The 61st Berg River Canoe Marathon started in Paarl yesterday and paddlers are making their way to the West Coast.
The four day 240 km epic will end in Velddrif on the banks of the Berg River. This year former winner Robbie Herreveld added his name to the entry.
He dominated the race in the ’90s taking first place six times from 1991 to 1996, a reign bettered only by Hank McGregor who won eight back-to-back Berg titles.
These days Herreveld lives at Port Owen in Velddrif and trains with the West Coast Canoe Club.
“I am going out to enjoy the race, the goal being to finish each of the four days as best I can,” he said.
“I haven’t done as much training as I would have liked or the river tripping, or any pre-races, but I am looking forward to meeting up with my fellow paddlers.”
Herreveld paddled his first Berg as a 17-year-old and rocked the race by winning the first of his six titles at 19.
The 61st edition of the race will also be the first time paddlers will make their way through the official Ramsar site.
A Ramsar site is a wetland declared to be of international importance and must be managed for future generations. The Berg River Estuary was recently, officially declared a Ramsar site.
According to the race organisers paddlers are endorsing the call for protection of the wetland.
“We as paddlers use this Berg River during winter in particular when the rains create river levels that make canoeing enjoyable, but as users of the river we fully endorse the call to protect this important estuary,” said race director Brandon Macleod.
The race will end at the Rivera Hotel.
