Top 100 Fish finish for local paddler
Paddlers took on the mighty Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon.
Paddlers from across the country descended on Cradock recently to compete in the Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon.
The exciting white water rushes of huge wave trains, drops and stopper waves, as well as the three shutes built to avoid portaging around the weirs built on the river, add to the adrenaline rushing excitement of the 80km two-day river race.
Numerous paddlers from Gauteng enjoyed the eight-hour drive to Cradock to make the most of the opportunity of exciting rough water challenges and sheer enjoyment despite occasional swims and broken boats.
Although the race is a SA K1 Championships event, many paddlers enjoy doubling up or even going in K3s (three-man kayaks) to enjoy the huge rough whitewater and have company during the hours on the river.
Katiso Hlahatsi, who has paddled for the Victoria Lake Canoe Club (VLC) since he was a young boy in the school leagues, was the K1 top finisher for the club, and the area.
He finished as the 89th K1 paddler, earning himself a Top 100 finish for a K1 (single kayak) which is hard work as the river is daunting and intimidating.
Unfortunately, he was pushed out of his boat in the rush of the start on day two which cost him a lot of time – surrounded by fast strong K2 and K3 boats and paddlers there is little a single boat can do to avoid being crushed in the rush.
He had done so well on the first day and started in the A batch on day two but the competitive group of strong double or treble boats did not give him much space.
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Nevertheless, the young man finished in a time of six hours 13 minutes over the 80kms.
The entry field before the race was 650 boats (including K1, K2 and K3 boats) but only 484 actually finished the race due to withdrawals/boat damage etc.
The race is certainly unquestionably challenging and paddlers spend a year or more to find rivers where they can prepare and train for the fast flowing whitewater of the Fish River in Cradock.
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