Last Thursday was the third and final leg of the SolaSafe Mixed Doubles Series. We had a really great turnout of 36 mixed doubles, one mixed K3 and 73 paddlers. There was some tight racing and 1st place went to Alexa G with Young Luke in a time of 46.33, followed by Kayla with Clint, then Dorette with Ham. In the Juniors we had 6 MD combo’s and that race was won by Sibongile and Sushi, followed by Alexia and Daniel, then Thina and Sicelo Blaai. The winners received just on R10 000 in SolaSafe prizes while Pippa Martin won the SolaSafe Lucky Draw of UV and Smash n Grab Protection for her car.
Based on the best two results the overall winners of the SolaSafe Mixed Doubles Series were Kayla and Clint followed by Elandrie and Wayne, then Alex and Sarah. This was the largest Mixed Doubles Series ever held in SA, so well done to all the paddlers and thank you to our sponsor SolaSafe and our timekeeper, Sibusiso. We can’t wait for next year.
Then on Saturday morning it was the Dabs 4 Hour Enduro. The ‘Passop Donkey Team’ (Brad, Wayne and Clint) had to work very hard for their win after the rudder cable of Brads not so cheap Nelo snapped early in the race, and they then had to play catchup for over an hour. On the last lap we had 3 teams in contention, but then there was more drama when a baton change didn’t go so well and ended up in a swim. The ‘Hliphiza Team’ (Siseko, Benjamin and Kwanda) claimed second place while Team ‘Go Bokke’ (Rob, MJ and Jack – the swimmer) came third. First ladies’ home were ‘Oceans 11’ (Alexia, Claudia and Michelle) while first Mixed team was the G-Squad of Richard Gunther and Pippa. First junior boys were the ‘Young Bokke’ (Owethu, Asi and Babali) while the first Junior Girls were the ‘Star Girls’ (Aphiwe, Amile, and Khanyisle). Well done to Kimmi, Anu and Sarah who were the lap counters – the winners did 51 laps in the 4 hours and with twenty-five teams stretched out around the dam, along with others doing their own thing to create some confusion, they had a long and testing morning – thanks ladies!
And then well done and thank you to the Bokke! Yoh. Unbelievable! There was quite a party at the clubhouse, after which Master Jack and others did some more swimming. Apparently, some people still managed to make it to Sundays Time Trial, but we believe that most people stayed home, after a fantastic reason to stay up and have another drink.
If you haven’t heard, Moolies is still a Mad Man. He is planning to paddle 3300km across the Atlantic from Cape Verde to French Guiana in December. Moolies will be alone and unsupported on the Osiyeza (The Crossing), the boat that Richard Kohler built and paddled from Cape Town to Salvador earlier this year. Yoh – Good Luck Moolies, Stay Safe boet.
Next up, some of the Navy are off to East London for the Pete Marlin, and we wish them well. On Sunday the 12th it’s the boat auction and the weekend after that it’s the Vaal; we all need river time to hone our skills so please take advantage of one of the few river races we have here in Gauteng. Go Dabs!
