Vaikobi Race Team dominates the 2017 Nelo Summer Challenge

The Vaikobi race team completed a full domination of a world-class field at the Nelo summer challenge here in Porto, Portugal.

Pre Race forecasts on Saturday promised for great downwind race, however the a persistent high pressure system did not move away in time to allow for the wind to increase as much as anticipated, leaving competitors with the task of grinding out a tactical race down the Portuguese coast.

Vaikobi’s Sean Rice continued with his strong run of form this year where he dominated the field to score a massive 2 minute + victory over the Spanish Marathon Champ Walter Bouzan who relished the tough flat conditions. 

Australian Vaikobi Race Team charger, McKenzie Hynard has also put his hand up as a strong contender for this year's tour with an extremely strong performance claiming third place overall. Macca was placed second for the entire race before being run down by  the flat water specialist, Bouzan in the last kilometre.

In the Women's Vaikobi’s Hayley Nixon from South Africa also decimated the field with a massive victory providing a strong reward for all her hard training efforts over the last few months as she continues to gear up for some major races in the back half of the year.

The pocket rocket, Angie Le Roux from France paddled a fantastic race to claim third behind the gutsy New Zealander Teneale Hatton.

In a fantastic result for the Vaikobi race team, our athletes claimed 5 out of the top 8 places in the Men’s and 3 out of the top 6 spots in the Women's! Great work Team!

The World Surf Ski Tour continues this week where all the action moves to Squamish, Canada, BC, where the Canadian Surfski Championships will see some of best paddlers from around North America and the World complete on a fantastic downwind course on Howe Sound.

Following on from the Canadian Surfski Championship, the tour moves to Hood River, Oregon for the Gorge Downwind Championship which this year will see a record turn out of competitors enjoying the epic downwind conditions on offer at the Gorge.

Stay tuned for updates through the Vaikobi Facebook and Instagram pages.

Congratulations and thanks to the race organisers- Andre Santos, Marisa Magalhaes, Nuno, Oscar and the whole team at Nelo who put on such a fantastic event. 

Nelo Summer Challenge Results:

Mens Top 10:

1st Sean RICE RSA 

2nd Walter BOUZAN ESP 

3rd Mackenzie HYNARD AUS

4th Gordan HARBRECHT GER 

5th Nicolas LAMBERT FRA  

6th Jasper MOCKE RSA  

7th Esteban MEDINA ESP

8th Laousse YANNICK FRA 

9th Stuart MACLAREN RSA 

10th Bevan MANSON RSA 

Womens Top 10:

1st Hayley NIXON RSA

2nd Teneale HATTON NZL 

3rd Angie LE ROUX FRA 

4th Jenna WARD RSA  

5th Amaia OSABA ESP 

6th Chloe BUNNETT ESP 

7th Sara RAFAEL POR  

8th Simone JUNKER GER  

9th Sara MARTI ESP 

10th Gras LISA FRA 

 For full results, please visit: http://summerchallenge.nelo.eu/new/results/