High altitude surfski race
The course was 1km long, and 10 laps were required to make it a 10km event in some challenging conditions.
Michael Stewart, a member of the ERK Kayak Club based at the Homestead Dam in Benoni, and his son Liam, recently enjoyed participating in the High Altitude surfski race, finishing in sixth place overall in a time of 47 minutes 52 seconds.
A number of Gauteng-based canoeists who enjoy paddling in white water travel, frequently travel to the coast to participate in the surfski races that take place in the ocean.
With the planned upcoming Surfski National Championships, Gauteng-based paddlers need to participate in a trial in order to be selected to represent the province at the national event.
Ten years ago, there was a novel idea of hosting an inland high altitude surfski race to serve as team trials.
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The event became extremely popular, and paddlers of various different age groups and abilities enjoyed participating in the fun event.
To produce the challenging “surf” conditions, motorboats and jetski motors are used at Emmarentia dam, and participants are allowed to race provided they have passed the required basic proficiency, as per the Canoe South Africa regulations which include their swimming ability.
The top finishing winners in both the men’s and ladies categories were world champion canoeists with multiple gold medals for international marathon racing, as well as surfski racing, the well known guests of honour, Hank McGregor and Hayley Nixon.
