Preparing for the Dusi
Local canoeists will kick off the new year with serious training in the six weeks remaining before the world’s toughest endurance canoeing event, the Dusi, which takes place in mid-February.
The 2013 canoeing year finished up with a Dusi training race, as well, on Sunday, December 8, the final race of the Belloord series, hosted by Florida Lake Canoe Club, on the Klip River, from Daleside to Meyerton, on Sunday, December 8.
The series has ensured regular races on the river, with good attendance attracted by giveaways on entry, spot prizes and cash for the winners of age categories and overall winners, and lucky draws for all participants.
The series included a couple of compulsory races, which enabled qualifiers to be in the final draw, where six boats were won, together with canoeing equipment, life jackets, paddles, water drinking systems and spray decks, making it the most viable value-for-money training opportunity for canoeists throughout the year.
Mid-January will see a seriously tough two-day Dusi seeding race taking place on the Jukskei River, from the Heron Bridge School/Lanseria Airport area towards Hartebeespoort Dam.
This has attracted some of the top paddlers of the Dusi event, including previous winners.
Franz Lottering and Vallon Kupferberg, both members of the Benoni East Rand Kayak Club, based at Homestead Dam, finished the 35km training race, which incorporated three running portages, in two hours and 43 minutes, as the 21st double boat.
The second Sub-Master finishers are looking forward to a successful Dusi race.
