WAIS athlete Reece Baker (Marmion) paddled a superb race in the final of the Smartline Fenn Cup ocean race in Sydney over the weekend.
Paddling in a quality field, Baker came home in third place behind ocean racing specialists Ben Allen (Qld) and Tim Jacobs (NSW). Full race results can be found at http://www.oceanpaddler.com/2011/01/16/smartline-fenn-cup-3-results/
This week, WAIS pair Jesse Phillips (Rivervale) and Steve Bird (Mt Pleasant) will fly the WA flag at the Vajda Cup and Sunset Cup help on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
Whilst Phillips and Bird will be favourites for the K2 200m in the Vajda Cup, the K1 event is expected to be a tussle between 200m specialists Matt Goble (SASI) and Steve Burns (NSWIS). WAIS athlete Brodie Holmes has shown steady improvement in this event and could be one of the paddlers vying for a place at the finish.
Whilst the above 200m paddlers are expected to fight out the top rankings in the Sunset Cup, the format which consists of a skins/knockout formula could lend itself to a paddler with an ability to recover quickly, putting WAIS athlete Reece Baker in contention here as well.
The Doctor World Cup Ocean Race on Saturday from Rottnest to Sorrento is shaping as the biggest ever in Australia with around 300 entries expected. A huge contingent of Eastern Staters, South African and other Internationals have flown in for the event with the best of the best all in contention.
Defending Champion Dawid Mocke from South Africa will be one of the favourites again, but will have to contend with Ironman Champions Shannon and Caine Eckstein, Zane Holmes, ocean specialists Tim Jacobs and Ben Allen.
Reece Baker is really gearing himself up for this race and paddling on home waters will assist the 2012 Olympic hopeful who should go into the race full of confidence following his result in the Fenn Cup last weekend. Further details and a race preview can be found at file://www.oceanpaddler.com/ with live commentary on the day at http://www.surfski.info/
