Pre-race favourites Thulani Mbanjwa and Musawenkosi Mtolo have taken the honours on the first day of the 71st Duzi canoe marathon which started in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday.
Hot on their heels were Andy Birkett and Dave Evans who finished in second place, half a minute behind the leaders. Bianca Haw and Abby Solms won the first stage of the women’s race. The tough 3-day canoe marathon which ends at Durban’s Blue Lagoon on the uMngeni River on Saturday saw one of the highest number of entries in a decade, with more than 700 paddlers taking up the challenge.
Good summer rains saw paddlers setting off early morning from Camps Drift on a full uMsundusi river. The gruelling 120 kilometre race will test the paddlers to the maximum. Extremely hot weather, tricky rapids and long portages are just some of the challenges which lie ahead. For most of the morning, it was a two-way race between teams of Mbanjwa and Mtolo and Berkett and Evans. Mbanjwa, who suffered an injury near the start, last won a Dusi title fourteen years ago with partner Martin Dreyer. Mbwanjwa and Mtolo, who partnered for the first time, crossed the finish line in 2 hours 39 minutes and 49 seconds, with Berkett and Evans finishing in 2 hours 40 minutes and 22 seconds. The top four agree that it was a tough day at the office.
“We knew it was going to be a tough race but we knew also we have to try and get here first and try and maintain from tomorrow and the last day,” says Thulani Mbanjwa.
“Paddling with Thulani Mbanjwa is a great experience for me especially winning for day one I am very excited about that,” says Musawenkosi Mtolo.
“Day one of Dusi is always though there is a lot of portaging where you running with your boat Mbanjwa and Musa were very strong today, they were running strong and paddling well but we were happy to have such a close race. They were pushing us all the way, they have 30 seconds on us but it was cat and mouse the whole way. We were catching them they were getting away the whole way,” says Andy Birkett.
“It’s an incredible opportunity to paddle with someone like Andy who won the race so many times super experienced so it’s a privilege to paddle with him,” Dave Evans.
Bianca Haw and Abby Solms won the first stage in 3 hours five minutes and 53 seconds with a comfortable lead over nearest rivals Jordan Peek and Christie Mackenzie.
“We were planning to race our own race and we had lots of fun out there, the last portages were really hard, the cramps sit in but we managed to make it to the finish,” says Bianca Haw, KwaZulu-Natal canoe club chairperson.
“Hopefully we will have a nice clean day, lots of fun in the big water, rapid and just to stay on our boat not to fall out,” says Abby Solms.
The paddlers are to set off on Friday for the second stage from KwaXimba in the valley of a thousand hills to the Inanda dam.
