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Induna X Fest '08In Shangaan, the local language of Eastern Mpumalanga, the word "Sabie" means "The Fearful One". On 26 February 2008 kayak athletes were not only confronted with their fears but had to put them aside in order to race down rapids that would send shivers down most humans spines. They battled out for great prizes, but the toughest battle was probably fought within... |
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The misty hills between Hazyview and the town of Sabie played host to the first annual Sabie Extreme kayak festival. The lowveld has felt the brunt of this years heavy down pours and this ensured that the river levels were great, if not a bit high, for the event. Sponsored by Fluid Kayaks, GOYA Gear, MaxPaddles, Xtreme Equipment, Whitewater Training, Ocean Eyewear and hosted by Induna Adventures there were plenty of prizes up for grabs. The Sabie X-Fest is arguably the toughest sprint boater-cross event in the country and the day saw tons of carnage with lots of swims. The event was broken up into three races all on the same stretch of river which saw racers go head to head for two of them and a race against the clock for the third. |
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It all kicked off in the evening of Friday the 24th of February with a film competition where kayakers entered their own production with the hopes of winning big. Scott Martin from Gravity Adventures took the top spot with a fresh and very professional look at the White Nile; Scott Reinders from LifeByWater.com came in 2nd with a variety of big drops from all over the country. |
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Early on Saturday we all piled into the back of a cattle truck and headed for the put-in of the U2 (upper upper section) of the Sabie river. The weather was miserable but the spirits were high as we reached the first rapid and race of the day. Judging by the brown colour of the water and the thunderous roar around the corner the level was high. |
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Race one consisted of heats of three paddlers going head-to-head down a long class III slide type rapid and then a sprint through class II for 200m to the finish. A nice warm up for the day; well known South African kayaker Phillip Claasens took the fastest time on this race with Fluid paddlers Scott Reinders and Adrian Tregoning coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively. We all headed downstream paddling some fantastic rapids and portaging one gnarly waterfall before reaching the second head-to-head race of the day. |
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| With time keepers in place paddlers competed in heats of two in the shortest race of the event through a class IV rapid known as the “Hot Gates” with big boils and a tricky line down the left ending in a large, sticky hole (that is the Hot Gates) which proved to be a thorn in the sides of the leading competitors allowing for a fast paced and exciting race. Adrian Tregoning with is smooth and calm style took 1st place at the “Hotgates”, mixing up the leader’s board | |
| Our group of twenty paddlers moved on downstream and stopped at monstrous 100m slide which leads into a double drop waterfall; this was the stage for the third and final race of the Sabie X-Fest. Competitors raced the clock on this one; however, despite not racing head-to-head all found this the most demanding race. Out of the twenty competitors only five made it through to the finish line with clean lines and ten unfortunate guys had to swim their way out of the sticky hole below the second drop. Phillip Claasens and Scott Reinders tied with a time of 48sec, something quite unusual for this type of competition. But it was Daniel Barnard who stole the show on this one, with his rather unusual paddling style, to come in at 47sec. | |
All that was left to do was paddle to the take out and tally the scores. The overall winners for the Sabie X-Fest 2008 were Scott Reinders in 3rd, Adrian Tregoning in 2nd and Phillip Claassens in 1st. Prizes also went to biggest beat downs and there was a lucky draw to win a new Fluid Solo. Big thanks to Induna Adventures for all the hard work and to all the sponsors for a great event which has cemented itself in the South African whitewater scene. Article by: Scott Reinders |
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