Hi ,

It is quasi "first world" paddling on a river where one can drink the river water for the majority of the race.

The rain gods in Underberg were not overly generous with their offering, but provided enough to reward those who had a modicum of talent with their foot pedals.

Those who were found wanting had a slightly more challenging experience. Ditto for those who have not managed to shake off the after effects of those last few handfuls of Christmas mince pies.

Besides a slightly low first half of day one, the race and the river delivered in all other respects.

The N3TC Drak Challenge weekend is very hard to beat for superb organisation, magnificent scenery, challenging (but not daunting) river conditions, and just a really great vibe. The terrific weather was an added bonus.

I had additional reasons to celebrate on the weekend. Firstly, and most importantly, I took cash from both of the Germans on the golf course. Their lack of contribution to the team effort ensured that our team mirrored the results of their two world wars. Silver in both. The hillbillys from Umdhloti (Fouche, Fouche, Wyly and Hockly) walked off with "The Beast" (the largest golf trophy in the southern hemisphere).

Secondly, I managed to take advantage of Dave Macleod's decision to scuttle off to the Canadian frozen wastelands, and have climbed to the top of the heap in Drak finishes (27 out of 29)

I paddled the inaugural Drak with the late Mark Perrow. We came second. He went on to win a couple more. I went on to get two more second places (I feel for those Germans).

At the sharp end of the field, Andy Birkett snatched his 9th gold from a very game pair of youngsters in the form of Hamish Lovemore and Matt Fenn. Hank McGregor being relegated to an unfamiliar position, off the podium.

As predicted, Christie Mackenzie proved too strong for the rest of the women's field, beating Olympic medallist, Bridgitte Hartley into second place by 5 minutes.
 
Saskia Hockly continued the family winning streak (father won the golf day), by taking home the U23 gold and the overall bronze, just a minute behind Bridgitte.

The junior boys was won by Luke Salmon after some major boat admin on the first day. Emma Hatfield proved too good for the rest of the U18's even after she had been pushed into a tree by an old, red canoeing administrator.

After a massively successful N3TC Drak Challenge, the focus now swings to what has historically been the premier canoe race in the province, the Dusi.

The new committee, under the able leadership of Steve Botha (who was almost single handedly instrumental in the successful running of the 2017 ICF World Marathon Championships), has been hard at work to ensure yet another successful and memorable event. With the amount of rain that has been around over the past few months, and some guaranteed releases from relatively full dams, paddlers should be in for an exciting ride. The 3rd day is going to be especially interesting, with many of the "out of province" paddlers seeing the changed river for the first time.

As with the Drak, and on current form, my money would be on a Birkett/Mackenzie dupla. However, the vagaries of river racing could throw a spanner in the works. There is a wealth of talent just behind both of their shoulders.

Only one weekend of racing left before the Dusi open day on the 12th, and then the main race on the 16th.

The organisers are closely monitoring the water quality, and have announced that, in the event of unsafe levels around the Pietermaritzburg area, they will consider a change of start to Bishopstowe. Hopefully it will not come to that.

That is all for this week.
Cheers
Copper 1111

And the joke:

A young man excitedly tells his mother he's fallen in love and is going to get married. He says, "Just for fun, Ma, I'm going to bring over three women and you try and guess which one I'm going to marry."
The mother agrees.
The next day, he brings three beautiful women into the house and sits them down on the couch and they chat for a while.
He then says, "Okay, Ma. Guess which one I'm going to marry."
She immediately replies, "The red-head in the middle."
Stunned, the young man says, "That's amazing, Ma. You're right. How did you know?"
"I don't like her," she says.