GB Ocean Racing round one
Ellie McCloy and Piran Phillips win the first round of the Great Britain Ocean racing series.
Rhoose, Wales hosted the first race of the year, a three-lap race that finished just shy of 18km.
Phillips was victorious in the men’s ocean ski, a time of 1.22.02 hours, 23 seconds ahead of second place Lewis Kirton. Youngster Drew Howells coming in third just ahead of previous Uncle Toby’s ironman Jonathan Crowe.
Portreath man Phillips with a winter at Southampton Canoe club took the lead at the start, but Kirton took command of the race at the 4km at the end of the first lap.
Kirton maintained a 15m lead over Phillips until late into the final lap of the race.
The final return leg Kirton sprinted to shallow waters for a direct line to the finish, but Phillips stayed wide and used the speed of the River Severn to close the gap and pass fellow Cornishman Kirton to claim his first senior victory in ocean racing.
McCloy and Rosie Edwards could only be separated by a second after 1.33.42 hours.
The pair were attached at the hip throughout, wisely using the washes of the men ahead and dusting off some of the men behind.
Heading into the final turn boy, Edwards was sat on McCloy’s side wash.
But McCloy had saved enough Welsh power in the tank to still sprint into the finish line for a spectacular win.
McCloy has had an incredible start to the season, winning at the Red Bull Ocean Rescue in February.
A win in an ironwomen and ski event so far proves she’ll be hard to beat in any race this season.
Amy Daysh finished in third place for the women after a season down under in Australia.
Next the GB Ocean Racing series is heading to Exmouth, Devon on Saturday 13th May for the Epic Bay.
