Some 470 paddlers lined up at the start on Saturday 5^th September and 461 crossed the finish line on Sunday 6^th September.

Day 1 and day 2 saw excellent racing between the three top teams (P-W Basson/Lance King – Prl/Mil, Ernest van Riet/Heinrich Schloms – US/Prl and Jacques Theron/Piers Cruikshank – Dab, Gauteng) which saw them end as written, 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd on Day 1, only 1 second separating each craft and similarly on Day 2 when minimum time separated the same three crews, with Basson/King triumphing to beat van Riet/Schloms into 2^nd place overall by the narrowest of margins, with Theron/Cruikshanks taking the bronze with consolidated times over the 2 days of racing again seeing these crews separated by only 1 second each (see results below). To the uninitiated, it may seem incredible that such close times could be the difference between the top three teams, but this only goes to show their excellence in competition and how only a minor mistake, would have relegated any one of them off their podium placing. Canoe racing at the highest level – and so this was – is an intense and vital affair, which demands high levels not only of physical fitness, but also concentration, paddling and racing skills and river knowledge – and this not only because one or other of the crews might be from the local province (although this is a bonus) – but rather it is the skill of reading flowing water. And all this over long periods of time.

Other classy performances over the two days of canoe racing saw the top Under 23 crew of Andrew Birkett/Alasdair Glass (UCT/Pen) come in 8^th overall, Sub Veterans Chris de Waal/Frohaan Visser (Mil/SSW) 14^th overall, Junior Under 18’s Gavin Shuter/Ivan Kruger (Dab/Mil) 18^th overall, Sub Grandmasters Rob MacLean/Andre Rabie (Pen/Prl) 19^th overall, Veterans Garth Watters/Rob Hart (Pen/Pen) 20^th overall, Masters Ian Glass/Shaun Butler (Pen/Pen) 23^rd overall, whilst Grandmasters (i.e. 60 to 64 years), Mike English/Brian Longley (Pen/Dab) were an incredible 24^th overall.

The Senior Ladies, operating under International Canoe Federation rules, where women paddlers are not allowed to ride the slip of male paddlers, saw a diminished field of 3 crews taking part, with Lindi-May Harmsen/Abie Adie (Mil/Nat) being first home, Suzette and Hanro Maree (HJK/Prl) 2^nd and Mandy Simpson/Robyn Henderson (Mil) 3^rd.

Of interest on this race (and for the 1st time) were 3 ‘sit-on-top’ river skis – 2 singles and a double and (not for the 1st time), 2 K3s canoes – these have been seen more often on races up country such as the Fish, Umkomaas and Vaal, but a very good option for introducing new paddlers to the sport and/or just cruising. Perhaps they had the best idea, because the Breede River and the valley through which it runs is so beautiful, that this splendour is most often lost to racing paddlers who are concentrating on the cut-and-thrust of securing the best times and positions that they can.

Results:

Top Ten

1. Pieter-Willem Basson/Lance King (Paarl/Milnerton) 4 hours 12 minutes 47 seconds

2. Ernest van Riet/Heinrich Schloms (US/Prl) 4:12:48

3. Jacques Theron/Piers Cruikshanks (Dab/Dab) 4:12:49

4. Andrew Birkett/Patrick Birkett (UCT/Pen) 4:15:57

5. Cornelius Human/Richard Fly (Out/US) 4:16:10

6. Edgar Boehm jnr/Joe Kearney (Sim/Pen) 4:17:58

7. Heinrich van Rooyen/Andrew Skowno (Blu/Blu) 4:17:59

8. James Birkett/Alasdair Glass (UCT/Pen) 4:19:33

9. Sean Rice/Steve Farrell (Pen/Pen) 4:20:46

10. Shaun Griffin/Stuart Clifton (UCT/Kin) 4:22:27

Senior Women

1. Lindi-May Harmsen/Abie Adie (Mil/Nat)

2. Suzette Maree/Hanro Maree (UJK/Prl)

3. Mandy Simpson/Robyn Henderson (Mil/Mil)

Junior U18

1. Gavin Shuter/Ivan Kruger (Dab/Mil) 4:36:25

2. Joseph Williams/Diviano Pietersen (Prl/Prl) 4:37:15

3.  Ruan Knobel/Gustav Kampfer (WHR/Out) 4:53:28

U23

1. James Birkett/Alasdair Glass (UCT/Pen) 4:15:57

2. Michael Patrick/Donovan Kennedy (Rho/Zul) 4:52:49

3. Fiona Ross/Lisa Ronquest (Mil/Fis) 4:57:54

Sub Veterans

1. Chris de Waal/Frohaan Visser (Mil/SSW) 4:30:06

2. Steve Botha/Jay Jenkins (Nat/Nat) 4:31:58

3. Pierre Giraud/Stuart Hyde (Kny/Kny) 4:37:16

Veterans

1. Garth Watters/Rob Hart (Pen/Pen) 4:38:43

2. Quinton Miller/Anton Cartwright (Pen/Pen) 4:40:25

3. Mark Torrington/Fred Creswell (Pen/Umz) 4:54:46

Sub Masters

1. Daantjie Malan/Johan Swart (US/EVP) 4:46:17

2. Andre van Wyk/Andrew Carter (Bor/Bor) 4:48:03

3. Nick Rockey/Graham Rowe (Pen/Pen) 4:48:23

Masters

1. Ian Glass/Shaun Butler (Pen/Pen) 4:38:43

2. Rob Walsh/Marcus Burri (Blu/Blu) 4:50:59

3. Owen Johnson/Robin Pretorius (Plet/Plet) 4:58:45

Sub Grandmasters

1. Rob Maclean/Andre Rabie (Pen/Prl) 4:36:34

2. JT Basson/Johan Serdyn (Prl/US)  5:03:17

3. Rene’ Boehm/Peter Calitz (Sim/Pen) 5:16:10

Grandmasters

1. Mike English/Brian Longley (Pen/Dab) 4:40:22

2. Roelof van Riet/Andre Collins (Mil/Mil) 4:47:03

3. Angus Hemp/Charles Melck (Pen/Mil) 5:25:50

Mixed Doubles

1. Willem van Riet/Heidi van Riet (US/US) 4:43:17

2. Ian Trautmann/Natascha Bracale (Pen/Pen) 4:53:16

3. Christian Callebaut/Nicky Callebaut (Bor/Bor) 4:53:28

Siblings

1. Andrew Birkett/Patrick Birkett (UCT/Pen) 4:15:57

2. Matthew van Heerdem/Greg van Heerden (US/Mil) 4:31:55

3. Johan van Rooyen/Inus van Rooyen (US/US) 4:34:05

Father/Son

1. Richard Tebbutt/Matthew Tebbutt (Bor/Bor) 4:28:38

2. Giel van Deventer/Chris van Deventer (Prl/Int)          

3. Harold Wattruss/Laurence Wattrus (Dab/UCT) 4:57:54

Father/Daughter

1. Willem van der Westhuyzen/Tessa van der Westhuyzen (WSK/Prl) 5:33:02

Husband/Wife

1. Willem and Heidi van Riet (US) 4:43;17

2. Christian and Nicky Callebaut (Bor) 4:53:28

3. John and Hilde Lee (Mil) 5:1:10

K3’s

1. Warren Nienaber/Tian Naude/Dawie du Plessis (Fis) 4:51:14

2. Russell Penny/Claudia Penny/Chris Wolf (Pen) 6:13:00