Oscar and Herman Chalupsky showed fine form on Sunday by coming first and second respectively in the Discovery Men’s Health surf ski series race held at North Beach, Durban.
The Chalupskys will be leaving South Africa on Wednesday to try and stop Australian Dean Gardiner winning his 10th World Championship Surf Ski Title in Hawaii.
Old brother Oscar, who has also won nine titles, will have financial support from a fellow sporting great, Ernie Els. Ernie Els Wines will be Oscar Chalupskys sponsor for the race.
Els, who sponsors many underprivileged golfers, has said that the amount of money Chalupsky wins in the international heats is an absolute joke.
It will cost the Chalupskys about R 30 000 to get to Hawaii, where the 1st place prize money will be $500.The world championship in Hawaii is between the Islands of Molokai and Oahu, a distance of 32 Nautical miles in the most treacherous channel in the Pacific Ocean. The Molokai channel is so rough that every competitor has to have an escort boat.
The race attracts competitors from Tahiti, New Zealand, France, Australia, the US and Hawaii. The main competition will come from Tahitian Lewis Laughlin and Australian Dean Gardner. – Sapa