Rowing rivals in for fight

Paddling kicks into high gear on Saturday as the annual NFB Cowie Canoe Race, organised by the Border Canoe Club, takes centre-stage in Port Alfred.

The race billed as “The Intercity Challenge”, with Border Canoe Club representing East London taking on Blue Water Canoe Club from Port Elizabeth.

In 2016 a “Country Districts” team was added to make it a triangular competition, with all the other canoe clubs in the Eastern Cape combining to form this team.

The three sides then battle it out for bragging rights on race day.

“We are delighted to once again have NFB on board as sponsors, having taken over as title sponsors in 2017 and we are looking forward to another fantastic race this weekend,” said race convener Dave Puttergill.

In recent years, the Intercity Trophy has resided primarily at Border Canoe Club in East London with the club claiming the win a number of years in a row, but in 2017 a great effort from the Blue Water Canoe Club saw the trophy head to PE.

This will definitely add some excitement to Saturday’s racing as the East London crews try to reclaim the trophy.

A number of Border's most bankable up-and-coming stars won't be available for this year’s event, which means that it will be a mixture of youth and stalwarts that will have to lead the line in this year’s race.

In the race all paddlers will be awarded log points for their respective clubs, with age group category winners earning extra points, thus ensuring competitive racing right through the field.

This should add a lot of excitement to proceedings and some cracking duels should be seen on the day.

The action is set to take place at 10am on Saturday from the ski-boat club.