Four-time world champion and seven-time Doctor winner Cory Hill joins triple women’s singles world champion Jemma Smith, defending Doctor champion Kira Bester and a visiting line-up of Olympic medallists and surf sports stars.
HIGHLIGHTS
- World champions fresh from gold in Spain – Cory Hill and Jemma Smith will race together in the Downwind International after winning mixed doubles gold at October’s world championships, where Smith also claimed her third women’s singles crown.
- An iconic island-to-coast showdown – the 27km Shaw and Partners Doctor from Rottnest Island to Sorrento Beach on Saturday 21 November, with Hill chasing an eighth victory.
- A women’s showdown to watch – defending Doctor champion Kira Bester returns alongside two-time winner Jemma Smith, who finished just 7.5 seconds behind her last year.
- $140,000 in cash and prizes – racing from 19 to 28 November brings elite athletes and recreational paddlers together on WA’s coastline.
- Young lifesavers meet their heroes – a free Race One Nipper Clinic at Sorrento Beach on Sunday 22 November gives WA Nippers the chance to learn from elite athletes.
Some of the world’s best ocean paddlers and surf lifesaving athletes will converge on Perth next week for Shaw and Partners WA Race Week, a festival of ocean racing featuring the spectacular 27km crossing from Rottnest Island to Sorrento Beach.
Running from 19 to 28 November, the program combines international competition with opportunities for recreational paddlers, junior competitors and young surf lifesavers to take part. Sorrento Beach will be the hub of the action, hosting race finishes and a free Nipper clinic with elite athletes.
The centrepiece is the Shaw and Partners Doctor on Saturday 21 November. More than 500 competitors race across open ocean from Rottnest Island, using Perth’s famous south-westerly sea breeze to catch and link waves before a final sprint up the sand at Sorrento. Spectators can watch from the beach as world champions and everyday paddlers complete one of Australia’s best-known ocean races.
Leading the visiting athletes are Cory Hill and Jemma Smith, who won mixed doubles gold together at the world championships in Spain last month, and defending Doctor women’s champion Kira Bester. Coolangatta Gold winner Matt Bevilacqua will compete in the Downwind International on Thursday 19 November.
Dean Gardiner OAM, OceanPaddler Director, said:
“The Doctor brings together everything that makes ocean racing so exciting – the crossing from Rottnest, Perth’s famous sea breeze and a world-class field racing all the way to the sand at Sorrento.
“Cory has won this race seven times, and Jemma has won twice and finished just seconds off the title last year. Both are arriving fresh from world championship gold, so there’s plenty for spectators to look forward to.
“Race Week also gives recreational paddlers the chance to share the water with the best in the sport, while the Nipper clinic gives young lifesavers the opportunity to learn from athletes they look up to. That’s a big part of what makes the week special.”
WORLD TITLES AND A REMARKABLE DOCTOR RECORD
Hill is a four-time men’s single surfski world champion, winning in 2015, 2017, 2023 and 2025. At October’s 2026 ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships in La Vila Joiosa, Spain, he added mixed doubles gold alongside Smith, gold in the men’s 35-39 category and bronze in the open men’s singles.
He has won the Doctor’s men’s surfski title seven times, with victories in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024 and 2025. He returns after winning the past three editions, including an 11.9-second victory over South Africa’s Nicholas Notten last year.
Smith won her third women’s single surfski world title in Spain in October, following victories in 2022 and 2023. She then partnered Hill to win mixed doubles gold.
She has reached the Doctor’s women’s podium in each of the past four editions. She finished second in 2022, won consecutive titles in 2023 and 2024, and was runner-up last year, just 7.5 seconds behind South Africa’s Kira Bester.
INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGERS AND OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE
South Africa’s Kira Bester returns as the 2025 Doctor champion and 2026 world championship women’s singles silver medallist. Great Britain’s Rosie Edwards arrives as the current under-23 world champion and open women’s bronze medallist, while South Africa’s Saskia Hockly took under-23 silver at the same championships.
South African veteran Hank McGregor finished fourth in the open men’s singles and won the men’s 45-49 category at the 2026 worlds. Brothers Joshua and Matthew Fenn add further South African strength, alongside Keegan Vogt, who won junior singles silver and junior mixed doubles gold in Spain.
South Africa’s Melanie van Niekerk adds further depth to the women’s field after finishing third in the 2025 Doctor. She also partnered Kira Bester to retain the women’s title at the 2026 Freedom Paddle around Robben Island.
The Australian contingent includes Sydney 2000 Olympic kayaker Amanda Simper and Sydney 2000 Olympic silver medallist Dan Collins, alongside WA paddling favourite Natasha Leaversuch and under-23 competitor Dylan Askew. Tim Hookins is the oldest competitor in the field.
Joining them is Jim Walker, a 1996 Atlanta Olympic kayak finalist, World Cup gold medallist and Australian surf ski champion. Walker has also coached at the NSW Institute of Sport and led Australia’s under-23 kayak program.
The foil line-up features all three of the 2025 Doctor podium finishers, with winner Jarrod Snow joined by runner-up Kai Thompson and third-placed James Casey. Future First Homes sponsor Tim Bird and Matthew Rees, father of Kaitlin Rees, are also attending.
SURF LIFESAVING STARS JOIN THE ACTION
Matt Bevilacqua brings strong recent form after winning the men’s elite individual category of the 25.6km Coolangatta Gold in October. The five-time Molokai-to-Oahu paddleboard champion will race in the Downwind International on Thursday 19 November. Fellow Tasmanian Tom Norton won the 2026 Australian men’s open single surfski championship and finished fourth in last year’s Doctor.
The surf lifesaving line-up includes Lily O’Sullivan, Ethan Callaghan, Hannah Sculley, Lizzie Welborn, Brayden Casamento, Jake Morris and Kaitlin “Katy” Rees, alongside former Ironman Jackson Borg.
O’Sullivan and Callaghan claimed their first Iron Series race victories during the 2025/26 season. Borg finished sixth overall that season, while Rees earned her first Iron Series berth at the 2026 trials at Tugun Beach. Casamento also secured his place in the 2026/27 Series through the trials.
RACE SCHEDULE
- Thursday 19 November – Shaw and Partners Downwind International. Starts at City Beach at 5pm and finishes at Sorrento Beach.
- Friday 20 November – Race One Twilight Dash. Starts at 4.30pm, with prone paddleboarders and junior surf ski competitors racing 2km from Watermans Bay to Sorrento Beach.
- Saturday 21 November – Shaw and Partners Doctor. The headline 27km ocean crossing from Rottnest Island to Sorrento Beach.
- Saturday 28 November – Fenn West Coast Downwinder. An Indian Ocean Paddlers event from Fremantle to Sorrento Beach, starting at 2pm.
FREE NIPPER CLINIC – ONE OF THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD
On Sunday 22 November, the Race One Nipper Clinic gives over 600 WA Nippers from WA surf clubs the opportunity to learn from elite surf sports athletes at Sorrento Beach. The free, 90-minute clinic takes place from 8am to 11am.
Full program, race entries and Nipper clinic registration: https://oceanpaddler.com/ocean-events/wa-race-week/
The event, one of the one of the richest and most prestigious ocean-paddling festivals in the world, is supported by Shaw and Partners Financial Services, Tourism WA, the City of Joondalup, Race One Surf Craft and Fenn Kayas.
A selection of high resolution images can be accessed here:
