The Sella Descent from Arriondas to Ribadesella in Spain is one of the most famous river races in the world. Compared to SA river races it’s relatively short at just 20km and the rapids are small, but the field is massive with thousands of canoeists creating chaos in a Le Mans style mass start. Then there are also the thousands of supporters who line the river banks and cram the train (that follows the river and the race) to cheer the participants and winners on. The French crew of Jeremy Candy and Quentin Urban won their third consecutive Sella in an intense mass sprint to finish with a time of 01:08:35. Matt and Josh Fenn’s time was 01:08:46 which earnt them 8th place. 11 seconds – so close. First raced in 1934, the Sella has had four South African crews as overall winners: Paul Chalupsky & Kevin Culverwell in 1969, Herman & Oscar Chalupsky in 1986, Mark Perrow & Neil Evans in 1991 and Daniel Conradie & Moray Wilson in 1997. And now in 2024, Christie McKenzie wrote more Sella history when she became the first South African to win the ladies K1. Congratulations Christie!
Not quite as big, or famous, or well supported are the Tugela 20’s. This little river race is recognized a school’s event, a great place for paddlers to learn basic river skills, and a fun weekend away. As with last year, Dabs once again had the largest club representation at a senior level. We only had one junior there this year; well done to Asher Wilson who won the U10 Guppies race. It was fantastic to see almost 20 little boys and girls in guppies going down the first 8km of the river. 50 scholars, (22 girls and 28 boys) contested the KZN K1 Schools Champs, which was won by the U16 Keegan Vogt from Maritzburg College, who looks be SA’s next big paddling name. James Dingley was 3rd and Jordan Byres was 8th. We hope they both become better paddlers than their dads. Hanna Newlands made the top 10, and thanks to Epworth, Wykeham and St Annes the school girl river paddling in KZN looks really strong compared to what we have happening up here in Gauteng.
The senior race was won by Mat Ballenden, well ahead of Vernon Vogt. Bridgitte Hartley only paddled day 2, but because Mat is a gentleman (and because he sat on her wave most of the way,) he let Bridgitte win day 2. The lady’s race was won by Hillary Bruss. Renschi was the second K1 lady home, all her training really paying dividends, and she finished well ahead of the more experienced Kirsty. Congratulations Renschi! Well done to Pamina and Leon who did their first K1 river races and to Nikki and Rae who did their first K2 river races. After the mayhem that was experienced by the Darlings at the Elands earlier in the year, lessons were learnt, and a lot of confidence was gained here. Although the river really is very gentle, we still had swimmers, with Richard taking the K1 prize, alongside Schalk and Barry earning the K2 prize. In other Tugela news, most don’t go to just to paddle, they go for the fun, and some go to listen to Flem Pup play some tunes at the evening bonfires; but this weekend he was relegated to the bench. Pamina is not just a natural athlete, she also plays the guitar and sings really well, plus she is better looking than Puppy, so there is hope that the Dabblers may have a new recruit – although their manager has not yet been approached. Welcome to Dabs Pamina! No, she can’t outdrink the Puppy – no one can.
The Tugela 20’s are a 14km and then a 23km day – not 20 and 20 as the name suggests; similarly, the Centurion 9 Miler is actually 19km, so the name inventers in KZN and Pretoria are confused and confusing, as was weather at both races. Warm berg winds threatened to blow paddlers out of their boats on Sunday and at times even provided downwinds. But more confused/confusing was the weather at Reitvlei last Saturday. The 9 Miler is renowned for conditions almost as kak (cold and windy) as the Berg, but this year it was the exact opposite. Breathless, sunny, warm and wonderful. Unfortunately, our men’s K2 results weren’t wonderful, and as at Benoni the week before, we let Mike Stewart and Piet Engelbrecht take the win. Wongama and Benjamin were 2nd, Mark and Matt 3rd. Jack was the first K1 home, while Callie and Karen were the first ladies. The grey, cold, windy conditions did however appear on the Sunday morning making our TT conditions rather unpleasant; and some now want to petition the Chairman to make that one count towards earning a Winter Series jacket.
In a previous news, we mentioned that Neil Burger had played Polo for Ireland. Ooops, sorry – no he didn’t. This should have read that he played for the Irish club Kilkenny who needed a player for a friendly tournament in Germany. The London Dragon team that Neil was playing for also had two former Dabs paddlers, David and Kevin Rodrigues. They ended the season in third place.
So there we have it, Dabs has been seen and been conquering all over the place; from the Sella to the Tugela, from Rietvlei to Mud Island and Ireland. Go Dabs!