Dabs News – From the Sella to the Tugela to the Struer

“Keep calm and carry on” was the message sent to the scribe – which doubles up as sound advice when approaching a rapid on a raging river; and even on the Sella or the Tugela, so here’s some more news; with a special tribute of thanks to Pierre & Louis Strydom for the beautiful boat in our clubhouse.

The 88th Sella Descent took place on Saturday, in Asturias, Spain; where the winners of the iconic 20-kilometer race from Arriondas to Ribadesella were the defending Spanish crew of Walter Bouzán & Alberto Llera, who just took the end sprint. Bouzán who was born in Ribadesella, now has 13 Sella titles. He’s 48 years old while his partner Alberto (also from Ribadesella, whose father won the Sella in 1996, and was runner up with Bouzan in 2000) is just 24, which reminds us of some of our top local combos…

Talking of which, this year we had only Clint and Uli competing in the Senior Men K2 category. They didn’t have a great time trial (and/or they were bettered by boys on boosters) which resulted in a not so great seeding (while Bouzan & Llera were seeded #1), then they had a nightmare of a start getting all tangled up at the put in, and then things went from bad to worse, when their left pedal broke 5km from the start, so Clint had to tie the rudder cable to his foot just so they could finish. It would appear they didn’t take Steve Jourdan’s advice: Check boat carefully, nuts, bolts, cables etc, things happen in the night.” Also there in EuroSteel colours were Josh Fenn & Saskia Hockly, with both just missing their podiums, each finishing fourth in the Senior K1s. There for the paddle and the party was the Camp couple from KZN who had this to say: “What a chaotic, crazy, intense, amazing experience with 1200 paddlers splashing downstream! A total fiesta complete with street parties at start and finish.”

Rumour has it that Brad (The Main Man Manager) is looking at getting the Dabblers a headline gig there next year… Yoh!

Somewhat smaller and less chaotic (in way colder conditions) was the Tugela 20’s which headlined as the 2026 Interschools race, attracting 65 scholars; 28 girls and 37 boys ranging from U12 to U18. Siyabonga Ndlovu was the first boy home while Tessa Salmon (Luke’s cousin) was the first girl home. There was only one GCU paddler there, and there was only one U12 there; and that was Asher Wilson flying the Dabs flag; beating two thirds of the field where most were U16’s & U18’s. As there was no U12 Class, he was third in the U14’s but the organisers wouldn’t give him a medal although they did mention his accomplishment. Three hours and 4 minutes, just over 10 minutes behind the U18 winner – well done Ash!

Also there were some senior paddlers, and while this event was once favoured by the Dabs Darlings, it seems that this year they are focusing on their Vaal trip. Anyways the senior race was won by the U23 James Dingley flying the Dabs flag, some 7 minutes ahead of Bridgitte Hartley. Bruce Dixoon was fourth, William Bradshaw & Kaelo Motene sixth, followed by Daniel Mclachlan and Daryl Dingley. Almost half the senior field was made up by Dabs guys.

And then, have you ever wondered about the beautiful old wooden boat that hangs in our clubhouse? Peter O’Connor decided we should all know the story and did some homework – so here it is.

This was a very generous donation from Pierre & Louis Strydom, made back in 2019. The boat is a laminated mahogany veneer Struer Kajak built in Denmark in 1985. Struer developed a highly sophisticated moulded-veneer construction; thin veneers were laminated together over a mould, producing an exceptionally light, stiff shell. Back in the 1960’s and 70’s Struer was to sprint kayaking what Nelo is today – at the very pinnacle of performance; every Olympian wanted one. Struer Kajak’s became renowned not only as world-class racing craft but also as exceptionally beautiful pieces of craftsmanship; so this gift is a priceless piece of history. Pierre & Louis paddled out of East Rand Kayak, and this is what Pierre had to say:

It’s a real honour for us to have the wooden Struer in the Dabulamanzi clubhouse. Here is some background. At the height of the sporting isolation and sanctions era, shortly after P.W. Botha’s ill-fated Rubicon speech, we managed, with the help of friends, to import this K2 from Denmark. Wrapped only in plastic, it travelled in the cargo hold of a passenger aircraft without so much as a scratch. The pilot personally supervised its transport, ensuring it arrived undamaged.

We were never great canoeists, but we enjoyed the racing. We focused on sprints and between 1987 and 1991 won three silver and two bronze medals at the South African Sprint Canoe Championships in this K2. The one that felt the best was the 10000m where we came 2nd behind Bennie and his brother Frikkie. We were never really great, but we gave the Big Boys (Bennie, Christo Engelbrecht, Graham Monteith, Neil Evans etc.) a good run for their money. It was fun, and we made life-long friends in the process.

After 1991, I shifted my focus to the management of sprint canoeing and had the privilege of helping to guide the South African National Sprint Team to the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. It is a great honour for us to know that the boat has found a home in the rafters of such a respected and esteemed club as Dabulamanzi. 

Actually, the honour and the privilege is Dabs’ – thank you, thank you, thank you; and we hope that Pierre & Louis will come do a Dabs TT in their Struer, alongside their old rivals, some of whom are now in Nelo’s. This was them in this boat, at the Transvaal Sprint Championships on Roodeplaat dam back in 1987.

Here, they were training with the UK’s Ivan Lawler and Grayson Bourne of international marathon and sprint fame – Ivan has long been a commentator for many such ICF events.

Up next it’s the Dabs Vaal Trip and then next weekend it’s the Inaugural Dabs Backwater Ultra of either 12 or 24 hours with limited entries being allowed, but we’re sure the paddlers would love some support; particularly at about 03h00 when most sensible people are sound asleep.

Winter just got real, but Spring is coming – and so is one of Coach Adro’s Canoeing Clinics. From Monday 31 August to Wednesday 2 September this has something for everyone from Beginners to Guppies to Juniors, with everything from technique training to preparations for the GCU School League Champs, through to Canoe Polo and Ergo Work and even Park Runs. So, get your kids out the house and down to Dabs. Who knows, you too could become a proud mom like Nichole or a proud dad like Ryno.

Till next time

Go Dabs