Update
KNYSNA NEWS – In an extraordinary display of power and determination, the newly formed surfboat crew from Knysna Lifesaving Club dominated the experienced and more fancied crews from Kings Beach and Bluewater Bay at the Eastern Cape Championships in Gqeberha last weekend.
If you can imagine being violently shaken and tumbled in cold salty water in a washing machine, along with wooden oars and other crew members, that's what it feels like if the surfboat you're rowing loses the battle with a big wave in a race.
And that's what the five-man crew from Knysna had to endure many times while training in the surf at Buffalo Bay, learning just how tough it is to row the 8m-long boats.
The four oarsmen, Martin Els, Jeffrey Willcocks and brothers Steven and Ivan van Lier, who provide all the muscle-power, are new to the sport, while Cameron Ward Able, the sweep, rowed for Kings Beach as a junior. His job is to stand in the stern with a 5m-long sweep oar and steer the boat through the waves and round a marker buoy, 400m out to sea, then back to shore.
The difficult part is winning the battle against the surf on the way back and keeping the boat from disaster. The race ends when the sweep leaps from the boat as it reaches knee-deep water and sprints 15 metres up the beach to touch his team's finish beacon, leaving the exhausted oarsmen gasping for air.
Three consecutive surfboat races were held, with four boats competing. So close was the competition that every race saw three boats catching the same wave on the way back to the beach, rowing neck-and-neck.
Despite rowing the oldest and heaviest boat in the competition, Knysna's oarsmen gave everything they had and equalled their opponents throughout.
The end of the first race was very close, with Kings Beach sweep Chris Allen beating Knysna (second) and Bluewater Bay (third) in the sprint to the finish.
Race number two saw Knysna looking well beaten until, with a Herculean effort, they just managed to catch the same wave as their opponents. A mighty leap and sprint up the sand by Knysna's sweep won them their maiden victory.
Their dominance of the other three crews was obvious in the third and last race as Knysna's boat was slightly faster on the last wave and the new East Cape Surf Boat champions were first home.
Related article: Of Surfboats and welcome wedgies
'We bring you the latest Knysna, Garden Route news'
