Cory Hill aiming at the throne at the ICF Ocean Racing World Cup 3 in Tahiti

Last preparations are done before the ICF Ocean Racing World Cup 3 in Tahiti: Hill and Rice the greatest favorites for the victory  

The International Canoe Federation (ICF) can be considered to be one for which the introduction of innovative disciplines in the sport under administration always turns to be successful. A little was needed that on the past Olympic Games in Rio, one of the new sports that were introduced was wind surfing. Although their lobbying didn’t gave effect this time, many expect that on the next Olympics, however, this would be reality.

Among the last ICF innovation is certainly the discipline called ocean racing which encompasses long distance Surfski, Sea Touring and Sea Kayak races. Its athletes, as online sportsbooks in the European Union state, are usually said to be among the fittest of the Canoe World, because the discipline itself requires both endurance and navigational skills as well as other ocean-going expertise. As the portal of ICF says “a marriage of kayak technique and speed, Ocean Racing is an ideal meeting place for athletes of all Canoe disciplines”.

Spreading the word about ocean racing: the world series

Ocean racing seems to be an extremely popular sport in warm coastal regions, such as Australia, California, Hawaii, and South Africa. The use of a Surfski makes this sport even more attractive since that is the fastest boat over long distance while in flatwater, only the Olympic standard Canoe Sprint boat proves to be faster than it. On the other side, additional exhibitionism here is entered by the athlete’s technics, who are expected to ride big wind-driven waves or hurricane generated ground swells, as well as master the challenge of paddling in 20+ knot wind conditions.

As ocean racing was becomming more and more popular the ICF decided to provide organization structures for International Competitions through it’s National Federations. Thus in 2010 the organization of the Surfski World Series started. In 2013 the federation organized the first World Championship in Ocean Racing where competitors battled over a distance of 30 kilometres in a downwind race winning titles in Junior, U23, Masters, Men and Women SS1 category.

• Ocean racing prove to be a successful innovation by ICF

• South Africa and Australia most successful nations so far

• Cory Hill to win the World series race in Tahiti

With this kind of development of the ocean racing discipline the organization of the World Series became an event with more and more prestige in the sport. This year, as internet betting sites in Portugal note, paddlers all over the world have already attended two events from the World Cup in Mauritius and in Portugal, the upcoming race in Tahiti, host on the last Ocean Racing World Championship, being the third in the series.

The favorites at the Ocean Racing World Cup 3 in Tahiti

A word or few about the stars of the discipline and the favorites on the Ocean Racing World Cup 3 event in Tahiti. In a young discipline like the ocean racing there is certainly no well-established favorites. However some athletes prove to be masters of the surf skies even at these stage. The winner of the last race of the series in Portugal, the Australian Corey Hill, is certainly one of them. He is also the greatest favorite for winning the race in Tahiti too. The second favorite is the South African Sean Rice who ended up fourth in the previous World Cup race. The rivalry between the two will be of greatest importance on the third Ocean race this year in Tahiti.

Whether Hill will be able to win one more ocean race is something fans of bet on sports in Australia would place a wager on. However, Sean Rice, ICF Ocean Racing World Champion from 2013 is definitely someone that should never be dismissed especially now when he is trying to get to the upper parts of the ocean racing rang list again. The current world surf ski series ranking places Hill as a greatest favorite in front of Jasper Mocke and Mark Anderson. The winner from the race in Mauritius Hank Mcgregor is eight while Sean Rice is on the tenth place.