November 14, 2012
by Peter Petersen

[RESULTS] PRIMI Naish Downwind Dash Series, South Africa: Race #5


We’ve successfully completed five races in the first six weeks of the 10-week PRIMI Naish Downwind Dash Series, which is a testament to the consistency of the wind in Cape Town! It wasn’t a howler today, but 15-24knots fanned the course producing heaps of quality runners.

It almost wasn’t to be though, as the wind only turned and switched on two hours before the start. A lot of paddlers stayed at home due to the wind’s late arrival – this despite the race-committee calling the race on since the morning. A total of 23 SUPs and 29 skis competed, the first time this year that skis have outnumbered the Stand Ups (plenty of name-calling such as “Fair-weather SUP’ers” etc was overheard at the bar afterwards…). A pretty solid swell might also have had something to do with it.

Big wave charger Chris Bertish attending Mavericks opening ceremony in the U.S. and Dylan Frick still on anti-biotics meant that lesser ranked paddlers were eyeing off a chance to steal the thunder. Colin Heckroodt welcomed the challenge and set off alongside Greg Bertish, with Dylan in tow. Dylan was looking a little sluggish off the start while Andrew Cillie chose a very wide line. Halfway down the course Andrew suddenly found his groove and Dylan also seemed to find his mojo, catching Greg and setting off after Colin.

Coming through Small Bay the sets were solid 3-6ft and Greg nearly became a rockstar while Francois Frick caught a beauty and nearly managed to pip Greg to the line. Up in front of them, Dylan made a great comeback, but just didn’t have enough to take the win from Colin, who celebrated his first ever downwind victory. Third went to Andrew Cillie, who really was flying, making it a Starboard lock-out on the podium.

Race #5 winner, Colin Heckroodt (© Bruce Johnston)

Brigette van Aswegen once again dominated the ladies while Mishka Steyn and Monica Wohlgemuth had a very close tussle, with Mishka eventually pulling ahead to take 2nd.

Only two juniors this week – we’re in the middle of exams, so the rest of you are excused (this week only and provided you get good marks) – and Ethan Koopmans once again just pipped Joshua Robertson.

There were also two first-timers in this race, Mike Smith and Michal Mashia, meaning we now have 80 paddlers on the PRIMI Naish leaderboard. Positions are unchanged at the top of the leaderboard, though everyone is more bunched up and so there are openings for changes in the coming weeks. Four more races and forecast for next week is already looking promising…..gotta love Cape Town!

MORE >>> Results from the PRIMI Naish Downwind Dash Series, Races 1-4

Pretty nice backdrop! Stand Up Paddling in Cape Town (© Bruce Johnston)

PRIMI Naish Downwind Dash Series – LEADERBOARD

PRIMI Naish Downwind Dash Series – Race #5 RESULTS

Date: 14th November, 2012
Wind: SSE 15-24 knots
Course: 10.1km

#NameTimeClassDivision% of 1stGradekm/hmin/kmBoard
1Colin Heckroodt0:52:0814'Open100.00Elite11.620:05:10Starboard 14' OO
2Dylan Frick0:52:3714'Open99.08Elite11.520:05:13Starboard 14' Ace Pro
3Andrew Cillie0:53:1514'Masters97.90Elite11.380:05:16Starboard 14 'OO
4Greg Bertish0:54:2714'Open95.75Elite11.130:05:23Coreban 14' Dart
5Francois Frick0:54:3314'Open95.57Elite11.110:05:24Starboard 14' Ace Pro
6Peter Petersen0:55:4414'Masters93.54A10.870:05:31Naish 14 Glide (2012)
7Pietro Muscas0:56:3314'Masters92.19A10.720:05:36Naish 14 Glide 2012
8Ethan Koopman0:56:4314'Junior91.92A10.680:05:37Naish 14 Glide
9Joshua Robertson0:57:4014'Junior90.40A10.510:05:43Fanatic 14 Falcon
10Brad Adams0:58:4914'Open88.64B10.300:05:49Fanatic 14 Falcon
11Brigette van Aswegen1:01:3214'Women's84.72C9.850:06:06Starboard 14' Ace Pro
12Nick Muhl1:02:2114'Open83.61C9.720:06:10Naish 14 Glide AST
13Rob Munro1:04:1614'Masters81.12C9.430:06:22Fanatic 14 OO
14Guy Bubb1:04:5514'Open80.31C9.340:06:26Naish 14 Glide (2012)
15Nico Pfitzenmaier1:05:3114'Open79.57D9.250:06:29Naish 14 Glide AST
16Michael Fiet1:06:1014'Open78.79D9.160:06:33Coreban 14' Dart
17Wayne Robertson1:07:5414'Open76.78D8.920:06:43Coreban 14 Dart
18Steve Tripney1:09:1414'Masters75.30D8.750:06:51Coreban 14 Dart
19Mishka Steyn1:09:3914'Jnr women's74.85D8.700:06:54Starboard 14' OO
20Monika Wohlgemuth1:10:1214'Women's74.26D8.630:06:57Naish 14 Glide (2012)
21Craig Girdlestone1:20:1714'Masters64.94D7.550:07:57Naish 14 Glide AST
22Mike Smith1:20:2714'Masters64.80D7.530:07:58Fanatic 14 OO
23Michal Mashiah1:24:0614'Women's61.99D7.210:08:20Naish 14 Glide AST