A strong south-easterly-gale almost caused organiser Billy Harker to call-off the fifth race in the Discovery Men's Health Surf-Ski Series in Fish Hoek Bay for safety reasons.
Dawid Mocke paddled to a hard-earned win over Peninsula Canoe Club rivals Graeme Solomon and Paul Marais on a day that saw many paddlers fail to finish the race due to the testing conditions.
"This was definitely my toughest race so far", said Mocke, who was made to sweat for his 49 second victory margin over the dogged Graeme Solomon.
The wo! men's title fell to Alexa Cole, despite interrupting her race to help one of the male paddlers in trouble in the rough water.
