Some traditions get stronger, others fade. What was once South Africa’s premier river race can no longer attract a title sponsor, nor can it start at its original location. Yet the challenge remains, and those who finished this year’s Dusi can feel as proud as ever. True to tradition, the race alternates boat classes, making this a K1 year. As always, both the river and the portages were truly testing.
Day one dawned overcast and drizzly at the Bishopstowe start for the run down to Campbells. Lovely for the front few, but then a muddy quagmire for the boys and girls at the back, and Devils Cauldron was then way, way worse. But the river was full, fast and fun, with many of the old timers saying it was one of the best day one level’s ever, relishing the paddle around things like the Finger Neck and Cabbage Tree portages. Day two was medium (to low compared to the 2023 flood conditions) but the same old timers also said it was extremely tricky. Tombi claimed more than its fair share of boats, sending many paddlers swimming and forcing repairs. For day 3 there was a 20cum release, plus the dam was overflowing, so those that got to start enjoyed a fantastic ride down to Durban, in the newly sculpted river. Little John has now been renamed Big John and the easier left hand Island sneak had many swimming – and finishing was a fine accomplishment.
Dabs, the biggest and best club in the country had just 5 of us in singles and 8 of us in doubles as finishers. Daniel McLachlan and Kevin Davie (our Canvas Dusi stalwarts) were our most exhausted finishers; but Kevin now has 34 Dusi’s to his name. Leon Bartel wrapped in Tombi, so his day 2 alone was longer than the 3 days of the race winner, but he finished his first Dusi – and can’t wait to go back. Nor can Frank Geiger, who also finished his first Dusi. Bob Macfarlane and Kirsty Pott along with Nic Warren and Sonja Bohnsack finished well for us in the Mixed Doubles. Daren Koertzen and Kevin Hunt also made it home, while Pat Reeves teamed up with the ERK’ie Mike Barry and MJ Robb teamed up with the Lowveld paddler Craig Metherll to take 3rd place in the K2’s. Best of the K1 racing snakes from our dam was Siseko in 9th. From Dabs, Mike Arthur was 23rd and 1st Veteran, Rob Crichton was 26th and Mark Garden was 49th. Well done boys and girls! For the I-Wrap-Aho and the Old Ou who couldn’t finish – sorry boys – maybe next year?
At the front, pre-race favourites Andy Birkett and Christie McKenzie lived up to expectations. Andy claimed his 15th title in just 7hours 12minutes, equaling the legendary Pope Ellis’s record, but in just 16 years, compared to Pope’s 21. Andy’s versatility, from Olympic sprints to international marathon victories, is simply extraordinary. We would love to see how the guys he competes against overseas like Pettersen, Pimenta, Foley, Alonso, Ramalho etc. might fare at the Dusi. After claiming second spot on day two ahead of Sbonelo Khwela, many thought that Matt Fenn would keep second place, but Sbonelo rubbished all ideas that the valley guys are better on the runs than in the rivers, or that taking Burma out the equation has totally changed the face of the race, because the local lad took more risks in the rapids and made up over two minutes to claim second place – albeit almost 8 minutes behind Andy. Matt at just 24 can be well proud of third place to go alongside his first 1st place from the K2’s in 2024. In the ladies, bar a catastrophe, there was only ever going to be one winner. Well done to Christie Jo McKenzie on claiming her 4th consecutive K1 win, coming 30th overall, despite a big swim on day 3. Not quite her 21st place in the floods of 2023 (the one with lots of compulsory portages), but only 2 other ladies have made the top 30: Abbey Miedema in 2005 and Abby Solms in 2017. Second home was Nix Birkett, in 50th place overall, denying another guy of a coveted silver medal (go girls!) while SA canoeing’s only Olympic medalist, Bridgitte Hartley was the third lady home, and 54th overall. Keegan Vogt as the 1st U18 is a name to watch, as is the 1st U18 lady, Hanna Newlands. First U23 was Sanele Mbanjwa in 10th place over all, and 1st U23 lady was Emma Hatfield who was 4th lady overall. Emma does some training at Emmarentia, and we like to think that Christie got as good as she is by training with a lot of good guys from our little dam, so who knows what the future might hold for Emma, especially if she joins our club.
As fantastic as finishing is, the sad sobering fact is that the support for this iconic race continues to dwindle; here’s the trend of the K1 years in terms of total boats finishing:
- 2011: 1013
- 2013: 929
- 2015: 869
- 2017: 627
- 2019: 552
- 2021: 480
- 2023: 268
- 2025: 234
Hopefully this marks the low point and things will recover, but the K2 years show the same downward trend – and those numbers look worse because there are typically more boats in a K1 than a K2 year. Scary stuff. Sad for all of those who know that Dusi, high or low, is an epic weekend, sadder still for those who work so hard to stage the race. Here we need to recognize Lorna Oliver for all her hard work while she completed her 37th Dusi and won herself a coveted John Oliver Series medal. Well done to all the organizers for making this happen – and thank you to sponsors EuroSteel and Hansa. The future of river racing depends on all supporters; be they the racing snakes, the weekend warriors, the organizers, or the sponsors. Your support keeps the dream alive.
The next big river race is the Umko. If you can, you really should go. It’s Stihl a fantastic river, and if you enjoyed the waters of Dusi or Drak, you’ll love the Umko. PS: Our reporter has heard that neither Andy B or Christie M have entered yet – so you might want to ask one of them….
Till next time – Go Dabs!