After last week’s blistering start to the 2015 PRIMI Naish Downwind Series, this week’s edition served up a more modest 15-20 knots but also some solid swells at the finish.
Just over 50 paddlers (31 SUPs and 21 surf skis) took to the course. Among the group was Dylan Frick and Mishka Steyn, two stalwarts of the Downwind Dash series who made a welcome return this week. Waves were manageable at the start and once again it was Ethan Koopmans who dominated… → READ MORE
Last Wednesday night, January 21st, marked Week #3 in the new edition of the ten week PRIMI Naish Downwind Dash Series. And *finally* we had some well-timed wind here in Cape Town.
Dodgy Wind Guru forecasting and borderline calls by organisers had seen the past two Wednesday nights pass by without a race, despite there being some (arguably iffy) winds. We’ve actually been downwinding 4-6 times a week for the past couple of months, however the wind had been frustratingly absent on Wednesday race nights. → READ MORE
After last week’s feisty downwinder saw wind, waves and a broken board, this week’s fifth and final race in the Oct-Dec edition of the long-standing PRIMI Naish Downwind Dash series here in Cape Town, South Africa was another cracker.
Excellent 20-34 knots greeted the 38 paddlers at the start-line on Wednesday night, with a 15 second, 2 metre swell threatening to cause havoc once again. → READ MORE
Race #4 in the October to December 2014 edition of Cape Town’s long-running PRIMI Naish Downwind Dash series was one for the books.
It had been blowing 30 knots all day with a solid 2.5m swell, which provided quite a spectacle for this week’s downwinder. The start of these races is all about timing the sets and the first group of starters did just that – if you are a fan of carnage that is… → READ MORE
It was looking good the whole week. The wind had been firing every day since Sunday, especially on Tuesday when it was seriously cranking and several guys set personal bests. So expectations were high for tonight’s 3rd race in the latest PRIMI Naish Downwind Dash Series here in Cape Town, South Africa.
The wind had been gusting over 30 knots since Tuesday, at times hitting 38-40 knots. That’s an 8 out of 12 on the Beaufort scale. That’s strong, even by our standards… → READ MORE
Race #5 of the 2014/2015 PRIMI Naish Downwind Dash Series went down last night, after races #2, #3 and #4 had to be cancelled due to lack of wind. There has been plenty of wind in Cape Town, the guys have been on it 3-5 times a week – it just hasn’t wanted to blow on Wednesday race nights…
Yesterday’s conditions were good with 15-25 knots of wind and some 3-4ft nuggets greeting paddlers at the start and exit. With Dylan Frick back in town, Ethan Koopmans was frothing to see if he could match him on a decent downwinder after Dylan got one over him on the weekend in the flats.
Unfortunately Dylan didn’t make the start so we’ll have to wait a little longer to see our two downwind stars battling it out head to head… → READ MORE
Brandvlei Dam, one hour out of Cape Town, hosted the final race in a series of six counting towards the coveted SUPSA South African Race Championship title.
Dylan Frick and Ethan Koopmans were tied on points, so the winner of this event would be crowned champ whilst Mishka Steyn’s Ladies title was in the bag if she completed the race. The SA Champs winners would also become eligible for selection for the SA Team to the ISA Worlds. Click through to see how it all went down… → READ MORE
October marks the beginning of summer in Cape Town and with it, the return of the PRIMI Naish Downwind Dash race series. Now in it’s 15th year (with SUP being included for the past five years), the classic Milnerton to Big Bay Downwinder is run every Wednesday night for 10 weeks, from October through mid-December and another 10 weeks from mid-January to March.
Last night’s season opener had soft winds with 12-23 knots and a 3-4ft swell running. Some of the guys had been training as much as mother nature had allowed in previous weeks, but winds are still a bit fickle this time of year so for many, this was the first downwind run since last summer. → READ MORE
Naish SUP South Africa sponsored and organised the 2nd stop on the South African SUPSA Race Tour last weekend. The racing was held in Durban at New Pier and counted towards selection for the 2015 ISA Worlds. With Dylan Frick doing his duty in Europe, it was up to pre-event favorite Ethan Koopmans to fight off the local Durban paddlers.
Ethan has lifted his game and was untouchable in both the long distance, however Shelley Bradfield’s tech race performance was the highlight of the day, for the wrong reasons… → READ MORE
And so the long road to the ISA World Paddleboard Championship in Nicaragua continues…
After yesterday revealing the new lineup of the 2012 Silver Medal winning country, Team USA, today it’s time to see who’ll be representing the 2013 Silver Medalists: Team South Africa. → READ MORE
Light winds greeted the PRIMI Naish downwind addicts as Wednesday night continues to tease the event. The week prior to race day (Thu-Tues) provided six days straight of epic downwinds in the 30knot + range…..and tonight we barely had 10knots! At least the direction was still a perfect S-SE but light wind downwinders are rare in Cape Town and it was good to see 30+ paddlers take part.
Paddling in these conditions is about milking every little push you can find and straight off thestart, Brigette van Aswegen showed her intentions. Brigette is training for the ISA Worlds in Nicaragua and her form is clearly improving rapidly as she took off, leaving ladies and gents alike, in her wake. Mishka Steyn caught up and stuck with Brigette but Brigette held it to the line and took a well deserved win in 1.08.12 with Mishka a mere 13 secs behind. Monika Wolgemuth took a fine 3rd in 1.15.03 while Maleen Hoekstra decided the boat was a better option as the last week of paddling was taking it’s toll. → READ MORE
As was forecast, conditions peaked properly for the 2nd race in the 2014 PRIMI Naish Downwind Dash Series here in Cape Town, South Africa.
Swell at 3.5 meters and 17 seconds had most of the fleet dreading hopping in the water at Milnerton Lighthouse and especially dodging the rocks at the exit in Big Bay. The wind was a pretty standard 22-30knots whipping up beautiful runners for the entire 10 km downwind run. With conditions looking a little ominous, the field had been whittled down to 27 of the more experienced paddlers. → READ MORE
After sitting it out for 3 weeks straight we finally managed to get wind for our Wednesday night race. The wolf-pack has been feasting on 4-5 downwinds per week – and tonight we got very contestable conditions with a 15-23knot breeze and a solid 2-3m swell pounding the put in and exit areas.
30 paddlers lined up with a good handful of newcomers. Dani Reinhart from Switzerland who took 2nd to Ethan Koopmans at the NISCO Worlds in Las Vegas last year, swapped out his windsurfer and flatwater SUP board for a downwind Glide. Sebastien Cattelan made a welcome return on his inflatable but promptly broke his paddle and canoed his way to the finish where he chose to not go through the finish gate to register a DNF….never a dull moment! → READ MORE
Chris Bertish has made a name for himself doing things a little differently: First guy to paddle in (not tow) at Jaws in 2000, winning Maverick’s Big Wave Invitational in 2010, in the biggest wave in recorded paddle in history (on a borrowed board because his didn’t show up) and then stand up paddling 320km up the South African West Coast in 2012, completely unassisted & unsupported, facing sharks, massive waves and unfavourable winds whilst carrying everything (tent, food, comms etc) on his board.
This time round he’s turned his focus back on one of his first loves of SUP – downwinding. Chris was the first guy to do our local 10km Cape Town Milnerton downwinder which has since grown into the annual PRIMI Naish 20x race series. He was unbeatable for the first 3 years and held the course record up until recently as well. I had the pleasure of joining him in 2011 on a 65km downwinder from Cape Town Waterfront to Yzerfontein – it took us 7 hours and I spent an hour in the support boat because he’d gotten too far ahead…. That was one of many occasions where I realised this guy is not your average Joe….
The latest challenge Chris decided to tackle, was the 12 hour open sea record, which supposedly stands at 120km. Chris reasoned that our South Easter would help propel him up the coast at speeds in excess of 10km/h, meaning 120km was his goal. → READ MORE
The 2013 PRIMI Naish Downwind Championship decider was held at Woodbridge Island, Milnerton on 11th Dec. The race takes the paddlers 10.1km downwind to Big Bay. Conditions were very contestable with 17-23knots of wind and no swell.
As the country mourns the loss of one of the worlds greatest leaders, our paddling fraternity dedicated this paddle to the life of Nelson Mandela and held a one minutes silence prior to the start in his memory. It was quite emotional event having Robben Island as a backdrop, just trying to fathom how Madiba managed to come from incarceration to making such a profound difference in all of our lives – Respect.
But back to the paddling – Dylan Frick was holding the lead going into the 10th and final race of the season. 4 races were cancelled due to lack of wind but fortunately the weather co-operated making it our 6th completed race this year… → READ MORE
