THE Dusi Canoe Marathon organisers have given the green light to four stand up paddleboarders to enter the 2014 race, making history as the first Stand-Up Paddleboarders (SUP) competitors to embark on the tough three day paddling race from Camps Drift to Blue Lagoon.
Three local adventurers, Dean Bottcher, Brendon Germaine and Jon Ivins will be joined by US based Corran Addison. They will now be allowed to enter the race after satisfying the race organisers that they can safely complete the race without interfering with the other crews. Germaine designed a special river SUP, which the three local paddlers have been using in a number of the build-up canoeing races this summer leading up to the Dusi Marathon.
They recently impressed even their most stubborn critics by finishing the tough two-day N3TC Drak Challenge in demanding low water conditions in Underberg.
Dusi General Manager Brett Austen-Smith confirmed that the race committee had noted the results of the three SUP paddlers during the early season Dusi qualifiers and the Drak Challenge, and said they had been impressed by their achievements in a wide variety of river conditions and flat water races.
“These guys have proved the legitimacy of stand up paddleboarding, and we are happy that they can now enter the Dusi, provided that they complete the last two qualifying races, the Campbell’s to Dusi Bridge and the Inanda Dam to Durban races,” said Austen-Smith.
“We were so chuffed to get the email from the Dusi committee saying that we can enter,” said Ivins, who was the last to join the quartet of SUP entrants. “I did my 10th Dusi last year and I really wasn’t thinking about continuing doing the Dusi. Then I heard about these two local guys aiming to do the Dusi on SUPs, and they weren’t even regular SUP riders. I just had to be part of it,” he said.
