The past long weekend was a golden one for Strand paddler Kira Bester, as she claimed top spot in the women’s race of the South African SS1 Ocean Racing Championships on Friday 25 April as well as first place with partner Melanie van Niekerk in the South African SS2 Ocean Racing Championship in the prestigious Prescient Freedom Challenge on Sunday 27 April.
In the first race the Peninsula Canoe Club member was crowned the new national women’s champion in flat conditions in False Bay. The local paddler dominated the race from Simon’s Town to Fish Hoek in benign surf conditions and fog to cross the line in a time of 1:38:26.
Bester, on her home course, made great use of the swells on the run in to the finish to power away to a convincing three-minute victory over Eastern Cape’s Jade Wilson (1:41:12), while Georgia Singe (1:43:12), Nix Birkett (1:43:14) and Saskia Hockly (1:43:50) completed the top five.
The men’s race saw another victory for Peninsula Canoe Club, as Nic Notten led home a Peninsula Canoe Club 1-2-3 to claim the national SS1 ocean racing title. Notten finished 18 seconds ahead of clubmate, doubles partner and fellow former world champion Kenny Rice, with defending SA champion Uli Hart ending third, 37 seconds further back.
On Sunday, partial defending champion Bester and Van Niekerk commandingly took home the women’s title in the Prescient Freedom Challenge in what paddlers described as “perfect” conditions – sunny, virtually no swell and a gentle breeze to cool them down on the homeward stretch. The KwaZulu-Natal crew of Hockly and last year’s winner with Bester, Pippa McGregor, claimed second place.
A total of 179 boats carrying 312 paddlers participated in the popular 27 km event from the Oceana Powerboat Club in Green Point, around the iconic Robben Island and back to the boat club. The event also included a shorter 10 km challenge.
Bester and Van Niekerk enthused about the racing conditions, with Bester saying they had been paddling with a bunch until near Robben Island, “but then it broke up and spread out”.
Both said paddling on Freedom Day had been significant for them. Bester said the day symbolised the “freedom to do something extraordinary for her”, while Van Niekerk said it was an “iconic” day and “to paddle on it with one of my best mates was fantastic”.
The Peninsula pair of Notten and Rice surged to a convincing victory in the men’s race, followed by the young paddling pair of Wayne Jacobs and Matthew Coetzer in second place.
