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The weather gods were again in favour of the Cape's racing canoeists, when Saturday's 32 km section that was raced on the Berg River between Hermon Bridge and Gouda Bridge, in virtually perfect condtions. With the river running at 50 cumecs at Hermon Bridge, it meant that any tree blocks that may have been on the race course were covered and the overcast conditions meant that there was no blazing reflection off the water to hamper a paddlers view of where he/she was headed towards during the race. And with the mist burning off by midday, it meant that paddlers who had finished the event were able to relax in the sunshine and watch the field paddling in to complete the race when they passed under the Gouda Bridge.

         Robyn Kime (Pictures by T Anderson)

With the high water levels, it also meant that paddlers spent less time on the water, but that it was a much more turbulent passage as 'whirlies', 'swirlies' and upwellings kept paddlers wide awake as they proceeded downstream over the 32km stretch.

Apart from the local 'top guns', Lance King (Milnerton), Graeme Solomon (Peninsula), Heinrich Schloms (Paarl) and Edgar Boehm jnr (Peninsula), the field was boosted by the arrival in the Cape of former World Canoe Marathon gold and silver medallist - and winner of many SA river canoeing titles, Ant Stott, who is now spending some time here as he prepares for his assault on the 50th Berg River Canoe Marathon that begins on 13th July - in other words, another superlative paddler who will be gunning for honours in this years iconic marathon.

From the start - thankfully, this week, well organized by the host club, Milnerton Canoe Club and the WCCU statistician, Giel van Deventer, into seeded bunches and batches - King, Schloms, Solomon, Boehm and Stott set the pace by breaking away from the chasing, 2nd row of seeded paddlers (Greg van Heerden (Mil), Nick Longley (Pen), Chris de Waal (Mil), Ali Glass (Pen) and Ernest van Riet (Maties), and kept this up until shortly before the 15 km mark at Zonquasdrift, when King and Schloms got away from Solomon, Boehm and Stott, Boehm having got into a bit of trouble whilst the other two, his Berg 2011 teammates, waited for him. This is how it proceeded then until the end at Gouda Bridge,with King being disqualified for not displaying his boat numbers Schloms on the long paddle-in to win by 4 seconds over Boehm, Solomon and Stott coming in 4 minutes later, and finishing in that order. 

In the women's event, Robyn Kime (Maties) had no problem in romping home 1st and in 14th position overall (2 hours 20 minutes 22 seconds), followed by Angie Austin who pipped a resurgent Jean Wilson by a second to take 2nd spot in 2:31:14.

In the juniors, Michael-Lee Farriger (Prl), recently returned from overseas where he won canoeing medals at Bochum, Germany, at the Junior World Cup sprints, was 1st home in 2:20:56, followed by Michael Pretorius (Mil) and then fellow SA paddler, Luke Stowman (Prl) in 3rd.

In the U21 division, Robyn Kime was 1st, followed by Natalian Julian Atkinson (KZN) and 3rd was the Paarl paddler, Josie Williams.

Overall results:

Top 8

1, Heinrich Schloms, Paarl, 2:08:27

2. Edgar Boehm Jnr, Pen, 2:12:42

3. Graeme Solomon, Pen, 2:12:43

4 Ant Stott, NCC KZN, 2:12:44

5. Greg van Heerden, Mil, 2:14:34

6. Chris de Waal, Mil, 2:14:52

7. Alasdair Glass, Pen, 2:14:52

8. Ernest van Riet, Maties, 2:14:53

Senior Women

1. Robyn Kime, Maties, 2:20:22

2. Angie Austen, Pen, 2:31:14

3. Jean Wilson, Pen, 2:31:15

Junior, U18

1. Michael-Lee Farrninger, Prl, 2:30:56

2. Michael Pretorius, Mil, 2:23:25

3. Luke Stowman, Prl, 2:31:02

U21

1. Robyn KIme, Maties, 2:20:22

2. Julian Atkinson, MIC KZN, 2:53:31

3. Joseph Williams, Prl, 2:26:29

Sub Veterans

1. Graham Solomon, Pen, 2:12:43

2. Greg van Heerden, Mil, 2:14:34

3. Daan du Toit, Mil, 2:19:71

Veterans

1. Jean Wilson, Pen, 2:31:15

2. Andre van Heerden, Mil, 2:31:37

3. Herbert Conradie, Prl, 2:34:28

Sub Masters

1. Chris de Waal, Mil, 2:14:52

2. Donnie Malherbe, Prl, 2:15:43

3. Theuns Matthee, Maties, 2:25:26

Masters

1. Paul Lange, Pen, 2:24:07

2. Daantjie Malan, Maties, 2:26:02

3. Ian Glass, Pen, 2:28:06

Sub GRandmasters

1. Shaun Butler, Pen, 2:25:54

2. Gerhard Beukes, Maties, 2:28:00

3. Adie de Kock, Maties, 2:29:07

Grandmasters

1. Rob MacLean, Pen, 2:25:24

2. Enslin van Riet, Mil, 2:26:48