K3 Hansa Fish record keeping it all in the family

Cradock - A new world record of 78 K3 canoes will take part in the Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon that starts on Friday morning at Grassridge dam, including a Gauteng based pioneer who will become the first paddler to complete ten races in a K3 kayak.

St. Davids Maris Brothers school estate manager Willem van der Merwe championed K3 craft from their initially unpopular inception in 2002, and on each occasion he raced with a novice or a pupil from his school.

Van der Merwe regularly co-opts former Comrades winner Alan Robb to man the middle seat of his K3, often making the back seat available to a novice paddler from his school.

"I guess it gives me pleasure to help out a newcomer to the sport, and get them started in a paddling career " said Van der Merwe, who will be taking his brother-in-law down his first Hansa Fish, with Alan Robb occupying the middle seat of the boat.

"Every year I take a novice, especially someone who would not have been able to take on a race like Fish," he added. "Over the year there are around fifteen of them that are now all paddling on their own."

"It would be special if one of them came past us during the race. That would be a great feeling," he said.

"It is brilliant to see the acceptance of K3s in the race," said Van Der Merwe. "In the beginning people hated the first K3 that I brought down to the Fish. They wanted to ban it!"

"Over the years the K3 has proven to be a great way to get people to be part of this super race that otherwise would not be on the water. The fact that they are all now paddling in their own boats seems to prove that it has worked," he added.

Of the 78 K3s entered there are several that are manned entirely by members of the same family. The Chalupskys did this in 2010 when brothers Oscar and Herman Chalupsky raced with Oscar's son Luke. The Pietermaritzburg March siblings Miles, Kate and Nick also raced successfully as a family K3 last year.

This year the Adie family from Howick will field a K3, while Abby Adie vies for the overall women's title with Hillary Pitchford.

The race organisers have taken the bold decision to batch most of the K3s in D batch to allow these speedy craft to stay ahead of the bulk of the field to minimise the possibility of these big craft getting in the way of other boats, particularly through the willows trees sections.