While everyone was waking up slowly and lazing about on their Sunday morning, around 30 stand-up paddlers were all geared up for their 10km race on the Zinkwazi river.
The Zinkwazi SUP race was one of seven races sanctioned by Stand-Up Paddling South Africa (SUPSA).
The competitors flew in from all around the country to paddle against each other for a cash prize but more importantly, valuable points on the SUPSA rankings for the year.
The race started down at the beach going up towards the bridge where the paddlers turned to do another loop and go back before finishing at the beach.
There was a chilly wind in the air that created some ripples on the river, but by the time the race kicked off things started to heat up with the breeze easing off.
The conditions were clean and turned out to be a perfect day.
It was a tight race between the men, but it was Cape Town’s Dylan Frick who managed to create a big enough lead to scoop the win in 1:00:10, with former Salt Rock local Chris Couve now representing Johannesburg coming in behind him and Justin Bing from Durban in third.
While Frick decided to paddle hard and stay in the lead for the entire race after the first turn, the men chasing him used each other’s slipstreams to save some energy before breaking away in the last sprint.
When the paddlers reached the water’s edge at the end of the SUP race, the beach sprint to the finish line proved to be very entertaining with the guys launching themselves over the line to beat their opponents.
It was good to see the women taking part in the race with the men and Tarryn King from Cape Town put up a strong performance to clinch the win.
Jackie De Billot and Shelley Bradfield from Durban were second and third respectively.
The next SUPSA sanctioned race will take place in Durban between July 10 to 12.
Stay in the loop with The North Coast Courier on Facebook, X, Instagram & YouTube for the latest news.
Mobile users can join our WhatsApp Broadcast Service here, or if you’re on desktop, scan the QR code below.
