Consistency was key for Chris Emmett and Danika Mowlem, the overall winners of the 2021/22 Darcy Price NZ Ocean Surfski series following a covid-disrupted season.
It was a second consecutive series win for Auckland paddler Danika Mowlem (Takapuna Boating Club) after a tight battle all season with current NZ National Champion Tara Smith (Marlborough Multisport club). Only 18 points split the two women overall, with both women having one race win each over the summer but Danika having more 2nd place finishes to take home the trophy. Former world ocean ski champion Rachel Clarke was 3rd overall.
Chris Emmett from Bay of Plenty Paddlesports did enough to take out the overall men’s title, ahead of Andy Czar (Royal Akarana Paddlers) in second and third placed Ivan Cole. Chris also won the Masters 50-59 years age group.
In the double ski, Nelson pair Dan Bremner and Amber Bonny took out the mixed division, with Max Riley and Vaughan Reed winning the men and Whanganui’s Sophie Brooke and Abby Hurley winning the women.
The Darcy Price series was made up of 6 paddling events around Aotearoa this summer, with the best 4 results counting towards a paddler’s series points, and was wrapped up following the rescheduled Auckland King and Queen of the Harbour in May. Unfortunately, the Poor Knights Crossing in September was cancelled due to the impact of covid, but an exciting new race in Wellington was a huge success.
It was awesome to see a big increase in the number of younger paddlers taking part in Darcy Price series races this summer. Lucas Forbes and Caitlyn Esterhuizen won the junior (18 & under) age group, and Michael Esterhuizen and Ella Kingi topped the U23 division.
In the Masters ages groups, Ivan Cole and Tokyo Olympian in kayak sprint Anne Cairns won the 40-49years age group, with Sandra Boubee taking the women’s 50-59years division. Grant Heim won the Men’s 60+ age group.
Nearly 220 paddlers took part in the 6 races over this series, which was a growth from 180paddlers in 2020/21 season. Covid had a definite impact over the past two series, with races having to be cancelled or rescheduled, and making planning and travel harder or less appealing for paddlers. We look forward to a less-disrupted season next summer- 2022/23 series dates will be announced later today, including an exciting new addition to the series.
See division winners below. Full results available here
Men
Overall/Open
1st– Chris Emmett
2nd– Andy Czar
3rd– Ivan Cole
Junior- (18 and under)
1st Lucas Forbes
2nd Noah Andrews
3rd Ethan Mckolskey
Under 23 (19-23years)
1st Michael Esterhuizen
2nd Liam Lace
3rd Cameron Gilmore
Masters 40+ (40-49years)
1st Ivan Cole
2nd Nico de Wet
3rd Shane Edmondson
Masters 50+ (50-59years)
1st Chris Emmett
2nd Andy Czar
3rd Ross Heald
Masters 60+
1st Grant Heim
2nd Kevin Baker
3rd Kim Harker
Women
Overall/Open
1st Danika Mowlem
2nd Tara Smith
3rd Rachel Clarke
Junior (18 and under)
1st Caitlyn Esterhuizen
2nd Poppy Barnes
3rd Isla Westlake
Under 23 (19-23years)
1st– Ella Kingi
2nd – Kyra Addison
3rd – Alex Frazer
Masters 40+ (40-49years)
1st– Anne Cairns
2nd– Anna Bell-Booth
3rd– Mirka Langford
Masters 50+ (50-59years)
1st– Sandra Boubee
2nd– Mandy Heim
3rd– Diana Brown
Double Ski- Mixed
1st – Dan Bremner and Amber Bonny
2nd – Marchand Le Roux and Rebecca Mehew
3rd– Ben Keys and Carley Keys
Double Ski -Men
1st– Vaughan Reed and Max Riley
2nd– Craig Simpkins and Andy Logue
3rd– James Flannery and Matt Flannery
Double-ski -Women
1st– Abby Hurley and Sophie Brooke
2nd -Lizzy Buckenberg and Katherine Buckenberg
