Canoeists’ competitive spirits weigh in on Karridene River
Fish River Canoe Marathon coming up at end of September

WITH the Fish River Canoe Marathon coming up at end of September, Amanzimtoti Canoe Club has decided to do its training and its time trials on the Karridene River, until such time the Toti River water quality has been resolved.
There is a 2.1km lap with decent water, which is good for training. Training is every week day from 4pm onwards. Time trials start at 5.15pm currently, but will probably be pushed out towards 5.45pm as the days get longer.
Time trials were held on Wednesday, 7 August. A total of 20 boats were there, of which six were guppy paddlers. There was a fierce battle between Gene Prato, Karl Folscher and Mark Haulthauzen, with Gene edging out Karl and Mark on the sprint. Mark was paddling a surfski which creates a bit more drag than a canoe, so it should be interesting if Mark brings a canoe next time, or maybe Gene was doing just enough to win. Time will tell.
A good tussle for fourth place was also on with Rory Taylor, Sipho and Wonder. Sipho outsprinted Wonder by a mere second and Rory said he was content with sixth place. Then came the next bunch with Gareth Hazell, Gary Albers, Swe (development coach) and Perfect. It all came down to the 500m sprint where Gary said to Gareth that the old man was going to beat him. He said his dad would not gate him if a ballie beat him, and so he decided to put it all into this end sprint. According to Gary, all he heard was a gurgling sound and when they crossed the line with Gareth in front, he fed the fish in the Karridene River, having had vienna sausages for lunch. There was another battle going on just behind, where Swe and Perfect were racing each other. Perfect decided he needed a swim just short of the line. The last four across the line were Marcell (Tubby) Gerhard, Mark Magabe Pontes, Trever Jooste and Hugh Norman. Apparently Trevor and Hugh reckon they should have beaten Tubby and Magabe but their boats made such a big wake that they were spun out. As Trevor said, there is a time when weight is an advantage.
Results: Gene Prato 28.26 Karl Folscher 28.27 Mark Haulthauzen 28.29 Sipho 30.52 Wonder 30.53, Rory Taylor 31.14 Gareth Hazel 31.50 Gary Albers 31.51 Swe 32 Perfect 35.12 Marcell Gerhard 35.33 Mark Pontes 35.34 Trevor Jooste 35.37 Hugh Norman 36.50