Billy and Betsy recap the last few major surfski races and share their live interviews from the ocean racing Exe Bay event in Exmouth, UK.

Billy shares a race report on South African Surfski Nationals (solo) including the conditions and strategies in play. It wasn’t the classic downwind, Miller’s Run, that racers dreamt of. Instead fog on the water led to a change in course and perhaps an advantage for local paddlers. But it was Hank McGregor who found an advantage early in the race when he appeared to leverage classic marathon kayaking tactics to squeeze out a few competitors behind him while turning around the harbour wall.

Results: South African Surfski Nationals (mens) 1. Nicky Notten 2. Kenny Rice 3. Uli Hart

Results: South African Surfski Nationals (womens) 1. Kira Bester 2. Jade Wilson 3.Georgia Singe

Stand out performance: Jared Shrimpton

Betsy shares the results from the Freedom Paddle around Robben Island, which doubled as the South African Surfski Nationals for tandem craft. Nicky Notten and Kira Bester doubled up their gold medals for the weekend, but it was Uli Hart’s double with Georgia Singe that was the stand-out performance. Not only did they take a clean win in the mixed category, but Uli and Georgia managed to finish fourth overall ahead of Hank McGregor / Josh Fenn.

Results: Freedom Paddle (South African Surfski Nationals, tandem)

Mens: Nicky Notten / Kenny Rice

Womens: Kira Bester / Melanie van Niekirk

Mixed: Uli Hart / George Singe

Then they get into the top results from Eurochallenge, the first ICF Ocean Racing World Cup. In perfect downwind conditions, the South Africans showed up most of their European competitors as usual, but several Europeans showed that Europe is on the rise.

Results: Eurochallenge (mens) 1. Gordon Harbrecht (Flash Gordon) (Germany) 2. Bernardo Leça Pereira (U23) (Portugal) 3. Uli Hart (South Africa) 4. Kenny Rice (South Africa) 5. Pierre Vilella (France) 6. Matthew Fenn (South Africa)

Results: Eurochallenge (womens) 1. Kira Bester (South Africa) 2. Jade Wilson (South Africa) 3. Thaïs Delrieux (France) 4. Rosie Edwards (Great Britain) 5. Chloe Bunnett (Spain) 6. Marian Hernández Vellisca (Spain)

The big race of the episode though is Exe Bay, a GB ocean racing qualifying event in Exmouth. For the first time, this event was held under the Paddle UK banner and included not only surf skis but also outrigger canoes and stand up paddle boards (SUPs). Wales represented with top talent in both the surfski and SUP racing. Conditions were flat, but there was still plenty to chat about with the day’s winners.

Results: Exe Bay Ocean Race

Women’s SS1: Ellie McCloy

Men’s SS1: Ryan Lark (Scooby)

Vet Men’s SS1: Billy ButlerSS2: Andrew Birkett / Elly O’Connell

Women’s SUP: Emily Evans

Men’s SUP: Joey Jones

After the race, Billy and Betsy spoke with Ellie McCloy, Andrew Birkett / Elly O’Connell, Freddie Heard, and Emily Evans / Joey Jones about their races at Exe Bay and upcoming race plans. The audio is a bit busy since these were recorded live on Exmouth beach, but you should still be able to hear the interviewees’ voices clearly.

01:56 South African Surfski Nationals (solo) race recap

04:48 Freedom Paddle (South African Surfski Nationals, tandem) race recap

06:29 Eurochallenge race recap and Europe’s growing role in the surfski racing scene

10:11 Exe Bay race introduction, recap & results

22:35 Exe Bay Paddlecast LIVE interviews

22:58 Ellie McCloy

29:07 Andrew Birkett / Elly O’Connell

34:30 Freddie Heard

37:46 Emily Evans / Joey Jones

If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe to Paddlecast and leave a review. You can also follow:

https://www.instagram.com/paddledaily

https://paddledaily.com

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https://supracer.com

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And here’s a few links we referenced in the show:

https://www.slsgb.org.uk/2025/04/young-lifesavers-quick-actions-help-save-injured-paddleboarder-at-saunton-sands/

https://www.instagram.com/cardiffbaykayakers/