The fourth event in the PRIMI Naish Downwind Series recently saw Ethan Koopmans and his Naish Javelin 14’0” LE take out successive wins in the Junior and Overall divisions, and with two more races to go, he’s in serious contention for the title of Downwind Champ!
With the winds finally deciding to coincide at 35 knots along with a solid 3-foot swell, competitors tore into the field at the start. Dylan Frick and Chris Bertish shot out of the blocks – both making it to the backline without having to tackle one single whitewater. Ethan, who started slightly behind, realized the increasing gap in competition and dug deep to catch up to the leading pair, setting the race up for a great finish. Not only did he clear the boys by a minute at 44.05 for the win, he was once again, just shy of the course record!
The Juniors event was a bit more spread out as Ethan cleaned up and took out 5 minutes on Josh Robertson (Naish Javelin 14’0” LE) who in turn took out 11 minutes on Wade Keet.
The Masters Ladies had a torrid start with Monika Wohlgemuth, Patricia Kohrs and Maleen Hoekstra enduring wave after wave in the impact zone. But kudos to all as they eventually cleared the backline and got on with the downwind run using their Naish Glide 14’0” SUP’s with Monika edging out Patricia and Maleen for the win in the end.
With four completed races, everyone gets a discard and the title race is now wide open as only a point separate Dylan Frick and Ethan Koopmans with 2 more races to go. If the past races are anything to go by then Ethan will be praying for strong wind while Dylan will be hoping for light winds!
Great job to all participants! Stay tuned – it’s going to be a nail biter as the competition leaps to new levels for a chance to be crowned the 2013 PRIMI Naish Downwind Champion!
Full results here: http://www.sup-culture.com/results.html
Overall:
1st Ethan Koopmans – Naish Javelin 14’0” LE
Juniors:
1st Ethan Koopmans – Naish Javelin 14’0” LE
2nd Josh Robertson – Naish Javelin 14’0” LE
3rd Wade Keet
Masters:
1st Ivan Van Vuuren
2nd Peter Petersen – Naish Glide 14’0”
3rd Rob Munro
Masters Ladies:
1st Monika Wohlgemuth – Naish Glide 14’0”
2nd Patricia Kohrs – Naish Glide 14’0”
3rd Maleen Hoekstra – Naish Glide 14’0”
