RACE RECAP – LIGHTHOUSE DESIGNS OZZIE GLADWIN

by | Mar 9, 2021 | Paddle, Canoeing Race Reports, Events & Racing

Sunday the 7th of March marked the final seeding race ahead of the 2021 MyLife Dusi Canoe Marathon, the Lighthouse Designs Ozzie Gladwin. It is a 26 km canoeing race that starts with a lap on Albert Falls dam before a long portage out of the Msinsi reserve and around the dam wall, down to the uMngeni River. From there the paddlers complete the final 21km on the river and finish at Thornvale Farm.

The MyLife Dusi Canoe Marathon is in its 70th year in 2021 and will begin on the 18th of March! The longevity of the iconic Pietermarizburg to Durban canoe race is owed to the dedication of the paddling community. As such the Lighthouse Designs Ozzie Gladwin was well supported with 261 boats taking part,
161 of them K1, 99 K2, and 1 K3.

As a seeding race, many top paddlers also threw their hat in the ring for a final shot at securing their position on the front row of the start line next Thursday. Among them were Bridgitte Hartley, Saskia Hockly, Tracey Van Greunen, Georgie Howard, Banetse Nkoesa, Stewart Little, Msawenkosi Mtolo, Thulani Mbanjwa and Hank McGregor. Have a look at the race highlights below!

The paddlers set out for dam lap and when they hit the portage it was McGregor, Masina, Little and Mbanjwa in the lead of the men’s race! Bridgitte Hartley and Saskia Hockly had the start of the women’s batch with Georgie Howard and Tracey Van Greunen in the chasing group.

Mbanjwa was first to the water and over the weir at the start of the river stretch with McGregor and Little right on his tail. Alex Masina seemed to have dropped off the pack.

The men’s group of 3 stuck together for the majority of the race but nearing the finish, Hank McGregor put down the power and dropped the other 2 paddlers. Stewart Little was second across the line, putting a bit of time into MyLife team paddler Thulani Mbanjwa who took 3rd.

Meanwhile in the ladies race, Bridgitte Hartley was leading the race with Saskia Hockly chasing her in 2nd! In the end they would hold those positions to the finish and Georgie Howard would round out the podium with 3rd.

The dust settled on the final seeding race before the main event next week. WILD AIR will once again be at the MyLife Dusi bringing you the live race reporting and event media on the @dusicanoemarathon Instagram channel. We are itching to get into the action as the race always delivers exciting moments and great community!

We’ll see you then,
J-Dogg

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