ISO COMPLIANT PFD’S COMPULSORY AT ALL CSA SANCTIONED RACES

Things don’t look like improving much in April either, with hardly a single weekend unutilized. The covid menace has forced a “famine/feast” scenario. Race organisers have been coerced into some John Travolta moves to accommodate each other.

Coupled with the abundance of water that has literally landed in our laps, the next few months are a smorgasbord for paddling enthusiasts.

Download the latest the paddling calendar here. Despite our best efforts it remains a “work in progress”. The goalposts are in a constant state of flux. We would rather plan for events and have to change them than throw our hands in the air and give up like some major federations have done.

Last weekend the Gauteng paddlers managed to host their “2 Day Klip“. Torrential downpours forcing race organisers to make last minute changes, and a number of paddlers having slightly longer swims than they would have liked.

Not to be outdone, the Dusi brigade were spoilt with a 20 cumecs release, more than they had expected, for the Inanda Dam to Blue Lagoon race on Sunday. With water flowing over the dam wall, and a healthy release, the 41 cumecs was hugely appreciated by the 400 plus paddlers, especially on the back of the fact that the race has not been able to be held for the last 7 years due to a lack of water.

Hank McGregor followed his Marine Series win on Friday evening with another win on the river on Sunday.

With less than 2 weeks to go until the Dusi, the pretenders to the throne have started to stick their heads up. None of the men appear to be in a league of their own. In the women’s field it looks like Jordan Peek may have a slight edge on her rivals at this stage.

In KZN this weekend paddlers have the option of 3 races. The Marine Series ski race this evening, the Hella Hella to Josephine’s tomorrow, and the Lighthouse Designs Ozzie Gladwin on Sunday.

The Ozzie Gladwin has, in many previous years, held the honour of being the largest one day race in the country. Covid might put a slight dampener on the field this year, but I suspect that few races will reach the numbers that will arrive on Sunday.

Time to beat an old drum, for the umpteenth time. The issue of PFD’s.

Despite nearly 6 and a half years of notice/appealing/begging, paddlers are still arriving at races with non-compliant PFD’s. This puts the race organiser in a massively unfair and difficult position. He/she is not the poor soul who dreamt up the change to the rules.

They should not be subject to any abuse or “deer in the headlights” expressions of dismay. CSA did not dream up the changes either. They were thrust upon us by an outside government agency that insists on a measurable standard against which to judge the device. Ironically, this agency must be in cahoots with the rest of them around the globe, as the ISO standard that we have had to enforce is pretty much the same as any other international race where PFD’s are compulsory.

The poor officials, who are all volunteers, are on a hiding to nowhere. They are damned by the paddlers if they insist on them using the compliant PFD’s and they are damned by the compliant paddlers who see that there are “different” rules for some, and not for others. So, a last appeal. Please don’t arrive at a CSA sanctioned race with an incorrect PFD. You will not be allowed to race. Either way, your mates are going to think that you are a chop.

Some great news from the Eastern Cape. The organisers of the Fish have confirmed that the dates for the race this year have been confirmed as the 8th and 9th of October. The original dates were the week before, which would have clashed with the world marathon championships in Romania. This would have excluded a large number of the top competitors.

On the subject of the World Marathon Champs, Brandon “Stomach” Van der Walt has been selected as the manager of the team. Tum Tum, may the force be with you.

In an effort to gauge perception and solicit comment, CSA conducted a survey of 10 simple questions a couple of weeks ago. I received the results a few hours ago. You can view these here, together with all of the comments.

Seems like the general feeling is that we are not doing a bad job, but that we are not coming out of our boots either.

Interesting to see the number of comments regarding “where the annual CSA levy goes to”, against the statistic that 93% of respondents have never accessed the AFS’s that are available permanently on the website.

Some interesting observations regarding other aspects of the admin team.
I will dissect them over the next week and provide additional comment.

I have had a number of enquiries/complaints regarding “unsolicited” mail from canoeing sources.
A quick explanation.
The CSA database is never shared  with an outside agency.
You should never receive a notice that is not paddling based.
If you receive a “notification” of a race/event that you have not entered, or have no interest in, you may simply unsubscribe yourself at the bottom of the notification.

We tread a fine line between facing the wrath of paddlers who suggest that we do not communicate enough, against the terms of the POPI act, by using your details to send out that exact communication.

One of the largest paddling events of the year has traditionally been the SA Schools sprint championships.

This year it is being held in conjunction with the SA sprint championships at Shongweni dam over the long weekend at the end of April (24 – 26). Entries are now open on the Dotcloud system.

Once again, I end this week’s newsletter on a sad note.

Last Friday afternoon, a surfski paddler (not registered with CSA) by the name of Roderick Johnston left his home in Bakoven, on the Cape Atlantic coast, to go for a paddle. He was alone.
Jjust before 7pm, the National Sea Rescue Institute was alerted that he was missing and that it was suspected that he might still be at sea.
The NSRI launched both land and sea searches, with three sea rescue craft conducting a search between Oudekraal and Table Bay until midnight.  They resumed the search at dawn, assisted by the EMS/AMS Skymed rescue helicopter, which finally found the man’s body, still tethered to the ski on Saturday morning, some 4.5 nautical miles (8.3km west of Bantry Point).

Rob Mousley penned the following explanation https://www.surfski.info/latest-news/story/1719/fatal-surfski-accident-in-cape-town.html
I cannot add much to his succinct portrayal of events.
Tragedies like this are exceptionally sad. Made all the more sad by the fact that they can be avoided.

Out of respect – no joke this week.

Please be safe
Enjoy the weekend
Your SG
Copper
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