Since a couple of days I am here in Western Australia for THE DOCTOR , Australia's premier SUP race. I met with Scott Mc Kercher, STARBOARD's main board designer and tester, who showed me around in Perth and Rottnest Island.
On the 22nd we left in the morning for Rottnest Island 15 km from the coast. At 1:00 pm
The race started for the Stand Up Boards. First a sprint to the first buoy then 11km slightly from the side and then the remaining 18 km straight form the back. The finish was in Sorrento.
Until last minute I was trying to decide between the ACE 12'6*25 or the RACE 12'6 *29. I decided for the RACE because it just catches a waves easier. The ACE is better in flat water.
Probably the RACE 12'6* 27 would have been my first choice but I would have been impossible to bring that board from Maui with the flight connections I had. But even the slightly wider one I was using is still very very fast.
The wind was a lot lighter then for casted. Everybody started off fast, to win the bonus $500 1-km sprint. Paul Jackson and I were the only ones who could catch on with the two 17 footers in front of us. But still just to fast for us to get to that first mark in 1st. When we got further out we started working the bumps and getting glides. Because of the light winds it was super hard to get a glide but your efforts were double rewarded when you did. After the 1/3 mark I caught up with Courtney on his 17 footer. So I kept working to stay close to Paul Jackson who was just ahead of me.
After 2hrs and 53 minutes I got to the finish in 2nd place with Paul still just 2 minutes ahead of me. It was a hard race and I gave everything.
Thanks to STARBOARD for their SUPER fast boards, Black Project fins, DAKINE and Kanaha Kai Maui.
Top 3, left to Right, Bart 2nd, Andy 3rd and Paul 1st
The water tasted so nice after the race
Jacco ( Paul) and me talking story after the race.
Next race in Margret River on Wednesday. In the mean time Scotty and I will be testing next years boards.
Aloha from Down Under
