PLETTENBERG BAY – Yesterday marked the start of the 36th Six Gun Grill Trans Agulhas Challenge, as over 40 inflatable boat crews embarked on what many consider the world’s most gruelling powerboat endurance race.
The elite field departed from Hobie Beach, Plettenberg Bay, at dawn on 28 December, beginning a punishing four-day, 700 km odyssey along South Africa’s treacherous southern coastline that will test both man and machine to their limits.
Stage 1 proved immediately challenging, with competitors navigating 188.5 km of open ocean from Plettenberg Bay to Mossel Bay. The route took crews past some of the coast’s most notorious stretches, including checkpoints at Nature’s Valley, Brenton-on-Sea, Swartvlei, Wilderness, Glentana, Groot Brak River, and Klein Brak River before reaching the finish at Santos Beach, Mossel Bay.
“This is what separates the Trans Agulhas from every other powerboat race,” said race director from Boost Performance Racing, the event’s current organisers. “There’s nowhere to hide out there.”
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Today, crews face Stage 2, an 86 km sprint from Mossel Bay to Stilbaai, before tomorrow’s marathon Stage 3 covering 161 km from Stilbaai to Struisbaai – a leg that will take competitors around Cape Agulhas, the continent’s southernmost tip.
The final day, 31 December, promises the ultimate test with three stages totalling 223 km. Boats will race via Uilkraalsmond and Gansbaai before the final push to the Strand, where contestants will cross the finish line.
The race dates back to 1988, when Sparks Esterhuyzen of Hermanus shared his vision with Jean Engelbrecht from Stellenbosch. Despite widespread skepticism – locals dismissed it as “too dangerous” – 33 boats lined up for that inaugural challenge on 26 December 1988.
“When ‘Die Burger’ first announced the Challenge, everyone said it couldn’t be done,” recalled race historians. The organising committee of just five members, sharing only two vehicles between them, proved the doubters wrong.
That first race ran from Nature’s Valley to Hermanus’ Old Harbour, concluding January 3, 1989. Today’s event, now a world-class spectacle, maintains the same spirit of extreme endurance that has defined the Trans Agulhas for over three decades.
