3rd) Jeremy Cotter (2nd) and Dawid Mocke (1st)
Photo: Mark Donaldson

King of the Coast Mooloolaba, QLD

Queensland’s Sunshine Coast hosted race 9 of the series in soft North East winds and small following swell. Jacob Clear, one of the countries’ top still water paddlers took out this event from Mark Anderson and Dane Sloss. Jasmin Kelly narrowly beat Kirsty Holmes for the ladies.

The King of the Coast was the first event on the Sunshine Coast since the Men’s Health Series several years ago. A big turn out and well run event bodes well for more events there in the future.

Bridge to Beach, NSW – the final event of the AORS Series

The final and most recent event was the Bridge to Beach. An iconic event for Sydney’s paddling community with around 500 participants taking part. The full report for this race is on www.surfski.info. Cotter once again from Caine Eckstein (making his return to the sport) and Tim Jacobs. Mel Pelly took out the ladies event.

Paddlers make their way under the Harbour Bridge and past the Sydney Opera House.
Photo: Beachhead.com

2010/2011 What to expect

The upcoming season promises all that we had last season and more. We are looking at a couple of other events to add to the program with some different style races to showcase some of the competitor’s versatility.

We will still be looking at using around two thirds of the available events as point scoring races so if there are 12 events your best 8 will be used as point scoring. We aim to have at least 3 events on the West Coast to give the “Sandgropers” decent point scoring opportunities.

The Bridge to Beach will drop out of the new series becoming a standalone event. The season will finish in January allowing those that are interested in the shorter SLSA and sprint kayak races to move straight into those events.

The main style of race will follow the criterion set by ISPA. These are generally point to point races that are downwind. After fairly extensive surveys globally this is what the majority of competitors want.

We aim not to conflict with any of the major international races and hope to blend as best we can with the domestic races.
Look forward to seeing you all at next year’s events.
The event was held into a moderate headwind and tide, making for a fairly tough day on the water.