Paddle race ends in style

There was an exciting end to the gruelling Carbonology Sport PE2EL Surfski Challenge as nine double paddlers cruised into East London’s Orient Beach on Saturday morning together as the first finishers.

The race got under way in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday morning and the competitors took four days to paddle 250km, with stops at Woody Cape, Port Alfred and Hamburg along the way.

In the end it was the Port Elizabeth duo of Hein van Rooyen and Jason Goedhals that took the overall win, finishing with an overall time of 18 hours, seven minutes and 30 seconds, a total of 59 seconds ahead of fellow PE paddlers Howard Loftus and Andrew Stone.

Brett Hadiaris and Ross Fountain from Durban then rounded out the overall and doubles podiums, taking third place in 18:14:56, while the first East London double home was Brendan Thompson and André Van Wyk who were fifth overall and the fourth double home.

East London paddling star Bevan Manson was then in a class of his own in the singles race, powering to a dominant win while also finishing an impressive fourth overall in a time of 18:38:32. Manson was a comfortable 30 minutes and 25 seconds ahead of second-placed Steve Woods, formerly of East London and now of Durban, while Jason Ekstrand, also from Durban, took third in 19:17:42.

Only one female paddler competed in this year’s race, Cape Town’s Bianca Beavitt, taking part in her fifth race, cruised home 29th overall in 22:03:32.

Also this year saw the first S3, which is three paddlers in one ski, taking part and Raoul Goosen, Sipho Qoko and Qoko Nzuza finished 38th overall in 23:03:58.

It was an enjoyable four days of paddling, with 90 competitors starting the race in Port Elizabeth with only one not finishing.

Only one stage had to change direction to suit the conditions. Day two’s ,paddle from Woody Cape to Port Alfred had to start in Port Alfred and finish in Woody Cape.

The conditions were tough in stages, with big surf on the first two days according to event organiser André Wood, who also took part in the race in the doubles with Robert Reeves and finished 12th overall.

“Feedback from the paddlers was that this was one of the best organised races they had been a part of, so it was really positive,” said Wood.

“What was also great was that every paddler got a medal at the end of the race, so each paddler was recognised for what they had achieved, which is the main point of the race, because even though there are different category winners, just finishing this race makes you a winner.”