The Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships in Durban may have been one of the most competitive surfski races in the world this year (and what a great race it was), but a couple of top names were missing. Now, WA Race Week will finally set some of those stars against each other: Cory Hill versus Pat Dolan, and Kira Bester versus Danielle Richards (nee Mckenzie) versus Jemma Smith.
Cory vs. Pat, 4x World Champion vs. Molokai Record Holder
Cory Hill (AUS) just won his 4th World Championship title, and beaches are buzzing with chat about whether he should be considered the Greatest of All Time in surfski. But one paddler proved earlier this year that as fast as Cory is, he’s not unbeatable.
At the Molokai Crossing in May, Hawaiian Pat Dolan traded leads with Cory for three hours, trying different lines and waves to get ahead. They were neck and neck at China Walls, and Pat came out with the win by just 35 seconds. He set a new record for the fastest Molokai Crossing, 3:09:44, and became the first Hawaiian winner since 1978.
With a slate of 6* races over 7 days (*not including Sunset Series Race 1 or juniors Twilight Dash), there’s ample opportunity for these two to test each others’ mettle in the lead-up to the big one: The Doctor on Saturday 29th November.
South Africa & Australia round out the podium potential
It’s not just Pat vs. Cory. From Australia, Oscar Jones, Michael Booth, and Tom Norton headline the field. After an excellent start, Oscar finished 8th at the World Championships in Durban behind Josh Fenn and ahead of Dawid Mocke. Boothy said on a recent episode of Paddlecast that he’s excited to finally be able to give Race Week his full attention this year since the ICF SUP World Championships were scheduled a bit earlier – he finished 7th at that event a couple of weeks ago, but admitted he’s been spending more time training in the ski. Tom finished just about 20 seconds behind Cory at the recent 20 Beaches Ocean Classic in Sydney, more than a minute ahead of Oscar Jones. Any of these Australians could be right up on that podium, but they’ll have to get through the South Africans.
An impressive contingent from South Africa has flown out to race including Hank McGregor, Josh Fenn, Uli Hart, Nick Notten, and Andy Birkett. Birkett may have finished 32nd at Worlds in Durban, but the next weekend, he won the Pete Marlin ahead of Nick Notten, Oscar Jones, and Matt Fenn. It was one of if not his best surfski result yet, and showed that the marathon, sprint, and river legend may be ready to bring home some hardware in surfski too. It’ll be his first time at Race Week, and on social media Andy said he’s excited to participate: “I’ve been told that it’s the greatest week of ocean racing in the world!”
Uli and Josh finished 6th and 7th, respectively, in Durban, but results from the first Sunset Series event on Thursday suggest Josh is in peak form now. He managed to just barely take out Cory for the win, finishing in 42:02. Cory finished in 42:05, followed by Andy Birkett in 3rd with 00:42:07.6. It’s a shorter race and more of an appetizer or hors d’oeuvre than a main course (Does that make The Doctor the main course or dessert? Leave your hot takes in the comments). But it’s a great sign for how close the action at the front of the men’s race will be all week.
Last year, some of the top Europeans flew out for Race Week too, including Gordan Harbrecht (GER), Bernardo Pereira (POR), and Hector Henot (FRA). Unfortunately they’re not on the entry list this year, but perhaps they’ll be back next year (hopefully with reigning Vice World Champion Pierre Vilella of France too).
2024 Men’s Surfski Results: The Doctor
| Cory Hill | 01:56:13.2 |
| Gordan Harbrecht | 01:57:07.4 |
| Hank McGregor | 01:57:38.8 |
| Josh Fenn | 01:58:05.5 |
| Cory Taylor | 01:58:10.7 |
| Kenny Rice | 01:58:48.1 |
| Bernardo Pereira | 01:59:17.1 |
| Oscar Jones | 01:59:27.7 |
| Nick Notten | 01:59:53.3 |
| Murray Stewart | 02:00:28.1 |
Kira vs. Danielle vs. Jemma, 3 World Champions Finally Together
The front of the women’s race in Durban had fantastic action: Danielle (NZL) led off the start, then Kira (RSA) picked up the lead. On two different lines, they stayed in sight of each other until Kira took a careful line into Amanzimtoti’s sizable shore break to claim her second world title and first win against Danielle.
Kira has come into her own over the last two years, and was still Under-23 when she won her first title in 2024. She’s looked up to Danielle and Jemma Smith (AUS) for years, so it was particularly special for her to be able to win against Danielle in Durban. But Kira hasn’t had a chance to race against Jemma since last year’s Race Week where the three finished in order: Jemma (2:11:44), Danielle (2:12:57), Kira (2:14:08).
The results could be even tighter this year between those three. After Kira beat Danielle at Worlds, Danielle came back strong to beat Kira at Pete Marlin the following weekend. And when Danielle and Jemma faced off on the 1st of November at 20 Beaches, it was Danielle again who came away with the win: 1:36:42 versus 1:37:52 for Jemma. At the moment, it’s hard to bet against Kira coming off her two world titles and dominant win in Durban, but these top three could well finish in any order.
More top contenders, and a dark horse
That said, there will be some top talent chasing down Kira, Danielle, and Jemma, including Rosie Edwards (GBR), Jade Wilson (RSA), Melanie van Niekerk (RSA), Saskia Hockly (RSA), Pips McGregor (RSA), and the dark horse Iloha Eychenne from Raiatea.
Rosie, still Under 23, took a surprise bronze in Durban and since then she’s only doubled down: 4th at Pete Marlin, and just a few days ago in Reunion she finished 2nd behind Kira in singles and won 1st with Matt Fenn in SS2 ahead of Kira who was paddling with Reef Funston (RSA). Rosie has been on a mission to level up her training and racing by paddling with some of the best in the world, and it seems to be working. She might just be knocking at the door of a podium spot.
Equally, Jade has had an outstanding season and might just sneak onto the senior women’s podium. She took bronze in the U23 category in Durban, saying “On race day, it just didn’t come together… That’s the brutality of Surf ski paddling.. sometimes the ocean throws curveballs at you.” But the following weekend, she finished 3rd at Pete Marlin behind Danielle and Kira. And the highlight of her season happened on the river when she won bronze in the U23 women’s marathon at the marathon worlds in Hungary.
Iloha may not be a typical bet for the podium, but she’s one of the most well-rounded multi-disciplinary paddlers on the racing scene and you just cannot count her out. She’s a multiple world champion in va’a, often winning distance races by several minutes. More recently, she’s picked up surfski and even SUP. In 2024, she showed up at the ICF SUP World Championships in Sarasota and finished in 6th place after only practising stand up paddleboarding for a few months. In surfski in April, Iloha finished in 2nd place at the Breizh Ocean Race behind Thais Delrieux and ahead of Rosie. She may be less experienced in the ski, but it’s hard to beat her experience on the ocean or her cross-disciplinary mastery of fundamentals and technique – keep an eye out for Iloha.
2024 Women’s Surfski Results: The Doctor
| Jemma Smith | 02:11:43.7 |
| Danielle Richards | 02:12:56.9 |
| Kira Bester | 02:14:07.9 |
| Saskia Hockly | 02:19:07.1 |
| Melanie van Niekirk | 02:20:41.2 |
| Jade Wilson | 02:20:47.2 |
| Phoebe Woodhouse | 02:21:15.6 |
| Hannah Sculley | 02:22:04.0 |
| Kaitlin Rees | 02:23:05.0 |
| Kate Regan | 02:24:06.3 |
The races
Race Week unofficially started on Thursday 19th November with the first of the Sunset Series, but the main show starts with the Fenn West Coast Downwinder on Saturday the 22nd, and ends on Saturday the 29th with The Doctor. Here’s the full race programme, via Ocean Paddler:
| Saturday 22nd November 2025 | Fenn West Coast Downwinder IOP Event – 24km downwind race from Port Beach, Fremantle to Sorrento Beach |
| Sunday 23rd November 2025 | Shaw and Partners Downwind International – 12km Prone and Double Surf Ski event |
| Tuesday 25th November 2025 | Dr Benjamin Hewitt Sunset Surfski Series Race 2 – 11km downwind race from Port Beach, Fremantle to City Beach |
| Wednesday 26th November 2025 | Race One Twilight Dash – 2km Prone Paddleboard and 16yrs Surf Ski Event |
| Thursday 27th November 2025 | Dr Benjamin Hewitt Sunset Surfski Series Race 3 – 11km downwind race from Port Beach, Fremantle to City Beach |
| Friday 28th November 2025 | Shaw and Partners Dash for Cash – Surfski Sprint |
| Saturday 29th November 2025 | Shaw and Partners Doctor – 27km from Rottnest Island to Sorrento Beach |
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