CAPE TOWN – The Peninsula pair of Nic Notten and Kenny Rice surged to a convincing victory in the South African SS2 Ocean Racing championship in the prestigious Prescient Freedom Challenge in a sun-bathed Table Bay on Sunday.
Kira Bester and Melanie van Niekerk commandingly took home the women’s title in what paddlers described as “perfect” conditions – sunny, virtually no swell and a gentle breeze to cool them down on the homeward stretch. The paddlers had braced themselves for the sometimes tricky conditions around the back of Robben Island, but that too did not materialise this year.
A total of 179 boats carrying 312 paddlers took part in the day’s events, which included a shorter 10km challenge.
Notten and Rice had finished first and second respectively in the SS1 national championship race in False Bay on Friday and were among the hot favourites on Sunday. But lurking in the field were defending SS2 champions Hank McGregor and Josh Fenn, who were also looking to notch up a hat-trick of Prescient Freedom Challenge wins.
The race takes paddlers from the Oceana Powerboat Club in Green Point, around the iconic Robben Island and back to the boat club – a total of 27km.
Rice said afterwards that he and Notten had broken away from the front pack “about six or seven kilometres in” and stayed ahead until they rounded Robben Island, where the young pair of Wayne Jacobs and Matthew Coetzer joined them.
They worked together until about three kilometres from the finish where Notten and Rice pulled ahead again, paddling powerfully to a win over Jacobs and Coetzer.
Notten paid tribute to Rice’s piloting of the boat, saying he had made very good decisions. A laughing Rice responded by saying he had been a bit lucky with the initial break.
Notten said afterwards that the conditions had been “very nice … I can’t complain about anything!”
McGregor and Fenn finished fifth, with McGregor saying afterwards that “we were not feeling so great on the day.” But he said it was a “beautiful paddle in conditions that were as perfect as you can get.”
Bester and Van Niekerk also enthused about the 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 they 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 KZN crew of Saskia Hockly and last year’s winner with Bester, Pippa McGregor were second.
Like Notten, Bester also had cause for a double celebration, having won the women’s SS1 championship on Friday.
