ON SATURDAY (Apr 9) Benjamin Edom invited The Herald to join him and Blue Ocean Adventures in the filming of the promotional video for the up and coming Fishguard Bay Ocean Ski Race.

Embarking on the family business’ 600-horse-power rib boat at 9am The Herald was joined by film students, who under the instruction of Benjamin were to film the racers in a number of scenarios.

The rib set off from St Justinian’s with another boat from Voyages of Discovery and set course for Porthgain along the coast past the Blue Lagoon at Abereiddy where the official race is to begin later this year, carefully avoiding a pod of dolphins as we sped around the St Davids headland.

Once at the small harbour village the ocean ski paddlers performed a number of sprint starts which were being filmed from both vessels as well as from the air by drone.

Benjamin explained: “Emerging from Porthgain’s minute and spectacular harbour were 9 high-tech racing machines – 7 ocean skis and 2 ocean canoes most of whom had travelled hundreds of miles for this chance to paddle their extreme sea-going racing boats in our world-class coastal seas.”

The paddlers took to the very choppy open sea out of the bay and began to catch the waves allowing them to propel themselves forward at impressive speeds using the tide, waves and wind to their advantage.

Benjamin described how similar conditions on the day of the race would make the race a challenging one: “The wind had been up the night before, so the sea outside Porthgain showed us pretty quickly that any race along this stretch of the Pembrokeshire coastline would be a real challenge”

After the filming at Porthgain was finished, and Mike and Sam Rodgers who man and operate Blue Ocean Adventures’ boat were satisfied that all paddlers were within the harbour walls, the rib shot off back along the coast, this time meeting huge waves, which Mike had to tactfully steer between.

Despite the rough sea conditions Sam (Mike’s son) was still able to throw in a few bits of his acquired knowledge from usually operating the wildlife tours around Ramsey Island, he explained to us about the various sea birds we encountered and was also able to explain the specific subspecies and gender of a seal which had been following us.

Along with the film crew and Benjamin, The Herald took to Goodwick harbour where the ocean ski paddlers had relocated to commence the second bout of filming.

At Goodwick the paddlers and film team fought against the tide to get the best footage in the little time they had available, but were still able to get many ‘finishing’ scenes completed, demonstrating the scenery, location and sea-environment that paddlers from the across the globe will be facing at the full 25km race over the weekend of September 24 – 25.

Willem Prinsloo a South African ocean skier spoke about paddling in our county’s waters: “What a wonderful experience being on a surfski offshore in Pembrokeshire. The Atlantic offers everything an ocean paddler could wish for – big rolling swells and a good following wind will guarantee a fast, challenging race that will test the best of the best.

“Throw in the mix stunning scenery and people passionate about the sea and their environment with the organising skills to match, and you have a race that is equal to any in the world. Bring it on!”

Another paddler from Port Talbot, Scot Cuthertson said: “I have enjoyed the sea around South Wales all my life. The Pembrokeshire coast is some of the most spectacular in the UK and to experience it from a craft that’s absolutely suited to our weather is fantastic.

“Surf Skis are launched when most other boats are safely moored up. We surf the offshore swells, reaching quadruple the speed of paddle power alone.”

“The Fishguard race will deliver the pleasure and excitement all paddlers travel the world to search for. The waters and the scenery along the Pembrokeshire coastline will be the inspiration for many a tale in the years to come.” said Gaven Mumberson from Zimbabwe.

Outrigged.co.uk’s John Galilee spoke about the race to be: “This is most definitely an ocean race and we can expect conditions that a Hawaiian six man canoe will relish. A beach start, a stunning rocky coastline with the tide pushing, a good chance of wind and swell helping us too. There’ll be tide induced bumps round the headlands whatever the weather, while the start and finish have great access for trailers which is important for these canoes.”