April date for raft race

THE 65th Tugela River raft race, considered the biggest raft race in South Africa, will be held on Saturday, 18 April.

The race starts at Mandeni, with strong rapids helping competitors race down the Tugela River mouth.

In 1965 a small group of ‘happy Sappi chappies’ staged their own adventure on the river.

Little did they realise that they were opening a veritable Pandora’s box and that the event would become so popular as to be rated among the largest if its kind in the southern hemisphere.

The year after its inception it drew so much local support that it had to be held on a more organized basis.

Company-sponsored as well as individual rafts eventually swelled the field to over 400 entrants, which compelled the organisers to limit entries to 250 in the interest of public safety.

Early anecdotes

Interesting anecdotes have been collected, drawing from the tales of the late Bill Hemmings, the father of the raft race.

These include the ‘prodorite tree’ which is the scene of the destruction of one of the first sponsored rafts to enter.

It was designed to make the QE II resemble a yacht by comparison.

The tree that jumped out in front of the unfortunates, demolished the superstructure and wasted most of the five hours of shipyard construction time.

A second is the ‘jockey straits’, a short distance from the start which qualifies dominant contestants for a prime position into the first bend.

Then there are the low hanging trees on ‘beer can bend’ which have said ‘howzit!’ to many an unwary crew.

Further downstream marks the sensational pumpkin snatch of 1973, a deed that almost surpassed the great train robbery in its planning.

In the same year, a sand bank on the south side was the scene of an impromptu rugby test. Unfortunately no score was available for publishing.

The raft race has only had to be cancelled three times owing to low water levels.