Duck season gets underway
2006-09-21
THE first competition of the 2006/2007 rubberduck racing season took place at Langebaan last weekend.
The three clubs of Trans Atlantic Boating Association (Blouberg), False Bay Inflatable Boat Club and Club Agulhas competed in the Rat Race Media Offshore P750 Surf Circuit Regional.
Among the entrants were local team Jacques Groenewald and Frans Laubscher, respectively the pilot and co-pilot of the Zing team.
Although they did not qualify for the final this rookie team shows a lot of promise.
Another local pilot, Steyn Basson, of Paarl and co-pilot Jan Kriel of Stellenbosch racing for Team Champs Beverages, finished fifth in the P750 Blueprint class.
The conditions were torrid on Saturday with the big wave action and strong winds causing the organisers to postpone the start.
When the races finally got underway at 11:00, many boats flipped in the turbulent waters.
After the conditions worsened to such an extent that the officials feared for the racers’ safety, the competition ended early.
On Sunday the participants were greeted by much better weather conditions and the races got underway earlier to make up the time lost on the previous day.
The modifieds class was won by Marius and Johan Lodewyks of Boats and Bikes. Wimpie Ackermann and Dian Giliomee (Vodacom) took honours in the blueprint class, whilst Hermann Lourens and Michael Davis (Property Channel) came out tops in the standard class.
Anyone interested in taking up the sport of rubber duck racing, can contact Steyn Basson on 084-556-4498.
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