Thank you to those dedicated ocean paddlers that supported the 2008 Spirit Paddle King of the Cape.
Also a big thanks you to our sponsors, including Spirit Paddle Sports for the tremendous support, to Brownes and Fonterra Foods for their backing in this year’s series, and to Shotz Sports Nutrition, Water Boys and the Pure Blonde for keeping us all well hydrated.
We also have to acknowledge the support of SLSWA, especially for supplying the water safety on race day - everyone felt very well looked after out there!
Event organisers nearly turned the race around on Friday before the race, but chose to go ahead with the original course. The Condition looked quite daunting on the day but the wind eased to around a 4 knot head wind. Around 300 Spectators saw 60 ocean paddlers take to the water for a spectacular floating start. Competitors headed firstly towards Yallingup Beach then turning for a direct line to Sugarloaf Rock and around Cape Naturaliste....what a striking coast line this is – certainly makes for an awesome paddle experience.
Early on in the race
The front bunch of 7 was established early on after a frantic start....Brendan ‘the bullet’ Rice lead early but faded to the 2nd group after 5 – 10min. Most of the leading after then was done by Reece Baker, Marcus Brockhurst and Brendon Sarson. Michael Baker did his best to lead but was being foxed by the lead guys as he came up the side of the pack on occasions.
Dean Beament, Tony Bowman and Ash Nesbit did their best to hang on and conserve energy at the back of the pack matching the pace set at the front. Dean and Ash were seen popping Shotz Nutrition Gels to help them towards the end of the race, while smiling at the support boats.
The front group started to split just after Sugarloaf Rock leaving Michael Baker and Dean Beament trailing 50m behind, with small nasty runs starting to appear under the skis. Around Cape Naturaliste things started getting interesting with the water turning quite rough and the odd wave changing the lead a number of times.
The Finish
After 700m of paddling past the Cape it was down to a race of 3: Brendon Sarson, Ash Nesbit and Marcus ‘Blade’ Brockhurst duelling for the King of the Cape bragging rights.
Things got interesting around the headland at Bunker Bay with each of the 3 paddlers attempting to make the best of the small waves. In the end it was Marcus who proved strongest as he powered through leaving the 2006 and the 2007 King of the Cape winners in his wake, taking the win in fine style in a time of 1.30.53hr.
Marcus, Ash and Brendon head to Dubai and South Africa in 4 weeks for 10 days of racing, best of luck to these guys.
Dean Beament came in 5th overall, but took out the +40 prize in front of another famous veteran Dean Gardiner.
The Women’s race was hotly contested with Kirsty Holmes flying in from Queensland and two of our local stars Ruth Highman and Natasha Leversuch battling up the front the whole way… It all came down to a run to the finish between Ruth and Kirsty. Unfortunately Ruth didn’t unclip her leg leash well enough and it cost her the ladies’ title...well done to all ladies!!
Again thank you for supporting the Spirit Paddle King of the Cape - see you all in 2 weeks for the Spirit Mandurah Classic Paddle!
Cheers
Ash
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