Dear Fellow WCCU Members,

You may recall that one of our WCCU members, Rob MacLean, excelled at the Canoe World Championships in Singapore last year by winning TWO Gold Medals in the Masters Category for the K1 (single canoe) and K2 (double canoe) classes respectively. A great achievement indeed - he beat a couple of Kiwis, a Spaniard or two and some Hungarians and Aussies amongst others - enough said!

Some months ago, Rob indicated that he might not be able to defend his titles in Rome, (to be held September 2012), due to funding constraints. As a result, some of Rob’s friends from his Rhodes University days decided there is a need to raise the necessary money to send him to Rome. He advises that he has every intention of defending these titles in Rome, should he be able to raise the finances and has been training seriously for the event with Pete Cole’s training group since January.

Rob's expenses from Cape Town to Rome and back includes air fares, accommodation, championship/competition levy as well as the transportation in a ship container of his two canoes together with those canoes of the other RSA participants and so his outlay will be substantial.

So, a Golf Day at the Westlake Course on Thursday 14th June 2012 has been arranged.

( Note well - there are wonderful prizes to be won - see below) 

 The details of the Golf Day event are as follows:

 Date:                 Thursday, 14 June 2012.  Tee-off times from 11 hrs onwards.

 Venue:              Westlake Golf Club in Lakeside.

Competition:      Four Ball better ball Stable ford.

 Cost:                R1,600-00 per arranged four ball or R400-00 per single entry to make up a four ball.

Images of the event can be found HERE

Download K1 Results HERE
Download K2 Results HERE

Results and Report to follow as we receive them.

Simon van Gysen wind his first 2012 Oceanpaddler World Series race.

The Top Three at Euro Challenge 2012, Simon van Gysen, Sean Rice, Jeremy Cotter(Facebook)

See www.surfski.info for more.

1. Simon van Gysen
2. Sean Rice
3. Jeremy Cotter
4. Hank McGregor
5. Michael Booth
6. Hayden Smith
7. Dawid Mocke

Download Full Race Info HERE

The Orange River Canoe Marathon which took place from 28 -29 April 2012, was the second official SA K3 event to take place in South Africa.    There was a lot of hype in 2011 since it was the first official SA K3 event and this year was no exception to the excitement.  Titles needed to be defended  and damaged egos needed to be restored. 

Since the race coincided with a long weekend, most of the paddlers descended (or ascended from the Western Cape) the day before the race to Hopetown.

The Hart men crossing the finishing line. More images HERE courtesy of Natalie Denovan

Download CSA Safety Booklet HERE

Download Full Race Info HERE

88 paddlers lined up on Zandvlei for the 32nd running (sic) of the 15 km Marina da Gama K1 canoe race, now sponsored by the security company, ADT, under overcast skies and a strong South Easter, although by the middle of the race, the wind had dropped and blue skies abounded!.

                                                  Ian Trautman &  Dominic Notten

Comprising of 3 laps of Peninsula Canoe Club's 5km Time Trial course, paddlers line up in front of the Zandvlei Club House, proceed northwards on the starters gun to the top turning buoy, then eastwards into Marina da Gama where paddlers follow the main canals of that development - Thibault, Easthaven North, Michel, Tiller Arm, Easthaven South, The Anchorage, and Battleridge before turning north into Tumbler's Tack South which brings them back into the main vlei, to a turning buoy situated at the southern (Muizenberg) end the vlei before heading back to the start line.

Because there were cash prize 'Hot Spots' at the end of the 1st lap and 2nd laps, to give some equity to the field which comprises male and female paddlers, the fairer sex field of15 paddlers lined up and started at 10h00, the men's start being delayed by 4 minutes to give the ladies a chance to get the 1st 'Hot Spot' before the men - this they did, but it was a close thing!

Download 2012 WCCU SPRINTS HERE

At the CSA board meeting on Tuesday it was agreed that the club colour "rule" will be removed due to the kayak jacket rule but still strongly encourages club identification. It is up to the individual clubs to promote themselves in as many ways as possible. decals/caps/splash covers etc.  Unions are also encouraged to identify themselves at national events especially flat water events where the kayak jackets may not be an issue.

Thank you to those who took part in the poll.

Please take a moment to download the latest version of the WCCU calendar. HERE

Registrations for the 2012 Season are now open. Please ensure that you are registered before 1 April in order to be able to race. Each paddler is allowed only one temporary licence per season to race unregistered. 2012 Affiliation fees have been posted onto the website and all clubs are now open for registration.