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After the hectic rollercoaster that has been 2024, the year appears to be screeching to a halt.
It feels like just yesterday when I strolled out of Walton’s, with my new 2024 diary clutched firmly in my hand, wondering what the year would hold in store.
In the blink of an eye, there are only a few blank pages left.
The annual report by our president, Kim Pople (who was voted in as the vice president of SASCOC last weekend), puts the year into perspective (click to see President's report).
I would like to echo her thanks and appreciation to all of the volunteers in our sport, who are ultimately the heartbeat of the federation. The club committees, union committees, and especially the race organisers, are the unsung hero’s of all things paddling.
All being held together by the wise council of our board.
A quick round up of activities over the past couple of weeks ...
On the international front, a small contingent of local surf ski paddlers have been flying our flag high in countries to the right of us (if facing north)
The annual Steelcase “Dragon Run” took place in Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago.
The results were a carbon copy of last year, with Kira Bester emerging victorious in the women’s race, and Australia’s Cory Hill winning the men’s gold.
Our evergreen Hank McGregor secured silver, ahead of the brothers Fenn (the younger one giving his older brother another klap)
Michelle Burn and Melanie Van Niekerk completed the top four, having to settle for third and fourth, behind New Zealand’s Danielle Richards.
The Dragon Run was a warm up for many, in preparation for the Shaw & Partners WA Race Week in Western Australia.
An epic week of hectic racing, for considerable prize money, with hugely stacked fields of the world’s best.
The 4 major events of the week consisted of the West Coast Downwinder, the two Sunset Series races, and culminated in the main race of the week, the Doctor, named after the wind that blows persistently at this time of year in Perth.
The results of the 4 races were pretty much a mixed bag, with the one thing in common being that the cream almost always rises to the top.
Neither Danielle Richards, nor Jemma Smith were at the world championships in Madeira. Kira Bester, the current world champion, proved over the week of racing that she was comfortably in the same league, by beating both of them at different races. After the Dragon Run, the top step eluded her though, with Danielle and Jemma trading top spots in all of them, and the three of them completely dominating the podium throughout.
Saskia, Melanie and Jade were consistently snapping at the heels of the leading trio, and finished in the next few places in all of the races.
In the men’s division, Cory Hill confirmed why he is currently regarded as the best surf ski paddler in the world, by winning three out of the four events.
The only blemish to a clean slate, came in the form of his career long rival, Hank McGregor, who managed to beat him in the 1st Sunset Series race.
The paddlers who occupied the top three places on the podium of the recent world championships in Madeira, seemed intent on making it difficult for everyone else. Cory, Gordan and Hank made regular appearances. Only Kenny Rice managing to squeeze one of them off when he came second in the second Sunset Series race.
What the South African men lacked in gold medals, they made up by cluttering up the top 10 positions in all of the events, with Kenny, Uli, Nick Notten, Mark Keeling and the brothers Fenn making their presence felt.
You can find links to results here.
Our very small team of 4 SUP paddlers, who competed in the World Championships, in Sarasota USA, did not come home empty handed either.
Cameron Tripney won the bronze medal in the senior open sprint event.
Tarryn King also made the A final, finishing in seventh position in the open women’s sprint.
The next major event will be the Cape Point Challenge, which takes place next weekend, December 14-15.
Hopefully, the two-day window period, coupled with some cooperative sea gods, will see the field of paddlers being able to go around the Point this year.
By the look of the confirmed entries, there are a large number of paddlers who will be wishing for the same.
A bit of a breather on the local front with some small, but exciting races coming up in KZN, with an Umko race this weekend, and the KZN mixed doubles next weekend in Underberg.
I received a mail from a gentleman, by the name of Lorenzo Molinari, a while ago, regarding a series of books that he has written about our sport, encompassing a broad range of facets.
I had a brief squiz. It looks like an extremely interesting history.
Links here to buy from Amazon.
Link here for more info.
Some quick housekeeping.
A “situation” at a recent race, resulted in the organisers having to access a paddler's medical and next of kin information, from the paddlers portal. Fortunately it was all there, and up to date as well.
So, an appeal to you all, please go online and update your details on the system.
You may also find that the medium shirt that you thought fitted you 5 years ago may be under some stress currently.
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