By Sports Reporter
The Discovery Men's Health Surf Ski Series, the biggest of its kind, gets under way in Durban this weekend with a number of innovations aimed at keeping the popular sport top of local athletes' agendas.
The 10-leg winter series has retained much of the format that made it successful in recent years, starting with the easy New Balance Season Starter grading race, from Marine Surf Lifesaving Clubhouse on Sunday morning.
The absence of several stars who are in Hawaii preparing for next weekend's Epic Kayaks Molokai Challenge - including Hank McGregor, Dawid Mocke and Barry Lewin - has thrown the first three races of the series wide open.
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Series organiser Billy Harker has relaxed the elite series rules, allowing the returning internationals a chance to enter the remaining races with an appropriate series grading, while the average paddler will have to take part in Sunday's race to earn their series starting grading. Harker has also introduced an intriguing new series of lifesaving events, called the "Ultimate Waterman" that will comprise swimming, running, ski and taplin relay races.
"We are very close to the lifesavers, and many of them train up for the nationals and worlds, but after that they have nothing else to aim for," said Harker. "This is a great way to involve the lifesavers in the series races, and provide something new for the regular paddlers."
Harker has also introduced a Winter Solstice weekend in Scottburgh to coincide with the popular Cycle Lab Scottburgh Surf Classic on June 22 that will include a mountain bike race and a dirt road run on the day before the Scottburgh beachfront surf ski event.
The Discovery Men's Health Surf Ski Series will once again include the Gateway Toyota Umhlanga Pirates Umhlanga race, the world's oldest surf ski race.
This year, the race will offer the less experienced paddlers the opportunity to paddle to Umhlanga and then run back to the start at Pirates instead of paddling the entire return leg.
The winter season will end with the legendary Scottburgh-to-Brighton marathon on July 19. The series organisers have opened this event up to triathletes by offering a mountain bike alternative from Scottburgh to Karridene, then a ski paddle to Reunion, and then a 10km beach run to the finish at Brighton Beach on Durban's Bluff.
The season starts with the New Balance Season Starter Grading race at uShaka Beach on Sunday morning.
All interested participants will have to register for the series and pre-enter the race at the traditional pre-season party at Joe Kools on Friday night.
- This article was originally published on page 21 of The Mercury on May 08, 2008
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