It’s been a busy time for many from the finest canoe club in the whole dam universe. On Thursday evening Dabs hosted the second GCU short course Marathon Champs, with the Guppies doing 2km’s including one portage and all other age groups doing 3km’s with two portages. Many who might ordinarily have done Time Trial opted out to watch and drink, with the new portage right in front of the clubhouse making for great spectator viewing. Ruoxi was easily the first boy home in the Guppies with Amilee winning the girls, while the junior boys were won by Alulutho and Soyama in the girls. Mo Patel won the social race comfortably and the Women’s race was easily won by Helen Jansen van Vuuren. The racing for the Men’s title was far more frenetic. Clint Cook won ahead of Jack De Swardt and Mike Arthur, who was really strong on the paddle but not proficient enough on the portages. Then there were other battles between the likes of Benji, Rob Crichton and MJ, and further back between the likes of Leon, Rob Levick and Chazani. Last man home was another Cook; respect to Richard for entering almost everything he can; his efforts were rewarded with a handsome dividend just a few days later. Thank you to Brad Boule, Alexa, Steve Jourdan and Caren for all the work behind the scenes.
On Saturday morning the first of the Marathon trials for the World Games to be held in China in August was run at the Dudley Pringle dam outside Durban. With only one male and one female to be selected to represent South Africa, the racing was always going to be fast and furious. First up was the short course event, with the ladies race ending up in a tie between Jenna Nisbet and Saskia Hockly. The men’s race was won by Hamish Lovemore in 15 minutes with Clint Cook being 6 seconds behind him, and 6 seconds ahead of Andy Birkett. The long course events were held on Sunday with Saskia beating Jenna by 14 seconds, so one assumes Saskia will represent SA in the ladies. Sadly, Christie who has been so good at Marathons is no longer wanting to race internationally. In the men’s event the same trio broke away and took turns in pulling before Hamish won the end sprint in 1 hour 37, with Andy just one second behind him and Clint just 1 second behind Andy, so we assume that Hamish will be representing on the Men’s side. Well done to Clint, who must be wishing that Canoeing South Africa (or should that now be Paddle Sport South Africa – all these name changes in SA are so hard to keep up with, and now the likes of Lloyde will be thinking about the racket game; but sorry, we digress); Clint must be wishing they could have taken a contingent of three, not just one.
Back home, we had another awesome day at Dabs with paddlers from Pretoria, the East Rand, East London, Cape Town and even England on our shores for the 14th running of the world famous High Altitude Surf Ski Challenge. The first female home was Gabi, who cruised home comfortably in the fine Fenn ski she won at last year’s event, while Dave Hamilton Brown easily won the men’s singles. The doubles race was always going to be interesting. Ricky Talevi & Mike Arthur took the bragging rights ahead of Wayne Jacobs & Matt Coetzer (imported from Cape Town), while Matt Fenn & Rosie Edwards (imported from Cornwall, but more recently resident in East London) were third overall and first mixed doubles. Some say that Ricky & Mike might have paid a certain motor boat driver to tow them around for 3 laps and drop Wayne & Matt, others say that Wayne & Matt simply didn’t read or ride the runs as well as they might have. Who knows – but well done to both motorboat drivers, Correl and Speedy for churning up the waters; all who were there had a lots of fun chasing the runs. Some swells were so large that there were a few DNF’s, including Ozzie Pickles who abandoned ship after 2 laps in the K9 combo with Flem Dog and Brad Breetzke. Well done to the winners and all the athletes (dogs and puppies) who participated. Back on the beach the promised Gin Storm started. Some sensibly avoided it, but most of the ordinary seadogs happily climbed in, and we think Tex must have had some serious FOMO…
At prizegiving the winners got their spoils; then it was what everyone else had be waiting for, the lucky draws. Siseko and Rory Attridge won entries to the World Champs to be held in Durban later last year and then it was the draw for the brand new Fenn Spearfish Surfski. That there were only 25 people eligible to claim this prize clearly shows paddlers can’t commit and/or like to enter races at the very last minute. Where else could you get odds of 1 in 25 for something worth about R20k. Incredible. As previously, five names were drawn from the hat, the first two being redraws, because those people weren’t there. With even better odds the Cockram’s were feeling very bullish when both Ethan and Matt were called up, but it was Richard Cook who had the right key to the ski – well done to him for supporting so many paddling events. Because Richard is a wannabe Darling, his win was very popular with all the girls, although he did make many of the other 22 very envious, for it is a truly beautiful boat. Then the Dabblers did their stuff, the party got going and a lot of fun was had.
We have lots of ‘support’ thank you’s – without which the event wouldn’t be what it is. Thank you to Fenn for their continued support of our event, and to Matt and Rosie for coming up to compete. Thank you also to AdReach for their continued support. Thanks to Correl and Danny for the use of their motorboats, and well done to Correl and Speedy for driving the boats so well. Thanks to Alexa, Brad Boule, Caren and Elandrie for organising, and to the Dabs Darlings for doing up the club house and running the Gin Storm. Thanks to the Fields (Karen, Sarah and Courtney) for time keeping and results. Thanks to the Lifesavers who watched out for all involved. (Lifeguard Lightening was absent for the first time ever in the long history of this prestigious event, but there has been radio contact so we assume that he is still alive and relatively well). Thanks to Franks for the fine food. Thanks to the legendary Dabblers for the entertainment – take a bow Puppy, Garden Boy, Schalk and session musician Brendan Peacock. Thanks to Dumi for serving so many drinks. And thanks to all who supported the event – those who worked, those who came to see, those who lent a ski, and those who got to enjoy some paddling fun in the sun; and the afterparty.
If paddlers are bad at committing and entering, then they are worse at helping out, although in all fairness, some had a valid excuse, having imbibed properly the night before. Less than 15 boats made the Sunday Time Trial, and then there was the Dam Clean Up – for which damn few Dabs people stayed or showed up. Well done to Siseko and Ryno for bring in lots of young SCARCies who did a fine job in filling up a bakkie full of rubbish. The local residents who were out and about were very appreciative of our effort. Given the way municipalities do less and less, we will have to do more and more to keep our pond a pleasant place to paddle. Thank you to Fresh Earth who sponsored coffee and delicious doughnuts afterwards.
At dawn on Tuesday, the Morning School paid tribute to Mark ‘Sticks’ Feather, a School alumni, enforcer of paddling etiquette and Dabulamanzi legend, with 16 K3’s out in his honour, while Cath, Eryn, Charles and family were watching on. The first lap was a slow one. Mark’s daughter Eryn was in a boat with Mark Garden and Jim Davies and she poured some ashes out at each of the buoys, while Garden Boy told all that Sticks would forever be checking to see that no short cuts were taken. Then there was a 5km dice, with a bit of spice. Feather always loved a beer at the club, so after 3 laps all boats had to pull in at the portage deck and a crew member had to down a Hansa before they could continue. The racing was brutal, no quarter was given, and there may have been some skullduggery but in the end the best boat won – and that was MJ Robb, Rob Levick and Clive. Then there was coffee, croissants and short speeches by Steve and Jim, for the unveiling of the Remembrance Bell. Well done to Pete O’Connor – it was his idea, and he bought the Bell, but respect to all who were involved; Mark Garden, Steve Jourdan, Lloyde Hanson and Jim Davies – with special thanks to Cath and Eryn for letting us do this. Jim’s brother Willliam mounted the Bell on a beautiful piece of Sneezewood and Jim got his mate Bruce Little to laser cut the Feather icon onto the bell which now hangs proudly by the bar, so we will never forget Mark Feather’s story; but the Bell also serves for us to remember all our club mates who have passed. Well done to all involved in this special Morning School event.
Next up – some other surfski races are happening down in Cape Town in the next week or two. Good luck to all who are going, stay safe and make us proud. For those who paddle for fun, the sea is way warmer and jol way bigger in Mozambique, plus there are bound to be some epic episodes; so contact Raoul if you are interested in going on The Turtle Tour at the end of May. Finally, we have nice new caps with the TVL Navy logo embroided on the front and Dabulamanzi Canoe Club on the back; stocks are limited and will sell out soon, so be sure to order yours from Caren now.
Till next time – Go Dabs!