For the first time in history, the organisers of the Berg River Canoe Marathon have been forced into making dramatic changes to the course for the four day classic canoeing race, as a result of the drought gripping the Western Cape.
The river at the start in Paarl is ankle deep, and with little prospect of rain before the event gets under way on Wednesday morning, two thirds of the first stage have been lopped off the race course, the first time ever that the race has not been raced from Paarl to the West Coast.
Western Province Canoe Union president Andre Collins confirmed the decision to move the start to Hermon, 40km downstream, to cut out a section of river that is not only very shallow, but also in places completely blocked by trees that have fallen over in the river.
The competitors will race the first day from Hermon bridge to Bridgetown, a distance roughly equivalent to the traditional first day course on 60km, and then return to Zonquasdrift for the 43km second stage that will also finish at Bridgetown.
”If we get saved by a last minute thunderstorm, we will revert back to the original course”, said Collins, ”but that looks very unlikely at this stage. It seems that we will get some rain on the Tuesday night, but that will not be in time to make any difference to the problem section from Paarl to Hermon.”
The race has been run in low conditions in the past, though never this low. Jannie Malherbe, associated with the race since it’s inception in 1962, and a three time winner, recalls that it was very low in 1964, but not as low as the Berg is running through Paarl at the moment.
He also pointed out that the tree infestation has only happened relatively recently, and even in the 1964 drought, and low years from 1969 to 1972, the first stage from Paarl to Zonquasdrift was still easily navigable.
The tree blocks have now become a real hazard, especially when the Berg river is flowing fast. The race last year was marred by tragedy, when Gauteng paddler Stan Copilowits died on the first stage. His body was recovered from a tree block above Hermon.
The change in course will not affect the overall length of race significantly. But this will be cold comfort for the paddlers that have entered, as the conditions will be taxing in the extreme, and the shallow river will make for much slower times over the 228km route, and in places necessitate portages over sandbanks and around obstacles.
The race gets under way on Wednesday morning and finishes at Velddrif on Saturday. – Sapa