The Nelo Summer Challenge: UPDATED with video
Almost straight after the 2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships came the Nelo Summer Challenge, the second in the ICF 2010 Ocean Racing World Cup Series. Tuesday 24 August, with the first race on the Friday, was the first day of official training.
Already some of the World's best had gathered; Ken Wallace (AUS), Tim Jacobs (AUS), Ronald Rauhe (GER), Michele Eray (RSA) and Bridgitte Hartley (RSA) were some of the most famous paddlers in the water. Bridgitte was blogging during the event.
“Every day we went practising in our brand new NELO surfskis, I was like a little kid setting up a new toy... I was quite wobbly in the sea the first few days as I got used to the ski, I like it though as it felt more like my kayak. I have not really done lots of surfski paddling, I don’t like sitting in a surfski as I feel like I am paddling up a hill, so the NELO ski is really great.
“Training followed the same routine from Tuesday to Thursday. Between sessions we would get some lunch along the beach. We also spent some time lying on the beach, which was absolutely packed, even though almost nobody was swimming because the water was so cold. I was amazed to see so many people just lying in the sun as I usually go to the beach to swim.”
The relaxed atmosphere on all of the sessions was evident for all athletes at every level. Recreational racers were able to enjoy the company of some of the best Ocean Racers, Canoe Sprint and Canoe Marathon athletes in the world.
Race Day: Friday 27 August
After a mild morning the conditions turned into a 2m swell with the wind at 20 knots, making it nearly perfect conditions. After the start on the beach, Ken Wallace and David Smith stormed to the hotspot, with Wallace just taking Smith on the line. After that Tim Jacobs, Jasper Mocke and Jacob Clear joined in and were close together and even at the end of the 10 km they were not more 90 seconds apart.
In the girls race Bridgitte Hartley took the hotspot, she was the first to arrive at the lighthouse (about 800m into the race) but then Michelle Eray, put out all her boat skills to overtake Bridgitte and Bernardette Wallace. In Bridgitte's own words:
“A downwind challenge, about 10km from the harbour in Povoa de Varzim, Race One was a high tide ‘le mans’ start, we raced to the Azurara Beach where we had some shore break to finish and had to run up the sand to cross the line
“We all started together so there was no telling where the girls were lying among the guys! I had a good start but then I saw Michele Eray just ahead of me so I put in a big interval to try to get ahead even if I blew at the hotspot point I thought that a prize of €1000 would be better than nothing.
“After the lighthouse I slowed down as I felt a little wobbly again, but I got into a good rhythm, I could see Michele Eray and Bernadette Wallace ahead of me and that was all but I was not sure where I was lying among the girls. I just tried to catch some runs along the way and enjoy being out in the sea and wind. I had a good finish in the shore break without being killed by capsizing, so it was a success!!
“I was then told I had won the Hotspot prize, it was my boat number 216 that got there first, so that was good news. Then it was overall prize giving and I managed to get a 3rd place finish which was great.”
Bridgitte Hartley
- Zoom
- The Top Three Ladies
South Africa did very well in the Women's category with Michelle Eray (RSA) winning gold, Bernadette Wallace (AUS) taking silver and Bridgitte taking bronze. In the men’s event Australia dominated with them taking the top four spots. Tim Jacobs won, Ken Wallace came 2nd and David Smith was 3rd and Jacob Clear was 4th.
Race Day: Saturday 28 August
- Zoom
- The Men's Final Starting Line
The weather was on the organiser's side again, it turned out to be a perfect summer's day. The morning saw some nice small runs, allowing the most and the less experienced to enjoy some relaxed competition with the predicted competitors progressing to the finals.
The startlist for the final was impressive with many Australian and South African Ocean Racing champions lining up with some high profile sprinters such as the Portuguese, Joao Ribeiro (silver medalist in Poznan) and Ronald Rauhe from Germany (Olympic Champion). In the Women's category, the South African and Australian Ocean Racers were positioned against some of the Wolrd's best sprinters such as Bridgitte Hartley, Teresa Portela (POR), Lani Belcher and Rachel Cawthorn (both GBR).
- Zoom
- South Africa's Jasper Mocke
In the end it was all about South Africa with Jasper Mocke taking the win. He said after the race he was, “very happy with this result, proving I still have some speed in me, and especially among such a strong field, there were 10 guys that could have won, thank god it was me.” He went away with a cheque for €2000. Both 2nd and 3rd place went to Australian Ocean Racers, David Smith and Jacob Clear. Ronald Rauhe, showed that he can battle with the best in the world in this kind of race, finishing in 4th place and ahead of many experienced Ocean Racers from Australia and South Africa.
- Zoom
- The Women's Final in Action
In the Women's event, Bridgitte Hartley stormed to victory in front of Lani Belcher and Rachel Cawthorn (both British, both with no Ocean Racing experience!). Bridgitte gives us a commentary of the race:
“This event was lots of fun and I could at least prove to myself that I can still sprint after a disappointing world championships. My heat was fun as I got a great start and pulled away from all the other girls. Heat 1 which was raced before me was a bit more competitive so I was not so sure what to expect in the finals.
In the finals, “the tide had changed a little so now we had a higher tide so I was hoping not to have shore break at our start! I just focused on getting on my boat quickly and then put in some good power strokes and I found myself leading the pack. I turned at the buoy and kept my position but there were no waves to catch coming in so it was hard but I kept up my strong sprint and ran up the beach a bit slower as by legs were tired. I won... Yay..! What fun!”
Bridgitte Hartley
For more information and official results, visit the event website here: www.summerchallenge.nelo.eu.
See the Nelo Summer Challenge: The Movie below: