2011 The Battle of the Bay

Due to some extreme marine activity in the False Bay area, the 2011 Coreban Battle of the Bay powered by The Toll Group (Logistics and Transportation solutions) was moved to the Atlantic coast line and the first ever official down-wind race was held from Milnerton to Blouberg.

The big debate before the race was around taking the inside or the outside line for the 12km route. The novices as well as the 12’6 and under boards set off 10 minutes before the Elite, and if you thought there was marine activity in False Bay, you should have seen the action out in Table Bay – whales breaching within 50 meters of the paddlers and seals feasting on the smaller fry. It all seemed like a feeding chain gone wrong with some paddlers wondering which part of the chain they fitted into, but  rather content that the men in grey suits were absent from the mix. Or so we all hoped!

The interesting tussle for the title heated up as the paddlers converged on Small Bay, with The Stig (Andrew Celie) and Frikkie Fick charging down from their deep line onto big wave extraordinaire Greg Bertish, iron man Ross Lahana and Naish man Pete Petersen, who had chosen the coastal line. Ivan Coreban van Vuuren was let off the hook, having spent a few weeks at Surf Expo’s overseas as he played in cruise-control. But this race was not to be for the Stig, as Greg put the paddle down and edged out Ross and Pete over the final kilometer. Brigette van Aswegen had it all her own way and she cleaned up the ladies Elite by just on 10 minutes.

The great thing was the amount of first-time down-winders that took part! Awesome to see the adventurous spirit that SUPing is bringing out in the folks. Dylan Frick won the top junior prize from Ethan Koopman and Justine Bowdds the Top Performer award.

RESULTS

MEN’S ELITE 14ft

1. GREG BERTISH (COREBAN) – 57 min 06 sec
2. ROSS LAHANA (COREBAN) – 58.07
3. PETE PETERSEN (NAISH) – 59.30

WOMEN’S ELITE 14ft

1. BRIGETTE VAN ASWEGEN (NAISH) – 70.25

MEN’S NOVICES / 14ft CLASS

1. LAINE ALEXANDER (NAISH) – 73.12
2. JOSHUA ROBERTSON (COREBAN) – 83.18
3. WAYNE ROBERTSON (NAISH) – 90.12

MEN’S NOVICES / 12ft CLASS

1. TOM FIGEL (COREBAN) – 73.32
2. ETHAN KOOPMAN (COREBAN) – 76.40
3. TYRAN COOPER (COREBAN) – 81.31

WOMEN’S NOVICES / 12ft CLASS

1. PENNY STEMMET (STARBOARD) -79.32
2. TAMMY ROBERTS (STARBOARD) – 83.45
3. CHELSEA VAN ROOYEN (COREBAN) – 88.15

TOP JUNIOR

DYLAN FICK (STARBOARD) – 70.40

BEST FISRT TIME ACHIEVER

JUSTINE BOWDDS – 140.18

FULL RESULTS

1. GREG BERTISH – 57.06
2. ROSS LAHANA – 58.07
3. PETE PETERSEN – 59.08
4. ANDREW CELLIE – 59.09
5. FRIKKIE FRICK – 60.00
6. PETRO MUSCAS – 61.13
7. IVAN VAN VUUREN – 61.15
8. DYLAN FRICK – 61.40
9. BRAD ADAMS – 62.45

10.  GARY VAN ROOYEN – 64.41

11.  COLIN ECKEROOT – 65.15

12.  GLEN THOMPSON – 66.13

13.  MITCH WAGSTAFF – 66.45

14.  GUY BIBB – 69.25

15.  BRIGETTE VAN ASWEGEN – 70.25

16.  LAINE ALEXANDER – 72.20

17.  TOM FIGEL – 73.42

18.  ETHAN KOOPMAN – 76.40

19.  PENNY STEMMET – 79.32

20.  TYRON COOPER – 81.30

21.  TAMMY ROBERTS – 83.45

22.  JOSHUA ROBERTSON -84.00

23.  CHELSEA VAN ROOYEN – 88.50

24.  WAYNE ROBERTSON – 90.35

25.  JENNIFER KOOPMAN -95.50

26.  STEVE TRIPNEY – 96.24

27.  MONICA – WOHLGEMUTH – 98.40

28.  KARINA FIGEL & JUSTINE BOWDDS – 102.12

DNF – JOHN DE ROOY

THANKS TO THE SPONSORS

COREBAN SUP

THE TOLL GROUP

NEW BALANCE

PF FLYERS

GOPRO

XPRESSION

SUPHQ

BULK SMS

TRUE BLUE TRAVEL