Local canoeists conquer Umko
Lowveld canoeists Andy Birkett and Hank McGregor, both world champions and past Dusi winners won the Stihl Umkomaas Canoe Marathon in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in their K2 recently.
Wihan Venter and Craig Lewis also participated and finished 22nd overall. The Umko, as it is affectionately known, is a two-day race. The race starts in the Natal Midlands below the Josephine’s Bridge on the Ixopo Road. The first day takes the paddlers down 35 kilometres of exciting turbulent rapids.
Though challenging, by Umko standards it is a fairly innocuous section of the river. Day two steps up a gear as the paddlers’ tension and nerves are almost tangible.
The first 13 kilometres of day two are made up of a series of massive rapids. There is no other race in the country and probably the world where paddlers take on such huge rapids in fibreglass boats. En route the paddler’s pass through one of the most beautiful and pristine valleys in KZN.
