A strong field – headlined by three recently crowned World Champions – will line-up to compete for the women’s title at the Biogen Pete Marlin Surfski Race in East London this weekend.
Defending champion is Under-23 ICF Ocean Racing World Champion Kira Bester, along with Michelle Burn and Georgia Singe, the senior and junior world champions respectively. The trio are among five paddlers at the Pete Marlin who finished within the top 10 at the World Championships in Madeira Island earlier this month.
Bester won the World Championships overall, with Burn second, Melanie van Niekerk fourth, Singe seventh and Jade Wilson ninth.
In a field packed with world-beating stars, top paddlers like four-time winner and East London’s Nix Birkett and Cape visitors Candice Starr and Christy Shrimpton, will have to be at their best to finish within the top five.
Bester will be supremly confident following her impressive victory at Madeira Island earlier this month, but can expect a tough battle against current South African Champion and three-time race winner Burn, who revels in big wave conditions and could be marginal favourite if the surf is big on Saturday.
Van Niekerk is also no slouch in big downwind conditions and recent form suggests these three will be battling for the 2024 Biogen Pete Marlin victory and the R15 000 first prize.
As an added incentive, this weekend’s race is the final leg of the inaugural Euro Steel Surfski TRPL Crown series, with Bester enjoying a slender lead over Burn after the opening two events in this series – the Prescient Freedom Paddle in April and South African Championships in July. Burn will need to beat Bester by more than two minutes and ten seconds to catch the current World Champ if she wants to win the series.
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