Albert Einstein said “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change,” and with that in mind the N3TC Drak Challenge canoe race will be celebrating its 30th Anniversary on January 27th and 28th with an intelligent alteration to its traditional format.
The organising committee has made a decision to swop the days for the 30th Anniversary race so paddlers will now start Day 1 at the Swartberg Road Bridge, and finish the first leg at the traditional race finish at Hopewell Farm.
Day 2 will now be the “old” opening day with paddlers starting at the traditional race start at Castleburn and finishing at Swartberg Road Bridge, where the prize-giving will take place.
“We had a look at some logistics and it made sense to make some changes to the traditional format,” said organising committee chairman Rollo Woodhead. “We know there are people who do not like change, but everybody will still be able to paddle the same stretch of river, just in a different order.
“There were a few factors that we took into consideration, including some logistics and traffic flow with the mountain biking and trail running events which have also made some big changes to their routes and start and finish venues. We are confident it will make for a better experience for everybody who is in and around Underberg that weekend.”
Woodhead is upbeat about the event and is excited about the recent rains which are keeping the river at a good level for the race.
“As always we have contingencies in place for extremely high or extremely low river conditions to make the race fun and safe for all. Should those conditions materialise we will communicate the changes to all entrants.
“The recent rains are very promising and everything is pointing to a good water level. The river has been consistently flowing well over the past few weeks and the long-range weather forecasts indicate more rain on the way next week.”
Entries are via Canoeing South Africa entry portal at https://paddler.canoesa.com/ and more information is available at https://drak.co.za/
No responses yet